I came home from the funeral to tell my parents and sister that my husband had left me $8.5m and 6 Manhattan lofts. When I walked into the house, I overheard my parents talking. What they were saying… made my blood run cold.

Florist $4,200 F accounts. Venue deposit $12,000 F accounts. Photographer $3,800 F accounts. Dress final fitting $6,500 F accounts. Catering $18,000 F accounts. Total wedding budget $48,300 sources.

F accounts, F accounts, Faze accounts, my dead husband’s money allocated line by line to my sister’s wedding. And she hasn’t even gotten the guardianship yet.

I screenshot everything, the email, the attachment, the timestamp. I send it all to James with one line.

Chloe sent this to me by accident. Premeditation and financial motive.

James replies at midnight.

This is gold. Combined with your recordings and the audit, we have a very strong case. Don’t let her know.

I go back to Khloe’s email and delete it from my inbox. Then I delete it from the trash folder. If she checks her sent messages, she won’t see a bounce back. She won’t know.

$48,000. My sister planned her entire wedding on money she hadn’t stolen yet.

Four more days.

Helen checks into the Glendale Motor Lodge on Wednesday afternoon, 6 miles from Ridgewood, close enough to matter, far enough to stay invisible. We meet at a coffee shop on Route 9.