{"id":11208,"date":"2026-09-30T22:05:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T22:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/?p=11208"},"modified":"2026-09-30T22:05:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T22:05:10","slug":"part-21-peter-was-missing-and-roys-truck-was-outside-his-office-but-the-blood-on-the-floor-belonged-to-someone-nobody-expected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/?p=11208","title":{"rendered":"PART 21 \u2013 Peter Was Missing and Roy\u2019s Truck Was Outside His Office, but the Blood on the Floor Belonged to Someone Nobody Expected"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Officer Bennett told us to stay inside Hawthorne Lane.<\/p>\n<p>For once, nobody argued.<\/p>\n<p>Sandra locked the kitchen door even though I had already checked it twice. Melissa closed the curtains facing the street. I stood beside Arthur\u2019s desk with my phone in my hand, looking at Roy\u2019s last messages until the words stopped feeling like language.<\/p>\n<p>HE STILL SAID NO.<\/p>\n<p>Peter was missing.<\/p>\n<p>Roy\u2019s truck was outside Peter\u2019s office.<\/p>\n<p>There had been a struggle.<\/p>\n<p>The obvious conclusion sat directly in front of us.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur had taught me to distrust obvious conclusions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did Roy mean about the child?\u201d Melissa asked.<\/p>\n<p>Sandra sat on the edge of Arthur\u2019s chair.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould he actually have a son?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe could.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019d know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sandra shook her head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRoy can hide anything if he decides hiding it is useful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The sentence seemed to surprise her after she said it.<\/p>\n<p>A week earlier she would have defended him automatically.<\/p>\n<p>Now she was measuring every memory against evidence.<\/p>\n<p>Melissa looked at the infant photograph again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s nothing identifying here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo hospital bracelet,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo face except the baby\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo mother.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sandra enlarged the image.<\/p>\n<p>The photograph looked ordinary enough.<\/p>\n<p>A newborn wrapped in a blue-and-white hospital blanket.<\/p>\n<p>But photographs proved only what they contained.<\/p>\n<p>Not the story attached to them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould we reverse-search it?\u201d Melissa asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSend it to Bennett.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She did.<\/p>\n<p>Then we waited.<\/p>\n<p>Waiting had become the hardest part.<\/p>\n<p>When Arthur was sick, waiting had structure.<\/p>\n<p>Lab results.<\/p>\n<p>Medication times.<\/p>\n<p>Appointments.<\/p>\n<p>Now every silence could contain another discovery.<\/p>\n<p>At eleven twenty-three, headlights slowed outside.<\/p>\n<p>Sandra stood immediately.<\/p>\n<p>The vehicle continued.<\/p>\n<p>She sat again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hate this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI used to think Dad was paranoid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That hurt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe probably wondered whether you did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe knew I did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She looked toward his notebook.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI told Roy Dad was getting suspicious about everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMonths ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Roy ask what he was suspicious about?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you tell him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMedication. Papers. The house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Melissa stared at her mother.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sandra pressed her palms against her eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought I was describing Dad getting difficult. I didn\u2019t understand he was documenting actual things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I sat opposite her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did Roy say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat cancer and pain medication can make people paranoid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That was plausible enough to be dangerous.<\/p>\n<p>Especially because opioids could cause confusion.<\/p>\n<p>Especially because Arthur was old.<\/p>\n<p>Especially because Roy repeated it until the explanation became easier than investigating the details.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he tell you to do anything?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWatch you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The words were quiet.<\/p>\n<p>I said nothing.<\/p>\n<p>Sandra looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe told me to notice whether you answered questions for Dad. Whether you handled his phone. Whether you kept us from being alone with him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her face folded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The answer did not feel triumphant.<\/p>\n<p>It felt sad.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI saw you hand him his phone. I saw you leave the room when he asked. I saw you tell him Roy was calling even when he told you to say he was asleep.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She laughed once.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd I still believed Roy when he said you were isolating him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause you already disliked me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The honesty was cleaner than apology.<\/p>\n<p>Melissa looked toward her mother.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy did you dislike Helen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sandra considered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause she arrived after Mom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat isn\u2019t something Helen did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Grandpa know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sandra almost smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said grief wasn\u2019t a property deed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That sounded exactly like Arthur.<\/p>\n<p>My phone rang at midnight.<\/p>\n<p>Bennett.<\/p>\n<p>I answered on speaker.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe located Peter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sandra stood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlive?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The relief that moved through the room surprised me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt County General.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe drove himself to an urgent-care clinic about forty minutes ago. They transferred him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sandra frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy didn\u2019t he call police?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe says he was afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf Roy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re determining.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat injuries?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCut above the eyebrow. Possible concussion. Bruising.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Melissa asked, \u201cWas the blood at the office his?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bennett paused.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We looked at one another.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhose?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPreliminary testing indicates a different blood type. We don\u2019t have an identification yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRoy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas Roy at the office?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeter says yes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sandra gripped the chair.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI haven\u2019t completed the interview.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat has he said?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bennett hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>Then gave us what affected our safety.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeter says Roy arrived angry about the affidavit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe affidavit Peter signed for him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy would Roy be angry?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Peter told him he planned to withdraw it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sandra stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo the fifty thousand didn\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have not established what that payment was for.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She sighed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bennett continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeter says they argued. Roy demanded documents. Peter refused.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat documents?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe hasn\u2019t fully explained.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen they fought?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeter says Roy shoved him into a cabinet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat explains Peter\u2019s injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat about the other blood?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re working on it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then Bennett said something that made me sit straighter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeter says another person entered during the argument.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe claims he didn\u2019t see clearly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sandra laughed in disbelief.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe didn\u2019t see?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe had already struck his head.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMan or woman?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe thinks a woman.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Donna.<\/p>\n<p>The thought came immediately.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRoy\u2019s girlfriend?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDonna denies being there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cElaine?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was at home. We\u2019re checking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sandra frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho else?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bennett did not speculate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeter remembers hearing Roy say one thing before he lost consciousness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bennett paused.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2018You should have burned it when I told you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The room went quiet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was he supposed to burn?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is what I\u2019m trying to determine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After the call ended, nobody wanted to sleep.<\/p>\n<p>I made coffee nobody needed.<\/p>\n<p>At one thirty, Sandra finally went upstairs.<\/p>\n<p>Melissa stayed on the sofa.<\/p>\n<p>I sat in Arthur\u2019s study.<\/p>\n<p>His notebook rested on my lap.<\/p>\n<p>I had begun to understand why he documented so obsessively.<\/p>\n<p>Memory changed under pressure.<\/p>\n<p>People edited themselves without noticing.<\/p>\n<p>Records did not make truth simple.<\/p>\n<p>But they made certain lies harder.<\/p>\n<p>I turned pages without searching for anything particular.<\/p>\n<p>Then Peter\u2019s name appeared.<\/p>\n<p>March 6.<\/p>\n<p>Peter brought red ledger copy. Says original destroyed.<\/p>\n<p>I stopped.<\/p>\n<p>Red ledger.<\/p>\n<p>The phrase from Arthur\u2019s letter.<\/p>\n<p>Elaine and the red ledger.<\/p>\n<p>We had assumed the red ledger referred to old company accounting.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe it did.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe not.<\/p>\n<p>The next entry read:<\/p>\n<p>He says Roy wants it burned. Why?<\/p>\n<p>My pulse accelerated.<\/p>\n<p>I called Bennett.<\/p>\n<p>He answered sounding tired.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI found something.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I read the entry.<\/p>\n<p>Silence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMarch sixth?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPhotograph it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I did.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnything after?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I turned the page.<\/p>\n<p>March 8.<\/p>\n<p>Peter says ledger proves nothing without Margaret\u2019s notebook.<\/p>\n<p>Margaret.<\/p>\n<p>I stood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat notebook?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bennett asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The next line:<\/p>\n<p>S. thinks M\u2019s things belong to her. Safer there because she will never look properly.<\/p>\n<p>I read it twice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cS.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sandra.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cM.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur had hidden something among Margaret\u2019s belongings because Sandra believed they belonged to her.<\/p>\n<p>Not at Hawthorne Lane.<\/p>\n<p>The storage unit.<\/p>\n<p>The cedar chest.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to go back to unit 214.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBennett\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMorning. With me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I hated waiting.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur would have approved.<\/p>\n<p>At seven, we met at the storage facility.<\/p>\n<p>Sandra came.<\/p>\n<p>Melissa stayed home.<\/p>\n<p>The manager opened the building.<\/p>\n<p>Unit 214 smelled exactly as before.<\/p>\n<p>Dust.<\/p>\n<p>Cedar.<\/p>\n<p>Old fabric.<\/p>\n<p>Sandra walked directly toward her mother\u2019s chest.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe already searched this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo,\u201d I said. \u201cWe searched for an envelope.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arthur\u2019s note said Sandra would never look properly.<\/p>\n<p>That meant the hiding place depended on what Sandra thought she already understood.<\/p>\n<p>She lifted the quilts.<\/p>\n<p>Wedding dress.<\/p>\n<p>Photographs.<\/p>\n<p>Recipe books.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing.<\/p>\n<p>I remembered Margaret\u2019s rocking chair.<\/p>\n<p>The sewing machine.<\/p>\n<p>Things associated with her hands.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat kind of notebook did your mother use?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>Sandra frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRecipes. Garden notes. Household expenses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFinances?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDad handled most of that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid she keep records?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sandra thought.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe kept everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Like Arthur.<\/p>\n<p>Of course.<\/p>\n<p>We opened the sewing-machine cabinet.<\/p>\n<p>Thread.<\/p>\n<p>Needles.<\/p>\n<p>Buttons.<\/p>\n<p>Fabric scraps.<\/p>\n<p>Then Sandra noticed the bottom.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat panel isn\u2019t original.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bennett photographed it.<\/p>\n<p>The thin board lifted.<\/p>\n<p>Underneath lay a red book.<\/p>\n<p>Not large.<\/p>\n<p>Hardcover.<\/p>\n<p>No label.<\/p>\n<p>Sandra stopped breathing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy mother\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe used these for household accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bennett put on gloves.<\/p>\n<p>He opened it.<\/p>\n<p>The first pages were exactly that.<\/p>\n<p>Groceries.<\/p>\n<p>Utilities.<\/p>\n<p>School clothes.<\/p>\n<p>Repairs.<\/p>\n<p>Then, halfway through, the entries changed.<\/p>\n<p>Names.<\/p>\n<p>Amounts.<\/p>\n<p>Dates.<\/p>\n<p>Peter Lang.<\/p>\n<p>Elaine Porter.<\/p>\n<p>Roy.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur.<\/p>\n<p>Sandra leaned closer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat is this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I did not know.<\/p>\n<p>Bennett did.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPayments.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some incoming.<\/p>\n<p>Some outgoing.<\/p>\n<p>One notation appeared repeatedly beside Peter\u2019s name.<\/p>\n<p>P.L. advance.<\/p>\n<p>Then E. repayment.<\/p>\n<p>Then another.<\/p>\n<p>R. cash.<\/p>\n<p>The dates stretched back more than twenty years.<\/p>\n<p>Sandra stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKnew what?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>She pointed at an entry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeter\u2019s gambling.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Peter had told us Elaine\u2019s husband owed him money.<\/p>\n<p>But Margaret\u2019s ledger showed something different.<\/p>\n<p>Peter had also been borrowing from Arthur\u2019s company informally.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur may not have known.<\/p>\n<p>Margaret apparently did.<\/p>\n<p>Then Bennett found a page folded at the corner.<\/p>\n<p>A note in Margaret\u2019s handwriting:<\/p>\n<p>Elaine altered figures after Peter threatened David over debt. Arthur does not know. Told Elaine she must tell him. She begged for time.<\/p>\n<p>David.<\/p>\n<p>Elaine\u2019s husband.<\/p>\n<p>The old betrayal suddenly had a witness.<\/p>\n<p>Margaret.<\/p>\n<p>Sandra sat on the cedar chest.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom knew before Dad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another note:<\/p>\n<p>Roy overheard argument.<\/p>\n<p>My skin prickled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d Bennett asked.<\/p>\n<p>The date was there.<\/p>\n<p>Roy had been twenty-seven.<\/p>\n<p>The same period as one of his early signature forgeries.<\/p>\n<p>Another entry:<\/p>\n<p>Roy asked what information is worth.<\/p>\n<p>Sandra whispered, \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bennett turned the page.<\/p>\n<p>Margaret had written:<\/p>\n<p>Told Arthur Roy is learning wrong lessons from all of us.<\/p>\n<p>The room felt smaller.<\/p>\n<p>This family history had not begun with Arthur\u2019s cancer.<\/p>\n<p>Roy had grown up around adults hiding financial misconduct to protect marriages, businesses, reputations, children.<\/p>\n<p>He had learned secrecy before he learned restraint.<\/p>\n<p>That did not excuse what he later did.<\/p>\n<p>It explained the soil.<\/p>\n<p>Then we reached the final pages.<\/p>\n<p>Margaret\u2019s handwriting weakened.<\/p>\n<p>She had been ill by then.<\/p>\n<p>One entry read:<\/p>\n<p>If I die before this is settled, Arthur must know Peter has copies.<\/p>\n<p>Another:<\/p>\n<p>Roy took ledger once. Returned it after I confronted him.<\/p>\n<p>Sandra looked sick.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe knew this existed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That explained why Roy wanted something burned.<\/p>\n<p>Not merely evidence against himself.<\/p>\n<p>Evidence connecting decades of misconduct.<\/p>\n<p>Peter.<\/p>\n<p>Elaine.<\/p>\n<p>Roy.<\/p>\n<p>Possibly others.<\/p>\n<p>Bennett photographed every page.<\/p>\n<p>Then he found an envelope tucked into the back cover.<\/p>\n<p>Inside was a Polaroid.<\/p>\n<p>Roy, young.<\/p>\n<p>Peter beside him.<\/p>\n<p>A table between them.<\/p>\n<p>On the table, the red ledger.<\/p>\n<p>And another object.<\/p>\n<p>A stack of company checks.<\/p>\n<p>Sandra whispered, \u201cMom took this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On the back Margaret had written:<\/p>\n<p>May 14. If Arthur asks why I stopped trusting Peter, show him.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur apparently did not see it until years later.<\/p>\n<p>Or perhaps never.<\/p>\n<p>Bennett\u2019s phone rang.<\/p>\n<p>He stepped outside the unit.<\/p>\n<p>When he returned, his expression had changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe blood from Peter\u2019s office.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sandra stood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhose?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have a presumptive identification.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRoy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDonna?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bennett looked toward the red ledger.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cElaine Porter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut she said she was home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you checked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe checked her initial statement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sandra understood first.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe lied.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cApparently.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy was she at Peter\u2019s office?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going to ask.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bennett closed the evidence sleeve containing Margaret\u2019s ledger.<\/p>\n<p>Before we could leave, his phone rang again.<\/p>\n<p>This time he listened without speaking for nearly a minute.<\/p>\n<p>Then he looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cElaine isn\u2019t home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere is she?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sandra looked at the photograph of Peter and young Roy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs she missing too?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHer car is gone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen did anyone last see her?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYesterday afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The red ledger suddenly felt heavier.<\/p>\n<p>Peter had been attacked.<\/p>\n<p>Elaine had bled in his office.<\/p>\n<p>Roy\u2019s truck had been abandoned there.<\/p>\n<p>All three were connected to a secret Margaret documented decades earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Then Bennett added one final detail.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cElaine\u2019s daughter found a note at her house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does it say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He read from his phone.<\/p>\n<p>I should have told Arthur before Margaret died. Roy knows where the original papers are.<\/p>\n<p>Sandra looked at the hidden compartment beneath Margaret\u2019s sewing machine.<\/p>\n<p>The ledger we held was apparently not the end.<\/p>\n<p>Somewhere there were original papers.<\/p>\n<p>Roy knew where.<\/p>\n<p>And two people who might have helped him find them had disappeared from where they were supposed to be.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/feelonestory.online\/?p=11209\">Click here to continue reading: PART 22: Margaret\u2019s Ledger Exposed the First Secret Roy Ever Used Against His Father, and Elaine Finally Told Us What Happened in Peter\u2019s Office<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Officer Bennett told us to stay inside Hawthorne Lane. For once, nobody argued. Sandra locked the kitchen door even though I had already checked it twice. 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