Chapter 5 - Christopher’s Panic Was About The USB Drive
Once the cremation was stopped, the funeral director did exactly what should have happened from the beginning.
He called counsel.
No one reached into the casket.
No one started pulling at Bertha’s clothing in the chapel.
Her body was transferred respectfully back into the funeral home’s secure preparation area while attorneys determined how personal property concealed in clothing should be handled.
I stayed with Veronica.
Christopher stayed in another room.
Melissa stopped speaking entirely.
By evening, under documented conditions and with the funeral director, legal counsel, and a representative from the medical examiner’s office present, the navy skirt was examined.
The envelope was there.
Pinned inside the lining near Bertha’s left hip.
Exactly where Veronica described.
Inside were eleven folded pages.
And one silver USB drive.
Christopher’s attorney objected to nearly everything.
Chain of custody.
Ownership.
Privacy.
Relevance.
Those arguments would be handled later.
What mattered in that first moment was simpler.
The envelope existed.
Christopher had insisted there was nothing.
There was something.
The documents were copies of foundation invoices, bank-payment confirmations, and corporate registration pages.
Across several sheets, Bertha had written notes by hand.
Same address.
Christopher says unrelated—verify.
Why is my approval attached?
Ask board counsel before Friday.
The USB drive contained the digital originals she had copied.
There was no dramatic video confession.
No recording of Christopher plotting anything.
Nothing about her death.
Just financial evidence.
That actually made it stronger.
Bertha had not built a theatrical trap.
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She had made a backup because she was afraid records might disappear.
And Christopher had known enough about those missing copies to believe cremation would solve his problem.
