Chapter 4 - THE MONEY AFTER DEATH
The eight-million-dollar policy was only one part of the plan.
Investigators found a draft will inside Linda’s handbag.
Emma’s name appeared at the top.
Her signature appeared at the bottom.
She had never seen it.
The will left her house, design company, savings, and future royalties to James.
That part looked ordinary.
The next section did not.
If James became emotionally compromised after Emma’s death, control transferred to Linda through a grief-management trust.
Attached was a psychiatric evaluation signed by Dr. Calvin Price.
The report described James as dependent, depressive, and vulnerable to self-harm.
Price had never examined him.
The structure was precise.
Emma dies.
James appears to inherit.
James becomes the police’s first suspect because of the insurance.
Linda arrives as the grieving mother.
Price declares James unstable.
Linda controls everything.
The more detectives investigated, the larger the plan became.
Linda had opened a specialty laboratory account under a fake catering company.
She ordered concentrated shellfish extract in small bottles.
The account used her niece Chloe Mercer’s identity.
Chloe worked in medical administration and had access to allergy studies.
Messages showed Linda repeatedly asking how much extract could trigger symptoms without causing immediate death.
Chloe told her to stop.
Then sent research anyway.
Linda also accessed Emma’s allergy records through Dr. Price’s hospital account.
Reaction thresholds.
Weight.
Epinephrine dosage.
Prior incidents.
Emergency response.
The medical file had become an instruction manual.
James sat with Boyd in an interview room and read the messages.
His face collapsed.
“She asked me where Emma kept the EpiPens.”
Boyd said nothing.
“I told her.”
“Why?”
“I thought she cared.”
That was the most dangerous part of Linda’s plan.
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She did not break into the marriage.
James opened the door repeatedly because love had trained him to confuse access with care.
