Latest / Martin Animations / My dad died suddenly and my mom_s new husband moved in the next week_ I found proof he poisoned him

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My dad died suddenly and my mom_s new husband moved in the next week_ I found proof he poisoned him · Martin Animations

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: My dad died suddenly, and my mom's new husband moved
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: in the next week, but I found proof he poisoned him.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Dad collapsed in the kitchen on a Thursday morning while
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: making his famous blueberry pancakes. One second he was flipping
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: them with that stupid spatula shaped like a fish, humming
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: some old Eagles song, and the next second he was
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: on the floor convulsing. His eyes rolled back and foam
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: came out of his mouth. I screamed for mom and
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: she came running in her bathrobe, hair still wet from
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: the shower. She dropped to her knees next to him,
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: shouting his name over and over while I stood frozen
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: by the doorway, my backpack still on my shoulders because
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: I'd been about to leave for school. The ambulance came
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: within eight minutes, but it felt like hours. The paramedics
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: worked on him right there on our kitchen floor, doing
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: chest compressions and hooking up machines with wires everywhere. They
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: loaded him onto a stretcher, and one of them kept saying,
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: massive cardiac event, into his radio. Mom rode with him
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: in the ambulance, and our neighbor, Mrs. Caldwell, drove me
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: to the hospital. I sat in her car smelling her
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: vanilla air freshener and watching the ambulance's lights disappear ahead
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: of us. Dad died before we even got there. The
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: doctor said it was a heart attack, sudden and catastrophic.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: He said sometimes these things just happen, even to relatively
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: healthy men in their early 40s. Dad had been tired lately,
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: complaining about heartburn and feeling foggy, but he'd blamed it
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: on stress from his new promotion at work. The doctor
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: said those were classic warning signs we should have caught.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: Mom sobbed into her hands while the doctor talked, and
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: I just sat there numb, staring at the motivational poster
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: on the wall about living each day like it's your last.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: The funeral was five days later. Mom was like a
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: zombie through the whole thing, barely speaking, just nodding when
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: people offered condolences. Our house filled up with casseroles and
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: sympathy cards. I kept expecting Dad to walk through the
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: door saying it was all a mistake, but he never did.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: His coffin was closed because mom said she wanted to
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: remember him as he was, not pale and wrong in
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: a funeral home. I didn't argue even though I wanted
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: to see him one more time, wanted proof that he
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: was really gone and this wasn't some nightmare I couldn't
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: wake up from. What happened next should have been my
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: first clue something was wrong. Exactly six days after the funeral,
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: mom came into my room and told me we were
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: having a guest for dinner. She was wearing makeup for
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: the first time since dad died, and she'd done her hair.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: I asked who was coming and she got this weird
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: look on her face, half guilty and half defiant. She
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  Speaker 1: said his name was Kenneth, and he was an old
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: friend from college who'd heard about Dad and wanted to
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: check on us. I thought it was nice that someone
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: cared enough to visit. Kenneth showed up at 7 with
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: wine and flowers, dressed in an expensive suit that looked
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: out of place in our modest suburban home. He was
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: tall and had this perfect smile that showed too many teeth,
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: and when he shook my hand, his palm was cold
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: and slightly damp. He kept touching Mom's shoulder and back
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: during dinner, these casual touches that lasted just a second
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: too long. I watched him cut his steak with surgical precision,
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: every piece exactly the same size. He asked me questions
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: about school, but I could tell he didn't actually care
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: about my answers— just waited for me to stop talking
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: so he could go back to talking to mom. After
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: Kenneth left that night, mom sat me down on the
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: couch with her hands folded in her lap, like she
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: was about to deliver bad news. She said Kenneth had
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: been very kind to her during a difficult time, that
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: he'd been calling every day to check on her, that
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: he understood grief in a way most people didn't because
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: his own wife had died three years ago from cancer.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: I said that was sad, but I didn't understand why
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: she was telling me this now. That's when she dropped
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  Speaker 1: the bomb. She said Kenneth had asked her to dinner,
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  Speaker 1: a real dinner, just the two of them. I stared
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: at her for a long moment, waiting for the punchline.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: When it didn't come, I asked if she was seriously
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  Speaker 1: talking about dating someone when Dad had been dead for
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: less than two weeks. She got defensive immediately, saying I
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: was too young to understand how lonely she was, how
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: much she needed support, how Dad would want her to
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  Speaker 1: be happy. I walked out of the room before I
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: said something I'd regret, but I heard her crying behind
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: me and felt guilty even though I knew I was
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: right to be upset.
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: This wasn't normal. None of this was normal.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: Kenneth started coming over every single day after that, sometimes
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: for dinner, sometimes just to sit with Mom on the
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: porch drinking wine and talking in low voices. He'd bring
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: her gifts— Expensive things like designer handbags and jewelry that
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: we definitely couldn't afford on dad's life insurance payout. When
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: I asked mom where all this stuff was coming from,
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: she said Kenneth was just generous, that he had money
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: and liked to share it with people he cared about.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: Three weeks after dad died, mom told me Kenneth was
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: moving in.
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: Not asking, telling.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: She said he'd sold his condo and it made sense
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: financially for him to stay with us while he looked
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: for a new place. She said it was temporary, just
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: until he found something suitable.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: I knew that was a lie the second she said it.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: Kenneth moved in on a Saturday with barely any belongings,
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  Speaker 1: just three suitcases and some boxes of books. He took
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: over dad's side of the closet that same day. I
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: watched from my bedroom doorway as Mom helped him hang
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: up his suits where Dad's flannel shirts used to be.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: She'd donated all of Dad's clothes the week before, said
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: it was too painful to look at them. Now Kenneth's
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: expensive Italian leather shoes sat in the exact spot where
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: Dad's work boots had been.
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: Kenneth had rules.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: He didn't call them that, just suggestions about how the
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: household should run more smoothly. Dinner at exactly 6.30 every night,
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  Speaker 1: no phones at the table, no loud music after 9 p.m.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: He reorganized the kitchen so everything was in different cabinets,
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: said Mom's system was inefficient. He threw out half the
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: food in the fridge, called it unhealthy garbage that was
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: probably what caused Dad's heart attack in the first place.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: That comment made me want to punch him, but I
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: bit my tongue. Mom just nodded along with everything he
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: said like she was hypnotized. The weirdest part was how
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: comfortable he was, like he'd been living here for years
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: instead of days. He knew where everything was without asking,
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: had opinions about which grocery store had the best produce,
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: suggested changing the internet provider because ours was too slow.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: It felt wrong, like he was erasing Dad one small
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: detail at a time. I started spending more time in
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  Speaker 1: my room just to avoid him. Every time I came
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: downstairs he was there, sitting in Dad's chair, drinking from
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  Speaker 1: Dad's favorite mug, talking about plans for the house like
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: it was his. Mom seemed happy, though, or at least
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: less sad, so I tried to keep my mouth shut
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: for her sake.
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: School became my escape.
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  Speaker 1: I'd leave early and come home late, claiming I had
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  Speaker 1: clubs or study groups when really I just sat in
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  Speaker 1: the library trying to forget that Kenneth was sleeping in
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  Speaker 1: my dad's bed. My best friend Waverly knew something was wrong,
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  Speaker 1: but I couldn't bring myself to explain it. How do
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: you tell someone your mom moved a strange man into
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: your house a month after your dad died? It sounded insane,
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: even in my own head. But Waverly was persistent, kept
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  Speaker 1: asking if I was okay until I finally broke down
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: and told her everything during lunch one day. She looked horrified,
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  Speaker 1: said that was really weird, and maybe I should talk
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  Speaker 1: to a school counselor. I laughed bitterly and said, what
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: would I tell them? That my mom was dating too soon?
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: That her boyfriend made me uncomfortable? Those weren't crimes. Waverly
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: squeezed my hand and said I could stay at her
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  Speaker 1: place anytime I needed a break. That offer meant more
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  Speaker 1: than she knew. Having somewhere to escape to, even temporarily,
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: made the situation slightly more bearable. Things got stranger about
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: six weeks after Dad died. I came home from school
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  Speaker 1: one day to find Kenneth in Dad's office, going through
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  Speaker 1: his desk drawers. I asked what he was doing, and
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  Speaker 1: he jumped like I'd caught him doing something wrong and
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  Speaker 1: then quickly recovered and said he was just organizing. Said
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: mom had asked him to clean out the office so
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  Speaker 1: she could turn it into a craft room. That was
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  Speaker 1: bullshit because mom had never crafted anything in her life.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: But before I could call him on it, he pulled
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  Speaker 1: out a folder and handed it to me. He said
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  Speaker 1: these were some papers I might want to keep. Old
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: report cards and drawings from when I was little. His
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  Speaker 1: smile didn't reach his eyes as he watched me flip
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  Speaker 1: through them. I took the folder and left, but something
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  Speaker 1: about the interaction bothered me. Why was Kenneth going through
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: dad's things? What was he looking for? I decided to
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: check the office myself the next day when he was
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: at his mysterious job that he never talked about. I'd
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: wait until he left the house and then search the
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: desk to see what he'd been doing. The thought of
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  Speaker 1: touching dad's things made my chest tight, but I needed
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: to know what Kenneth was up to. The next morning,
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: I faked being sick so I could stay home from school.
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  Speaker 1: Mom believed it immediately because I'd been so quiet and
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: withdrawn lately. Probably thought I was finally processing grief. Kenneth
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  Speaker 1: left at 9.30 in his BMW, and mom left 10
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: minutes later for her shift at the hospital where she
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: worked as a nurse. I waited another 15 minutes to
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: make sure they weren't coming back, then went straight to
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  Speaker 1: dad's office. The room still smelled like his cologne even
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: though it had been weeks. His coffee mug was still
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: on the desk, long since cleaned but forever marked with
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  Speaker 1: a faint ring where he'd set it down a thousand times.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: I started with the desk drawers Kenneth had been searching.
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: Most of them were empty now, cleaned out, but in
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  Speaker 1: the very back of the bottom drawer I found something
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  Speaker 1: Kenneth had missed. A small leather journal, the kind Dad
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: used to keep for work notes. I pulled it out
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: and flipped it open. The entries were dated, starting about
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: four months before he died. The first few pages were
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: normal work stuff, meeting notes and project deadlines, but then
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: the tone changed. Dad had written feeling strange lately, tired
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: all the time, heartburn worse, and asked Kenneth about the
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: supplement he recommended, says it should help with stress.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: My blood went cold. Kenneth had been giving Dad supplements?
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: I kept reading.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: The entries got more concerning. Supplement making me feel worse?
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: Kenneth says it's normal. Body adjusting to new vitamins. Can't
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: think straight at work. And then, three weeks before Dad died.
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: Found empty bottle in trash. Looked up the label online.
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: Not a supplement.
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: Some kind of heart medication? Why would Kenneth give me
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: heart medication? And finally, the last entry, dated two days
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: before Dad collapsed. Confronted Kenneth yesterday at coffee shop.
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: He laughed it off.
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: Said I was reading the label wrong, but I know
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: what I saw. Going to doctor tomorrow to get blood test,
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: see what's in my system. Kenneth looked worried when I
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: told him. Lauren doesn't believe me, says I'm being paranoid.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: Maybe I am, but something feels wrong. There were no
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: more entries after that. Dad died before he could get
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: that blood test. I sat on the floor of his
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: office holding the journal with shaking hands, reading those last
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: words over and over. Kenneth had been poisoning Dad. That's
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: why the heart attack was so sudden. That's why Dad
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: had been feeling sick for months. And Kenneth had known,
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: had laughed when Dad confronted him. I took photos of
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: every page with my phone, making sure the images were clear.
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: Then I put the journal back exactly where I'd found it,
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: deep in the drawer where Kenneth must have missed it
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: during his search. My mind was racing, trying to figure
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: out what to do with this information.
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: I couldn't go to Mom. She was clearly under Kenneth's
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: spell and wouldn't believe me. The police? What would I
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: tell them?
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: That I found a journal with unproven accusations about supplements?
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: They'd say it wasn't evidence, just a sick man's paranoid
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: delusions before a natural heart attack. I needed more proof,
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: something concrete that would force people to take me seriously.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: I decided to start by searching Kenneth's things, see if
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: I could find the bottle dad had written about or
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: anything else suspicious. Kenneth had moved into the guest room temporarily,
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: said he didn't want to rush things with mom even
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: though they were clearly already together. His belongings were still
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: mostly packed in those three suitcases. I felt gross going
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: through someone else's stuff, but I kept thinking about dad's
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: journal entries, about how Kenneth had laughed when confronted. This
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: man had killed my father and now he was sleeping
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: in our house. I had to do something. Kenneth's suitcases
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: were in the guest room closet, tucked behind winter coats.
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: I pulled them out one at a time, listening for
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: any sound of someone coming home. The first suitcase was
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: just clothes, expensive button downs, and perfectly creased slacks. The
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: second had more clothes and some toiletries, fancy brands I'd
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: never heard of. The third suitcase was locked. I tried
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: to force it open, but the clasp was solid metal
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: and wouldn't budge. I needed something to pick the lock,
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: but I'd never done anything like that before. I was
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: about to give up when I remembered a YouTube video
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: Waverly had shown me once about opening suitcase locks with
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: a ballpoint pen. It seemed ridiculous, but I grabbed a
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: pen from Dad's office and tried it anyway. I jammed
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: the pen into the zipper track and pushed hard, and
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: to my shock, the zipper separated. The suitcase popped open. Inside,
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: I found a laptop. several folders full of documents, and
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: a small box that rattled when I picked it up.
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: I opened the box.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: Inside were at least 30 prescription pill bottles, all with
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: different names on the labels.
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: None of them said Kenneth.
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: I took photos of every label, my hands shaking so
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: badly some of the pictures came out blurry. These were
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: medications prescribed to different people, people whose names I didn't recognize.
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: Why would Kenneth have all these pills? I was shoving
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: everything back into the suitcase when I heard a car
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: door slam outside.
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: My heart stopped.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: I zipped the suitcase closed, tried to force the broken
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: zipper to look normal, and shoved it back in the closet.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: I just pulled the winter coats over it when I
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: heard the front door open. Kenneth's voice called out, asking
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: if anyone was home. I held my breath, frozen in
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: the guest room with guilt written all over my face.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: Heavy footsteps came up the stairs and I knew I
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: was trapped. I couldn't get to my room without passing
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: the staircase where Kenneth would see me. The guest room
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: door was open and I was standing right next to
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: the closet like a complete idiot. Kenneth appeared in the
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: doorway and his eyes went from confused to calculating in
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: about half a second. He asked what I was doing home,
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: thought I had school today. I stammered that I wasn't
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: feeling well, came home early. He looked at the closet,
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: then back at me, and something dark crossed his face.
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: He said it was funny, he'd come home because he
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: forgot something important, and now here I was standing in
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: his room. His tone made it clear he didn't believe
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: my excuse. He asked if I needed anything from his closet,
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: said it in this friendly way that felt like a threat.
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: I shook my head and tried to walk past him
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: but he grabbed my arm, not hard enough to hurt
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: but firm enough to stop me. Kenneth's face was very
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: close to mine and I could smell coffee on his breath.
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: He said he knew this situation was hard for me,
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: losing my dad so suddenly, having a new person in
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: the house. He said he wasn't trying to replace dad,
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: just trying to help my mom through a difficult time.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: But he also said we all needed to respect boundaries,
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: and going through people's private things wasn't respectful. I tried
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: to pull my arm away, but his grip tightened just slightly.
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: He asked if I understood what he was saying. I nodded,
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: my throat too tight to speak. He let me go,
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: and I practically ran to my room, locking the door
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: behind me. My whole body was shaking, and I felt
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: like I might throw up. Kenneth knew I'd been in
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: his stuff, which meant he'd checked that suitcase and realized
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: I'd broken the lock.
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: Would he know I saw the pills? Would he do
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: something about it?
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: I pulled out my phone and looked at the photos
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: I'd taken, zooming in on the prescription labels. Most of
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: them were for heart medication, blood thinners, things that would
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: be dangerous in the wrong doses. But why would Kenneth
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: have pills prescribed to other people, unless he was collecting
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: them for a reason, unless he'd done this before?
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: The thought made me sick. What if Dad wasn't Kenneth's
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: first victim?
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: I spent the rest of that day in my room,
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: too afraid to come out even when Mom called me
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: for dinner. I texted her that I had food poisoning
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: and couldn't eat. She bought it without question, said she'd
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: check on me later. Around midnight, I heard them talking
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: in the hallway outside my door. Kenneth's voice was low
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: and smooth, saying something about teenage rebellion being normal. Mom
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: laughed quietly and said I'd been so difficult lately, she
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: didn't know what to do with me. Kenneth said maybe
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: I needed some time away, suggested a boarding school he
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: knew that specialized in helping troubled teens process grief.
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: My blood ran cold.
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: He was trying to get rid of me, send me
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: away so I couldn't interfere. Mom actually seemed to be
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: considering it, said maybe some structure would be good for me.
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: I listened to them discuss my future like I wasn't
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: even a person, just a problem to be solved. When
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: their voices faded toward their bedroom, I grabbed my phone
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: and started Googling Kenneth's name along with death and wife.
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: Dad's journal said Kenneth's wife died three years ago from cancer.
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: But what if that wasn't the whole story? The search
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: results were limited. but I found an obituary for Patricia Whitmore,
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: died at age 38 after a brief illness, survived by
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: her husband Kenneth. No mention of cancer, just brief illness.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: I dug deeper, found old social media posts from Patricia's
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: friends asking questions, saying they were shocked that Patricia had
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: seemed healthy just weeks before. One comment from someone named
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: Deborah stood out. Still can't believe she's gone. We had
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: lunch two months ago and she was fine. She said
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: she'd been feeling tired, but Kenneth convinced her it was
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: just stress. Then suddenly she's in the hospital with organ failure.
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: Something doesn't add up. Other people had replied telling Deborah
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: to stop spreading rumors, that grief makes people say crazy things.
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: But what if Deborah was right? What if Kenneth had
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: done to Patricia exactly what he'd done to Dad? I
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: screenshotted everything and saved it to a cloud account Kenneth
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: couldn't access. Then I started searching for more of Kenneth's history,
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: found his LinkedIn profile showing he'd lived in four different
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: states over the past 10 years, moving every two to
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: three years. That was suspicious for someone who supposedly had
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: a stable career in pharmaceutical sales. Why move so often?
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: I decided I needed help, real help from someone who
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: might actually believe me. I thought about Waverly, but didn't
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: want to drag her into something potentially dangerous. Then I
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: remembered Dad's best friend, Garrett. who'd given a speech at
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: the funeral about what a good man Dad was. Garrett
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: was a lawyer, and Dad had trusted him completely. I
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: found his number in Mom's phone when she left it
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: charging in the kitchen the next morning. I texted him
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: from my phone pretending to be a potential client, asked
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: if he did consultations. He responded within an hour saying yes,
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: and I set up a meeting for after school on Friday.
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: I told Mom I was going to Waverly's house, and
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: she barely looked up from her phone where she was
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: texting Kenneth. The distance between us had grown so wide
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: I wasn't sure we'd ever fix it. She'd chosen Kenneth
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: over believing anything might be wrong, over even considering that
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: Dad's death was suspicious. Maybe she was in denial, or
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: maybe Kenneth had really manipulated her that completely. Either way,
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: I was on my own. Friday came and I took
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: the bus to Garrett's office in downtown. The building was
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: tall and made of glass, very corporate and intimidating. I
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: almost turned around but forced myself to go inside. Garrett's
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: assistant showed me into his office and he looked surprised
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: to see me. He stood up and came around his desk,
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: asking if everything was okay, if Mom knew I was here.
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: I shook my head and said no. Mom couldn't know
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: about this meeting. Then I pulled out my phone and
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: showed him everything. Dad's journal entries, photos of Kenneth's pills,
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: the information about Patricia's death, The suspicious moves every few years.
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: Garrett's expression changed from concerned to serious as he scrolled
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: through the images. He asked me to start from the
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: beginning and tell him everything.
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: So I did.
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: I told him about Kenneth moving in immediately, about going
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: through Dad's office, about finding the journal. I told him
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: about the suitcase full of medications and Kenneth catching me
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: in his room. I told him about Mom talking about
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: sending me to boarding school. When I finished, Garrett was
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: quiet for a long time. Then he said what I'd
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: found was concerning but not conclusive proof of anything criminal.
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: He said a journal entry about supplements wasn't evidence of poisoning,
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: especially with no autopsy showing anything unusual in Dad's system.
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: The pills could be explained away as part of Kenneth's
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: job in pharmaceutical sales. The quick relationship was weird but
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: not illegal. I felt my hope deflating, but Garrett held
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: up his hand, said he wasn't done. He said what
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: we needed was concrete evidence, and there was one way
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: to potentially get it. He could request Dad's medical records
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: from the hospital, see if there were any tests done
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: that might show abnormal toxicology. He could also hire a
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: private investigator to look into Kenneth's background more thoroughly— see
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: if there was a pattern of suspicious deaths around him.
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: But he warned me this would take time and money,
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: and there was no guarantee we'd find anything. He asked
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: if I was absolutely sure I wanted to pursue this,
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: because once we started, there'd be no going back. If
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: Kenneth found out we were investigating him, things could get dangerous.
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: I thought about Dad's last journal entry, about how he'd
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: been going to get a blood test and never made it.
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: I thought about Mom being completely under Kenneth's control. I
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: told Garrett I was sure. I needed to know the
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: truth even if it destroyed everything. He nodded and said
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: he'd work on it, but I needed to be extremely
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: careful at home. Don't confront Kenneth. Don't let him know
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: I suspect anything. Just act normal until we had enough
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: evidence to go to the police. That was going to
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: be the hardest part, pretending everything was fine while living
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: under the same roof as my father's killer.
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: The next few weeks were torture.
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: I had to sit across from Kenneth at dinner, smile
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: when he told jokes, act like a normal grumpy teenager
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: instead of someone who knew his secret. He watched me
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: constantly with these calculating eyes like he was trying to
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: figure out how much I knew. Mom was completely oblivious,
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: planning a wedding for the following summer. She showed me
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: photos of dresses and venues, asking my opinion, and I
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: had to pretend like I was okay with her marrying
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: dad's murderer less than a year after his death. I
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: wanted to scream at her, shake her, make her see
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: what Kenneth really was, but Garrett had warned me to
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: stay quiet until we had proof. So I nodded at
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: the dress photos and said they were nice and died
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: a little inside every time. Waverly knew something was wrong,
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: but I couldn't tell her the details. Just said family
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: stuff was complicated. She stopped pushing, but I could see
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: the worry in her eyes. I was losing weight because
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: I barely ate, couldn't sleep because nightmares woke me up
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: every night. In my dreams, Dad was alive and trying
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: to warn me about Kenneth, but I couldn't hear what
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: he was saying. I'd wake up gasping and check my
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: phone for any updates from Garrett, but there was never
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: anything new. Finally, six weeks after our first meeting, Garrett
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: called me to his office again. This time he had
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: a folder on his desk, and his expression was grim.
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: He said the private investigator had found something. Kenneth's real
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: name was Kenneth Whitmore Davis, and he'd been using just
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: Kenneth Whitmore after his wife died, possibly to avoid people
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: connecting him to Patricia's death. But before Patricia, there had
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: been another wife. Stephanie Davis died five years ago at
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: age 41 from a sudden heart attack, just like Dad.
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: The investigator dug deeper and found that Stephanie had complained
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: to friends about feeling sick for months before she died,
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: said her husband was giving her supplements to help with fatigue.
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: The similarities were impossible to ignore. Garrett opened the folder
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: and showed me death certificates, medical records he'd obtained through
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: legal channels, police reports. Stephanie's death had been ruled natural causes.
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: Patricia's death was listed as organ failure from complications of
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: an unnamed illness. Dad's death was a massive heart attack.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: All three people were healthy before they met Kenneth, and
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: all three died within a year of being in a
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: relationship with him.
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: The pattern was clear.
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: Kenneth was a serial killer who used his pharmaceutical knowledge
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: to slowly poison his partners, probably for life insurance money
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: or inheritance. Garrett said he'd taken all this information to
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: the police, but they were hesitant to open an investigation
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: based on circumstantial evidence. They said the deaths were years
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: apart in different states. All ruled natural causes at the time.
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: And the journal entries weren't enough to prove poisoning without
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: toxicology reports showing actual poison in the victim's systems. The
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: frustrating part was that Dad, Stephanie, and Patricia had all
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: been cremated, so there were no bodies to exhume and test.
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: Kenneth had made sure of that. But Garrett had one
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: more piece of information that changed everything. The private investigator
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: had followed Kenneth for the past month and documented him
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: meeting with a woman in her 50s at various restaurants
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: and coffee shops. The woman's name was Monica Torres, and
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: she'd recently lost her husband to cancer. Kenneth was already
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: grooming his next victim, just like he'd groomed Mom. And
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: Monica had a daughter about my age. The thought of
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: Kenneth doing to another family what he'd done to mine
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: made me feel sick. We had to stop him somehow,
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: had to get evidence that would stick.
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: Garrett said there might be one way.
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: If we could get a sample of whatever Kenneth was
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: using to poison people, we could have it tested and
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: prove it was dangerous. But getting that sample meant I'd
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: have to go back into his things. I told Garrett
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: I'd do it, whatever it took. He looked uncomfortable, said
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: he couldn't officially condone a minor breaking into someone's room
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: and stealing potential evidence.
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: But unofficially.
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: If I happened to find something and bring it to him,
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: he'd make sure it got to the right people. We
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: both knew what he was really saying. I had to
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: be the one to get the evidence because any adult
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: doing it would make it inadmissible in court. I went
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: home that night with a plan forming in my head.
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: Kenneth and mom had a date night every Friday. They'd
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: leave around 7 and usually didn't get back until 11
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: or midnight. That gave me 4 to 5 hours to
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: search Kenneth's things properly. I'd start with that suitcase again,
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: see if there were any pills left, or if he'd
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: moved them after catching me before. I'd check his laptop
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: if I could get past the password. I'd go through
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: every pocket of every piece of clothing he owned if
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: I had to. Friday couldn't come fast enough. I spent
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: the days leading up to it pretending everything was normal,
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: even as Kenneth seemed to watch me more intently than ever.
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: Did he know I was planning something? Could he sense it?
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: At dinner on Thursday, he asked how school was going,
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: and I said fine. Then he asked if I'd given
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: any thought to that boarding school. Mom jumped in saying
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: we should at least tour it, see if I liked
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: the campus. I felt trapped between them, both smiling at
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: me like this was a normal family discussion. instead of
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: Kenneth trying to isolate me so he could move forward
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: with whatever his plan was for Mom. I said I'd
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: think about it, knowing I had no intention of going anywhere.
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: I just needed them to believe I was considering it,
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: needed Kenneth to lower his guard for one night. Friday
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: finally arrived, and I made a show of telling Mom
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: I'd be at Waverly's all evening, studying for a big test.
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: She barely acknowledged me, too busy getting ready for her date.
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: Kenneth came downstairs in a suit that probably cost more
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: than our mortgage payment, and he paused when he saw
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: me in the kitchen. He said something about me being
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: home alone, asked if I was sure I didn't want
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: to come with them, or at least go to Waverly's
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: like I'd said. I told him I'd changed my mind.
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: was just going to study at home. He looked like
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: he didn't believe me, but mom was calling him from
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: the car and he didn't have time to argue. He
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: told me to lock the doors and set the alarm,
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: said he'd check to make sure when they got home.
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: It was a thinly veiled threat. He'd know if I'd
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: been anywhere I wasn't supposed to be. I waved goodbye
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: and watched them drive away, then waited another 20 minutes
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: to make sure they weren't coming back for something forgotten.
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: The house was.
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: Silent except for the ticking of the clock in the hallway.
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: the same clock that had marked the seconds of my
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: entire childhood. I remembered Dad winding it every Sunday morning,
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: his routine that had seemed boring then but precious now
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: that he was gone. I couldn't let Kenneth get away
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: with taking him from me. I headed upstairs to the
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: guest room, my heart pounding so hard I could hear
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: it in my ears. Kenneth's things were more spread out now,
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: some of them in the master bedroom with Mom's stuff.
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: I started in the guest room closet where I'd found
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: the suitcase before.
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: It was gone. I checked under the bed, in the bathroom,
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: even in the hallway closet. Nothing.
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: Kenneth must have moved everything after he caught me the
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: first time. I stood in the guest room feeling defeated,
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: trying to think where else he might hide things. Then
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: I remembered the master bedroom. I'd been avoiding it because
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: it felt wrong, like a violation of what used to
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: be my parents' space. But if Kenneth had moved his
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: stuff in there, I didn't have a choice. I walked
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: down the hall to their room and pushed open the door.
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: The space looked different now. Some of Mom's things cleared
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: out to make room for Kenneth's. His suits hung in
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: the closet next to her dresses. His cologne bottles sat
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: on the dresser where Dad's photos used to be. I
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: felt anger burning in my chest as I started searching.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: I went through every drawer, every pocket, every shoebox. I
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: checked the bathroom cabinets and under the sink. I even
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: looked in the vents, remembering a movie where someone hid
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: something there.
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: Nothing.
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: Where would Kenneth keep his pills? They had to be
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: somewhere accessible, somewhere he could get to them easily but
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: mom wouldn't accidentally find them. Then I remembered Kenneth was
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: meticulous about his morning routine. He got up at exactly 6.30,
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: went for a run, came back and showered, then had breakfast.
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: He brought his gym bag upstairs with him every morning
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: and took it back down every evening. I'd never seen
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: what was in that bag. I ran back downstairs to
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: the garage where Kenneth parked his BMW. The gym bag
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: was in the trunk. I pulled it out and unzipped it,
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: my hands shaking. Inside were gym clothes, a water bottle,
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: running shoes, and a small leather toiletry case. I opened
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: the case, and there they were. At least 20 pill bottles,
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: all with different names, different dosages. But these weren't the
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: same pills from before. These labels were newer, more recent prescriptions.
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: I took photos of every single one, making sure the
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: names and dates were visible. Then I noticed something else
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: in the bag.
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: A small notebook.
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: Similar to Dad's journal. I opened it and felt my
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: stomach drop. Inside were entries dated over the past three months,
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: written in Kenneth's neat handwriting, lists of medications and dosages,
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: notes about reactions and timings, and names. Dad's name, with
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: notes about how long it took for the symptoms to present.
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: Patricia's name with similar observations. Stephanie's name. And at the
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: bottom of the most recent page, a new name I
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: recognized immediately.
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: Monica Torres.
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: Kenneth had documented every person he'd killed like they were
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: science experiments. He'd written about adjusting dosages, changing medications, noting
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: what worked fastest and what was less detectable. He'd written
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: about Dad specifically, subject more resistant than expected, increased dosage
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: but target became suspicious, may have compromised timeline, need to
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: be more careful with next subject. Reading those words about
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: my father, about the man who raised me and loved me,
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: reduced to subject and target, made me want to vomit.
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: But I forced myself to keep taking photos, to document
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: every single page of Kenneth's murder journal. This was the
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: evidence we needed. This was proof that could put him
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: away forever. I was on the last page when I
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: heard a car door slam. My blood turned to ice.
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: They were home early.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: I shoved the journal back into the toiletry case, zipped
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: the gym bag, and threw it back in the trunk
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: as quietly as I could. But I'd left the trunk open.
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: I slammed it closed just as the garage door started opening.
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: I ran for the door into the house, slipping through
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: it just as the automatic garage light came on. I
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: heard Kenneth's voice saying something about grabbing his jacket, heard
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: Mom laughing. They'd come home and he'd remembered he left
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: something in the car. I sprinted up the stairs as
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: quietly as possible and dove into my room, closing the
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: door just as I heard them come inside. My heart
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: was beating so fast I thought I might pass out.
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: I sat on my bed trying to control my breathing,
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: listening to them moving around downstairs. Kenneth called up asking
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: if I was home and I yelled back yes, said
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: I'd been studying and hadn't heard them come in. There
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: was a pause, then his footsteps on the stairs. He
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: knocked on my door and opened it without waiting for permission.
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: He looked around my room like he was searching for
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: evidence of something, then his eyes landed on me. He
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: asked what I'd been studying and I grabbed the nearest textbook,
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: stammered something about math. He stared at me for a
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: long moment and I wondered if he could somehow tell
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: I'd just been in his car, if guilt was written
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: all over my face. Then he said goodnight and closed
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: the door. I heard him walk to the master bedroom,
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: heard a closet door open. Was he checking his gym bag?
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: Would he notice I'd moved things slightly? I grabbed my
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: phone and texted Garrett the photos I'd taken, sending them
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: as fast as my shaking fingers could manage. If Kenneth
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: figured out what I'd done and something happened to me,
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: at least Garrett would have the evidence. At least Dad
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: would get justice even if I didn't survive to see it.
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: The text went through one by one, that satisfying, delivered
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: notification appearing under each image. I deleted the photos from
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: my phone after confirming Garrett received them, then deleted the
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: deleted photos too. I couldn't risk Kenneth finding them if
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: he took my phone again.
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: I didn't sleep at all that night. Every sound made
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: me jump.
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: Every creak of the house settling sounded like footsteps coming
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: to my room. Around 3 a.m., my phone buzzed with
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: a text from Garrett. It said, I replied that Kenneth
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: and mom had a brunch thing tomorrow at 11. They'd
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: be gone for at least two hours. Garrett said he'd
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: come by at 11.15. I just had to survive until then.
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: Had to act completely normal for a few more hours.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: Morning came eventually, and I dragged myself out of bed
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: looking like I hadn't slept, which was true. Mom asked
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: if I was okay, and I blamed it on the
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: math test I'd supposedly been studying for. Kenneth watched me
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: eat breakfast with those calculating eyes. He asked if I'd
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: seen his gym bag, said he could have sworn he'd
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: left it in a different position. My mouth went dry,
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: but I kept chewing my cereal, said I hadn't touched
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: his stuff. He nodded slowly and said, of course not.
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: Why would I? But there was an implication in his tone.
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: A warning. Mom was oblivious to the tension.
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: Chattering about the brunch and did Kenneth want to visit
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: that new art gallery after.
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: They left at 10.45.
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: Kenneth paused at the door and told me to stay
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: out of trouble, and the way he said it made
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: my skin crawl. I watched them drive away from the window,
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: counting down the minutes until Garrett arrived. He showed up
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: at exactly 11.15 with two police officers. I let them
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: in and they sat in our living room looking at
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: the photos on Garrett's laptop. The officers' expressions got more
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: serious with each image. One of them, an older cop
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: with gray hair, said this was some of the most
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: damning evidence he'd seen in a long time. He said
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: Kenneth's journal alone would be enough to reopen investigations into
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: all three deaths. and the pills were concrete proof he
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: was stockpiling medications inappropriately. Combined with the pattern of deaths
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: around him, they had enough for an arrest warrant. The
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: female officer asked me to tell them everything I knew,
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: and I walked them through the entire story.
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: Dad's journal.
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: The suspicious deaths of Kenneth's previous wives. How quickly he'd
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: moved in with Mom. The conversation I'd overheard about sending
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: me away.
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: Everything.
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: They took notes and recorded my statements. and the male
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: officer said I'd done an incredibly brave thing, but also
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: an incredibly dangerous one. He said if Kenneth had caught me,
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: I could have become his next victim. The thought made
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: me feel sick, but it was worth it if it
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: meant stopping him before he hurt Mom or Monica Torres.
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: Garrett asked what happened next, and the officer said they
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: needed to arrest Kenneth as soon as possible, before he
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: had a chance to run. They asked if I knew
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: where he was right now, and I gave them the
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: address of the brunch place. They radioed for backup and
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: told me to pack a bag, said I couldn't stay
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: here alone in case Kenneth somehow got wind of the
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: arrest and came back. Garrett said I could stay with
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: him until things were sorted out. I was throwing clothes
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: into a duffel bag when my phone rang. Mom's name
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: flashed on the screen. My hands shook as I answered.
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: She was screaming, hysterical, asking what I'd done and why
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: police were arresting Kenneth at brunch in front of everyone.
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: She said I was ruining her life, that Kenneth was
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: a good man, and I was just a jealous teenager
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: who couldn't accept Dad was gone. I tried to explain
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: about the journal, about the evidence, but she wasn't listening.
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: She just kept screaming until Kenneth's voice came through the phone,
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: calm and cold. He said he knew I'd been in
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: his things, said he'd underestimated me. He said I was
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: smarter than he'd given me credit for, but not smart
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: enough to know what I'd just done. He said Mom
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: would never forgive me for this, that I'd destroyed our family.
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: Then the line went dead. The officers said Kenneth was
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: in custody, but Mom had refused to believe any of
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: the accusations. She'd insisted on calling her lawyer to defend him.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: I felt hollow hearing that. Even with all the evidence,
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: even with Kenneth's own words documenting his murders, Mom couldn't
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: or wouldn't accept the truth. Maybe she was in too deep.
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: Maybe Kenneth's manipulation had worked too well. Or maybe she
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: just couldn't handle the reality that she'd brought Dad's killer
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: into our home and almost married him. Garrett drove me
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: to his house and his wife made up their guest room.
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: She was kind and didn't ask too many questions. Just
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: said I could stay as long as I needed. That night,
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: I finally slept.
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: Really slept.
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: For the first time in weeks. Kenneth was locked up
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: and couldn't hurt anyone. The next few days were a
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: media circus. Reporters camped outside our house trying to get
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: comments from Mom. The story hit local news. Pharmaceutical sales
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: manager arrested for triple homicide. Kenneth's face was plastered everywhere.
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: That practiced smile of his looking sinister now that everyone
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: knew what he'd done. Mom hired an expensive lawyer to
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: defend him, paying with money from dad's life insurance. The
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: irony was sickening. She refused to talk to me, wouldn't
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: answer my calls. Garrett said she'd filed for temporary custody
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: of me, but he'd countered with evidence of her impaired
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: judgment given the circumstances. The court agreed I should stay
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: with Garrett's family until things settled. Kenneth's arraignment was televised.
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: He pleaded not guilty, his lawyer arguing that the journal
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: was creative writing and the pills were samples from his job.
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: But then the prosecution presented their evidence. They'd exhumed Stephanie's
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: body from a memorial garden where her ashes had been
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: scattered and found trace amounts of medications that shouldn't have
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: been there. They'd tracked down multiple people who'd received prescriptions
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: for the pills in Kenneth's possession, people who'd reported them stolen.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: They interviewed Monica Torres, who confirmed Kenneth had been pursuing
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: her and had given her vitamins to help with grief.
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: She'd been taking them for two weeks and had started
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: feeling sick. The vitamins tested positive for the same heart
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: medications that killed Dad. The evidence was overwhelming. Kenneth's lawyer
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: tried to negotiate a plea deal, but the prosecution wanted trial,
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: wanted to make an example out of him. During the trial,
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: which lasted six weeks, I had to testify. I sat
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: in that witness box and told the jury everything about
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: finding Dad's journal, about Kenneth's suspicious behavior, about the photos
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: and notebook. Kenneth stared at me the whole time with
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: this expression that was almost disappointed, like I'd let him
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: down by figuring out his game. His lawyer tried to
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: paint me as a troubled teen acting out against my
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: mom's new relationship, but the physical evidence backed up everything
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: I said. The jury deliberated for three hours, guilty on
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: all three counts of murder. The courtroom erupted. I saw
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: Monica Torres crying in relief. Patricia's family hugging each other,
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: Stephanie's mother, who'd flown in from Arizona, actually thanked me afterward,
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: said she'd known something was wrong but no one had
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: believed her. Kenneth showed no emotion when they read the verdict,
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: just stared straight ahead like this was all beneath him.
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: The judge sentenced him to life without parole. Mom wasn't
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: at the sentencing. I'd heard from Garrett that she'd moved
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: to her sister's house in another state, couldn't face anyone
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: after the truth came out. I felt sorry for her
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: despite everything. She'd been a victim of Kenneth's manipulation too,
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: even if she'd enabled him by refusing to see the signs.
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: I went back to our house for the first time
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: in four months after the trial ended.
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: It felt like a museum. Everything frozen exactly as it
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: had been. Mom's coffee cup still on the counter. Dad's
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: reading glasses on the table. I walked through the rooms
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: and said goodbye to the life we'd had before Kenneth
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: destroyed it. Garrett helped me pack up things I wanted
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: to keep and arrange to sell the house. The money
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: would go into a trust for my college fund. I
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: couldn't live there anymore, not with so many bad memories.
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: I moved in permanently with Garrett and his wife, Simone,
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: who'd petitioned to become my legal guardians. Mom signed over
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: custody without contest. Maybe she felt guilty, or maybe she
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: just couldn't look at me without being reminded of how
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: wrong she'd been. Either way, I was okay with it.
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: I had a family that cared about me, even if
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: it wasn't the one I'd been born into. Waverly's family
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: sort of adopted me too, having me over for dinners
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: and including me in their holidays. I'd lost my dad
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: and essentially lost my mom, but I'd gained something else,
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: the knowledge that I was strong enough to fight for
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: the truth no matter how hard it was. Senior year
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: came and went. I got accepted to college with scholarships.
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: I visited dad's grave every week and told him about
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: my life, about how I'd gotten justice for him. Sometimes
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: I felt like he could hear me, like he was proud.
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: I hoped he was.
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: Kenneth sent me a letter from prison about a year
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: after his conviction. I almost threw it away without reading it,
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: but morbid curiosity got the better of me. Inside was
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: a single page where he admitted everything in clinical detail.
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: He said he'd started with Stephanie because she'd inherited money
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: from her parents, and he needed cash to invest in
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: a business opportunity. It was so easy, just a few pills,
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: and no one questioned a middle-aged woman having a heart attack.
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: Patricia had been even easier because she'd been on so
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: many medications already for anxiety. He'd just swapped out her
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: prescriptions with ones that would cause organ failure over time.
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: With Dad, he'd gotten sloppy because he was rushing. Wanted
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: to get the life insurance quickly to fund his next move.
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: He said he'd been planning to kill Mom eventually, too,
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: after her life insurance matured. Said I'd saved her life
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: by figuring things out when I did. He ended the
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: letter by saying he didn't regret what he'd done, only
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: that he'd gotten caught. Reading those words made me realize
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: there was no redemption for someone like Kenneth. No humanity
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: left in him. He was a monster who saw people
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: as marks, as sources of income. I burned the letter
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: in Garrett's fireplace and never spoke about it to anyone.
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: That chapter was closed. I graduated top of my class,
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: gave a speech about resilience and finding truth in darkness.
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: Mom came to graduation, sat in the back. We didn't talk,
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: but she sent a card later with money and a
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: short note saying she was sorry and proud of me.
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: It wasn't enough, but it was something. Maybe someday we'd
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: rebuild our relationship. Or maybe we wouldn't. Either way, I
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: was okay. I'd survived the worst thing I could imagine
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: and come out stronger. Dad would have liked the person
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: I'd become. I carried his memory with me every day.
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: A reminder that love doesn't die just because someone does.
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: Justice had been served.
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: Truth had won, and I'd learned that sometimes the most
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: dangerous monsters are the ones who smile and act normal,
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: who sit at your dinner table and pretend to care
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: while plotting your destruction. But I'd also learned that one person,
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: even a teenager, can make a difference when they refuse
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: to ignore the truth. If you're still here, you're a
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: true fan. Show some support with a like and subscribe
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: to catch the next one.