Chapter 10 - The Policy
I stared at the rain collecting on my apartment window.
"No," I answered.
The accountant explained that a premium payment appeared in the same set of transactions, though the policy itself required separate verification.
A policy was not proof of an intent to harm me.
There were ordinary explanations for insurance in married households.
But I had never completed an application or discussed coverage with Preston.
I requested the records through lawful channels and called my own insurance agent to review my existing policies.
The application appeared to include an electronic acknowledgment from my email account.
The date coincided with a weekend when I had been visiting Leah and left my laptop at home.
Nora Bell reviewed the available authentication data.
A sign-in had occurred from an address associated with our marital residence.
That finding alone could not identify the person at the keyboard.
Still, it deepened the pattern.
At the next hearing, Judge Morrison cautioned both parties against turning unsupported concerns into public accusations.
I appreciated her restraint.
I had once watched an overconfident attorney ruin a legitimate case by outrunning the evidence.
Instead, I focused on the financial emergency.
The lender had paused collection while the signature dispute proceeded, but it reserved its rights.
Preston demanded that I withdraw my complaint in exchange for what he called a generous divorce settlement.
"You can walk away from all of this," he said during a monitored settlement discussion.
"All I have to do is accept a six-million-dollar debt?"
"You're making it sound worse than it is."
"Then explain it accurately."
He refused.
The neutral accountant delivered her first interim report on Friday afternoon.
She could not yet assign responsibility for the questioned documents.
But she found multiple material discrepancies in Preston's financial disclosures.
The report also identified an unusual recurring payment to a newly formed company.
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Its registered agent was Martin Voss's law partner.
