Chapter 13 - The detective does not call it theft yet
Detective Miriam Sloan interviewed Marcus with his attorney present.
No interrogation trick.
He voluntarily appeared.
He admitted:
Using Rachel’s account.
Entering verification code from her phone.
Submitting beneficiary change.
No written authorization.
His defense:
He believed she had orally agreed earlier.
Then after the recording confrontation, he knew she objected.
Why not reverse?
“I thought we could resolve it.”
Rachel died.
Could he have reversed after death?
No.
Beneficiary fixed at death subject to validity.
Then erased white phone.
“Why reset it?”
Marcus said:
“Rachel had private medical information. I planned to donate it.”
“Hours before she died?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know the phone contained insurance account data?”
“Yes.”
“Did you reset it to destroy evidence?”
“No.”
Could prosecutors prove otherwise?
Maybe not.
Cloud/account records preserved key evidence anyway.
Then black phone.
Did Marcus search for it?
“Yes.”
Why?
“Rachel told me she had recorded me.”
There.
Did he know it was in the dress?
“No.”
Did he ask Leo?
“No.
Did he want casket closed before midnight because he suspected?
Marcus hesitated.
“Yes.”
That explained the wake.
He had heard Leo repeat:
“Wait for the sound”
earlier in the evening.
He realized Rachel must have hidden something.
He did not know where.
When the casket stayed open near midnight, he panicked.
That did not make closing a casket criminal.
But it completed motive.
Then prosecutors considered:
Unauthorized computer/account access.
Identity fraud.
Insurance application fraud.
Possible attempted theft.
Evidence tampering for phone reset.
Specific charges depended statute.
They did not charge every imaginable count.
A grand jury eventually returned:
One felony identity/insurance fraud-related count.
One unauthorized-access count.
No evidence-tampering count because proof of reset purpose was insufficient.
No theft count for $750,000 completed because insurer never paid him.
An attempted-fraud theory folded into charged conduct.
Marcus surrendered through counsel.
Bond.
No contact with witnesses about case.
Could continue court-approved Leo visitation.
No prison immediately.
Then Leo learned Marcus had been charged.
Not from me.
A classmate saw something online.
Small local article.
He came home furious.
“You said you wouldn’t hide stuff.”
“I didn’t know you’d see it today.”
“You knew he was arrested.”
“He surrendered. Yes.”
“Same thing.”
Fair.
Then:
“Is Marcus going to jail?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Mom want him arrested?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you?”
That question hurt.
“I want adults to decide what the evidence means.”
“You’re an adult.”
“I mean the adults whose job is criminal law.”
He rolled his eyes.
But later:
“Can I still see him?”
“Yes.”
May you like
His shoulders dropped.
That was the answer he needed.
