Chapter 3 - What Ellen had said before the camera clip
The corridor recording began too late to answer the first question.
Why was Ellen there?
Cassandra’s explanation:
Ellen intruded into a private conversation.
Criticized the wedding.
Insulted Cassandra’s family.
Threatened their marriage.
Ellen’s version differed.
She had gone looking for Michael because she found a folded document on the gift-room table.
Not a love letter.
Not a prenup.
A loan statement.
Michael had left his suit jacket briefly in the gift room.
One envelope slid partly from the inner pocket.
Ellen recognized the bank.
Whitmore Community Bank.
Not ours.
Just the bank Michael used.
She did not open the envelope.
The amount was visible through the clear address window.
Past due: $74,620.
Ellen had been told Michael’s only debt was a manageable car loan and a small graduate-school balance.
Why did that matter?
Because two weeks earlier, Michael asked us to provide a lender with a letter confirming the North Howe townhouse would be transferred to him after twelve months.
We refused.
The townhouse was not a gift.
The rent-free occupancy was.
Michael insisted the lender merely needed “family support confirmation.”
Ellen had become suspicious.
At the wedding, she went to ask him privately:
“Is there debt you have not told us about?”
May you like
Cassandra overheard.
That was the spark.
