Chapter 5 - the attorney’s sister
Nathan’s sister was named Rebecca Webb.
She had once worked as a paralegal.
Not for Nathan.
For Samuel Keene, the notary who processed Lauren’s deed.
That explained the office.
It did not explain Judith.
Nathan looked shaken.
“I haven’t spoken to Rebecca in eleven years.”
“Why?” Elise asked.
“She stole from a client trust.”
“How much?”
“About forty thousand dollars.”
“Was she charged?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“The client refused.”
“Who was the client?”
Nathan hesitated.
“Judith Holloway.”
Elise stared.
Of course.
Judith had leverage over Rebecca.
Or Rebecca had leverage over Judith.
Possibly both.
Detective Cole reopened old financial records.
Rebecca Webb disappeared from Virginia five years earlier.
No death certificate.
No confirmed address.
The last known payment into her bank account came from a company called Redwood Legal Services.
Redwood.
The same investment group trying to acquire Elise’s land.
Nathan looked sick.
“I didn’t know.”
Elise wanted to believe him.
But trust had become expensive.
“When did you first know Redwood wanted my property?”
“Three months ago.”
“Did you tell Grant?”
“No.”
“Judith?”
“No.”
“Anyone?”
“The company board.”
“Who specifically?”
Nathan listed five people.
One name stood out.
Grant.
Though he held no ownership, he served as an unpaid family liaison because Elise once trusted him enough to include him.
She closed her eyes.
“I gave him the door.”
Nathan said nothing.
Meanwhile, police searched the backyard shed more thoroughly.
The hidden compartment contained photographs going back years.
Lauren.
Another woman named Kendra Morris.
Another named Stephanie Cole.
Each appeared beside Grant at different times.
Were they all relationships?
No.
Kendra was an accountant.
Stephanie a real estate broker.
Both had worked on properties later transferred through Judith-controlled entities.
This was not only about wives.
The Holloways had built a pattern around vulnerable property owners.
Sometimes romance.
Sometimes family pressure.
Sometimes forged signatures.
Lauren became dangerous because she recognized it.
Elise became dangerous because she owned too much to manipulate quietly.
Then Aaron found a voice recorder in the shed.
One file survived.
Grant and Judith arguing.
Timestamp:
Two days before Elise was buried.
Grant:
“She won’t sign.”
Judith:
“Then make her.”
Grant:
“She’s eight months pregnant.”
Judith:
“And?”
Grant:
“I’m not killing my wife.”
Judith:
“No one said kill.”
Silence.
Then Judith:
“Fear makes people practical.”
Elise listened once.
Grant had objected.
That did not absolve him.
He still buried her.
Still poured water over her.
Still threatened her.
But the recording established something important.
Judith conceived the coercion.
Grant chose to participate.
Mara knew part of it and stayed silent.
Responsibility had layers.
Aaron continued playing.
Grant:
“What about after she signs?”
Judith:
“She goes to the clinic.”
Grant:
“What clinic?”
Judith:
“The same kind Lauren should have gone to.”
Everyone froze.
Lauren again.
What clinic?
Financial investigators found payments from Judith to a private behavioral health facility called Greenhaven Recovery Center.
The payments began one week before Lauren disappeared.
A room had been reserved in Lauren’s name.
Never used.
Seven years later, another reservation appeared.
For Elise.
Scheduled:
The morning after the backyard burial.
Elise stared.
“They were going to put me in psychiatric treatment.”
Nathan nodded.
“A forced incapacity narrative.”
If Elise signed the transfer and then entered a private clinic, Grant could present himself as the stable spouse managing company and child affairs.
The scheme was not designed around murder.
It was designed around disappearance through paperwork.
That did not make it less terrifying.
Greenhaven cooperated with police.
The administrator admitted Judith had described Elise as “psychologically unstable and potentially delusional.”
“Did anyone evaluate me?”
“No.”
“Then why accept the reservation?”
“Private-pay family referral.”
Money.
Again.
Then Aaron asked about Lauren.
The administrator searched archives.
No admission.
But there was an intake assessment.
Conducted off-site.
By a Greenhaven contractor.
Name:
Rebecca Webb.
Nathan closed his eyes.
His sister had evaluated Lauren shortly before she vanished.
The report described Lauren as paranoid, financially irrational, and fixated on claims that the Holloway family was stealing from her.
Almost exactly what Judith had told people about Elise.
The report ended:
Recommend immediate family-supervised placement.
Lauren had been telling the truth.
Rebecca had turned truth into diagnosis.
Then the Greenhaven administrator found one additional note:
Placement cancelled by patient’s attorney.
Attorney:
NATHAN WEBB.
Elise looked at Nathan.
“You stopped it?”
He stared at the file.
“I don’t remember ever representing Lauren.”
May you like
But his signature was there.
👉 Nathan’s own name appeared on paperwork that may have saved Lauren from forced confinement—even though he claimed he had never met Grant’s missing first wife.
