Chapter 7 - Nadine’s Sister Knew More Than Grant Did
The second major source of evidence came from Nadine’s older sister, Marcy.
She contacted Grant through his attorney.
Grant did not trust the gesture.
Neither did his attorney.
So the first conversation happened with counsel present.
Marcy looked exhausted.
“I should’ve called you months ago.”
Grant did not respond.
Marcy explained that Nadine had been talking about leaving.
That surprised Grant.
“Leaving me?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Since spring.”
That did not fit Grant’s current understanding.
If Nadine wanted Piper gone because she wanted Grant for herself, why leave?
Marcy continued.
“Nadine said she couldn’t compete with Holly anymore.”
Grant stiffened.
“She’s dead.”
“I know.”
“She knew.”
“I know.”
Marcy’s voice broke.
Nadine had become convinced Grant would eventually realize marrying her had been a mistake.
Every photograph of Holly.
Every visit from Holly’s parents.
Every time Piper said, “Mommy used to…”
Nadine interpreted it as evidence that Grant’s first family remained more real than his second marriage.
Marcy said, “She kept saying if Piper weren’t there, you two could start over somewhere else.”
Grant stared.
“Did you ask what she meant?”
“I thought she meant Piper spending more weekends with your sister.”
Then, two weeks before Milwaukee, Nadine asked whether Marcy knew any private boarding schools for young children.
Marcy laughed because the idea sounded absurd.
Nadine did not.
“She said you’d never agree while Piper was living with you full-time.”
Grant felt nauseated.
Marcy continued.
“The night before you left, she called again.”
“What did she say?”
“That by the time you came home, things would be simpler.”
Grant sat motionless.
That phrase alone did not prove a plan.
Combined with everything else, it mattered.
Marcy had not understood it at the time.
Now she did.
Grant asked the hardest question.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Marcy looked straight at him.
“Because my sister has always said horrible things when she feels rejected.”
“And you thought this was another one.”
“Yes.”
Grant leaned back.
The pattern extended beyond his failures.
People around Nadine had become accustomed to translating threatening language into emotional exaggeration.
Until one morning a sanitation worker opened a canvas sack.
Marcy’s testimony changed the investigation.
But it also complicated Grant’s understanding.
Nadine had wanted two contradictory things.
To leave Grant.
And to eliminate the person she believed prevented him from choosing her.
May you like
The contradiction suggested her real motive was not simply keeping the marriage.
It was forcing Grant to prove whom he loved most.
