Chapter 9 - The Letters Nadine Never Sent
Grant did not open the cedar box himself.
His attorney made certain relevant material was handled appropriately once Marcy disclosed what might be inside.
Not every private letter automatically became evidence.
But some were eventually reviewed through proper investigative procedure.
The letters were not threats.
That almost made them worse.
Nadine wrote to Holly as though Holly were alive.
You still get every birthday.
You still get every first day of school.
He tells Piper stories about you and looks happier than he does telling stories about us.
Another:
Your daughter watches me like I’m trespassing in my own house.
Another:
If I leave, you win.
Grant read excerpts only when legally appropriate.
He had to stop.
The letters revealed how Nadine interpreted ordinary grief.
Grant preserving Holly’s memory for Piper became romantic betrayal.
Piper asking questions about her mother became deliberate rejection.
Holly’s parents visiting became an invasion.
None of those interpretations matched reality.
But they had become emotionally real to Nadine.
The letters also contained one repeated phrase.
He will choose her.
At first Grant assumed “her” meant Holly.
Then one entry made the meaning unmistakable.
He will always choose Piper. Even if I give him everything, he will choose her.
Grant stared at the sentence.
That was exactly what Nadine had told Piper before the truck left.
Your father always chooses you over me.
The cruelty in the driveway had not been improvised.
It was the physical expression of an obsession Nadine had been writing about for months.
But one later letter complicated everything.
Dated eleven days before Grant’s trip:
I think I’m done asking him to choose. Maybe I should make the choice for him.
Grant showed June.
She read it twice.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
That was the problem.
Police could interpret it in context.
Attorneys could argue over intention.
But Grant had one question no document answered.
If Nadine wanted Piper gone permanently, why use a garbage truck traveling a neighborhood route where a worker might hear her?
Why not something less discoverable?
May you like
The risk of Piper being found had been obvious.
Unless being found was part of the point.
