Chapter 5 - DEREK’S DEBT
Derek Cole was not wealthy.
He presented himself well.
Good clothes.
Expensive watch.
Nice car.
He worked in commercial equipment sales.
His income was respectable.
His debt was not.
Credit cards.
Personal loans.
Sports-betting losses.
A financed car he could barely afford.
None of that made him dangerous.
Millions of people have debt.
But investigators discovered something directly connected to Robert.
Robert had loaned Derek $48,000 eleven months earlier.
I knew nothing about it.
Neither did Helen.
Veronica knew about $10,000.
Not the rest.
Why so much?
Derek told Robert he wanted to buy into a small equipment-distribution partnership.
Robert believed him.
The money went elsewhere.
Debt repayment.
Gambling.
Luxury purchases.
Robert eventually discovered inconsistencies.
Two weeks before the BBQ, he demanded documentation.
Derek could not provide it.
Robert told him:
“Pay me back or I tell Veronica.”
There was the leverage.
Veronica adored Derek.
Defended him reflexively.
He had spent years presenting himself as stable and successful.
If she learned he had borrowed nearly fifty thousand dollars from her father and lied about why, the relationship could collapse.
Still, why medication?
Investigators developed a theory.
Not murder.
Delay.
Derek needed Robert confused, tired, and easier to manage while he bought time.
Could prosecutors prove that?
May you like
Not yet.
Then Helen remembered a document Robert had almost signed.
