PART 17 – I Went Back Through the Dates, and the More I Compared Them, the Less Karen’s Explanation Made Sense

I spent the next morning looking through my notebook.

There were dates everywhere.

The trust had been established in 2019.

Karen had received power of attorney in 2022.

Mom's letter identified 2023 as the beginning of the missing money.

The letter itself was dated February 3rd.

Six days later, Mom left Oakwood.

Nineteen days after the sale process began, the house belonged to Tyler and Hannah.

I wrote each date on a separate line.

Then I looked at them together.

I had never considered how important the order might be.

For years, Karen had been the person handling things.

I had trusted her because she was nearby.

But Mom's letter suggested that the person entrusted with helping her might also have been taking advantage of her.

I didn't want that to be true.

I still didn't.

But wanting something to be false didn't make the records disappear.

I called Mr. Fenwick.

I asked whether he had completed his initial review of the documents.

He explained that he was still examining the available records.

The trust was one issue.

The financial entries were another.

The sale itself raised additional questions.

I asked whether he had been able to establish how the house had been transferred.

He said he was reviewing the relevant paperwork.

I didn't press him for a conclusion.

I had learned that conclusions without documents were exactly what had brought me into this situation.

Instead, I asked what else he needed from me.

He wanted the original letter preserved.

He also wanted the blue tin and its contents kept together.

I confirmed that I had followed his instructions.

Then I asked about Mom's checking account.

He explained that the ledger would need to be compared with the actual account records.

Without those statements, we couldn't establish the full picture.

I understood.

I also knew who had been managing those records.

Karen.

I sat quietly after the call.

It bothered me that I needed to ask my sister for information about our own mother's money.

It bothered me even more that she had never volunteered it.

I thought about the two hundred and ninety thousand dollars.

That was a substantial amount.

Karen had said the proceeds were needed for Mom's care.

If that was true, I wanted to see how the money had been handled.

There should have been a clear account of it.

I didn't want guesses.

I wanted records.

That afternoon, I called the care home.

I asked how Mom was doing.

The staff member told me she had been comfortable.

I asked whether there was anything she needed.

There wasn't anything urgent.

I thanked her.

Then I called Mom.

She recognized my voice.

We spoke about Emily.

She asked whether my daughter was busy.

I told her she had been keeping occupied.

Mom smiled through her words.

I could hear it.

For a few minutes, I forgot about the ledger.

I was simply her daughter again.

Before we ended the call, Mom asked whether I was coming to see her.

I told her I would.

She said she would look forward to it.

I promised.

After hanging up, I returned to my notebook.

The dates were still there.

I couldn't change the past.

But I could stop allowing unanswered questions to become the permanent explanation.

Click here to continue reading: PART 18: Karen Kept Asking Why I Didn’t Trust Her, but She Still Hadn’t Given Me the One Document I Had Requested Months Earlier