Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 135696 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135696 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
He drew in a breath and finished his litany of suspects.
“It could also be one of the kids, for two reasons. One, if they’re aware of this situation and aren’t the only ones who were, and they got teased or bullied about it in school. Though it’s important to note, it’s never been brought to light in thousands of pages of reports, motions and filings, it’s my theory. Or more likely, two, because not all of them are of Lincoln’s seed.”
“Holy shit!” I cried.
“Oh yeah,” Delphine repeated.
“What’s your take on that?” Riggs queried.
“If I was forced to provide a report on this, I’d land on the fact that the oldest son is Roosevelt’s, the younger two are Lincoln’s, those kids knew that, and the younger two felt some sense of vulnerability or misguided loyalty, because Roosevelt was the breadwinner, and even that Sarah preferred him to Lincoln.”
“Did Sarah prefer Roosevelt?” Delphine asked, showing that Cade hadn’t told her that part.
He looked to her. “My theory has not even been hinted at in a foot-high stack of papers, but from reading between the lines, it seems this is the case. Both younger kids state as often as they were given the opportunity that their mom hung out ‘all the time’ with their uncle, thus underlining Lincoln’s supposed actions. That said, even the older boy doesn’t dispute this, but instead, corroborates it.”
“That could be a motive for murder,” Riggs commented.
“Yeah, it can,” Cade agreed. “What supports Lincoln doing it is his wife’s supposed preference, and the manner in which your house is situated, or if I’m dead wrong, and they were simply cheating. It could be, though, that he was just giving them privacy, because if his house is like that, the cabin is too. It could have been an agreement. The brothers give each other privacy in their living spaces with Sarah. Where I’m stuck is on the overkill of the fire, specifically the wetting down of the area around it. Something, although there wasn’t much to go on in Dern’s file, but even so, it seemed skewed.”
“Skewed?” I asked.
“From the photos, there was evidence of water everywhere, but specifically, between the stables and the cabin,” Cade told me. “That was drenched. Like he really didn’t want the cabin to catch fire. And that was Roosevelt’s place, so if Lincoln killed Roosevelt in a moment of jealous rage, that doesn’t make any sense.”
It really didn’t.
“But overall,” Cade kept at it, “there simply was no reason for the overkill of the fire. There are many incidences of people behaving in all manners when they’re in a heightened emotional state, and these states can last a long time, in extreme cases, even days. But if you’re in a heightened emotional state, you might set a barn ablaze for indiscriminate reasons. You don’t guard against a fire spreading. That takes thought, consideration, an understanding of and follow-through to avoid consequences.”
Cade shook his head and carried on.
“From what I read about him, Lincoln had not once in his life acted in what could be considered a blatantly irrational manner. All three of his kids testify they loved him deeply. He was reportedly good-natured and social. He had a lot of friends. He was thought of highly. He was the face of the duo, would go on book tours and speak to thousands of people and sign thousands of books. Yes, I could see him flipping his shit if he caught his wife with his twin brother. And yes, I could see when he came back to himself he’d be filled with remorse and turn himself in. But the fire? That’s sketchy.”
“Okay, so if it’s Lincoln’s kids, they were in Seattle and not old enough to make their way to MP on their own,” I pointed out.
“One thing I’ve learned in this business,” Cade replied. “If there’s a will, there’s a way.”
“So you think a fifteen and fourteen year old murdered their mother and uncle?” Riggs asked.
“I think it’s a possibility. But I think they’d need help, and it wasn’t the older boy. It could be the grandparents, but they were estranged from them. It could be the aunt, but if it was her, since she’s involved in highly contentious litigation, I would think someone would have turned on somebody by now, or, if I’m correct, at least outed the nature of the marriage. It could be the girl’s boyfriend, who was seventeen.”
“What happened to the boyfriend?” I asked.
Cade shook his head. “Don’t know. He was mentioned in some of Roosevelt’s emails to his parents, and Roosevelt liked him. Thought he was a solid guy. And it was noted in the last email he sent to his folks, which was two days before his death, that the boyfriend was going to be with the other kids when the oldest drove them out for the weekend. After that, I have no clue. Though, she’s unmarried and there’s no mention of her having a current partner, same with the youngest boy. Then again, in this case, they wouldn’t factor.”