Chapter 4 - THE STORAGE UNIT IN PORTLAND
The key opened a climate-controlled storage unit rented by Hannah eight years earlier.
Detective Singh obtained a warrant before entering. Inside were photographs of Hannah's bruises, pharmacy bottles, copies of medical records, and three journals describing her relationship with Logan.
There was also a carbon copy of the letter Claire found beneath the shed floor.
Hannah had written it during her final night at the estate. She hid the original because she believed Logan would bring another woman there. Margaret found Hannah the next morning and offered a choice: accept money, sign the affidavit, and disappear—or face prosecution for theft.
Hannah had taken money, but not as Logan claimed. She transferred eighty thousand dollars from a joint wedding account after Logan froze her personal funds. Part paid for medical care and escape. The settlement characterized all of it as theft.
“Why lie when we first called?” Singh asked during a recorded interview.
Hannah looked toward her attorney. “Because the agreement says I lose my house if I accuse him of a crime. My mother lives there.”
An agreement could not lawfully prevent reporting violence, but the threat of litigation had worked for nine years.
Hannah agreed to testify. Logan attacked immediately.
His lawyers argued the journals were written later, the photographs lacked dates, and Hannah had a financial motive to avoid repayment. They hired an expert who identified variations in ink age across the journals, suggesting some pages were added over several years.
Hannah admitted that was true. She had reconstructed missing sections after leaving.
The admission weakened the journals without destroying the original medical records.
Meanwhile, Claire's hospital chart showed multiple bruise patterns and a sedative overdose. The prescription was legitimate. Pharmacy video showed Logan collecting the latest refill.
That proved access, not administration.
The state court granted Claire a temporary no-contact order based on the shed lock and her injuries. It also barred Richard from entering Mercer property after Logan pursued the trespass complaint. The judge declined to treat Richard's rescue as criminal under the emergency circumstances, but ordered him not to approach Logan.
Margaret then produced video from the estate kitchen.
It showed Claire seize Margaret's wrist and push her against a counter before the shed incident.
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The clip had no sound.
It began six seconds after the confrontation started.
