Chapter 4 - JASON'S PLAN
Jason believed the house was already his in every way that mattered.
He told his friend Tyler:
“My mom’s not gonna last forever.”
Helen heard it through a smart speaker recording she did not know existed until Rachel found the account history.
Jason continued:
“When she’s legally incompetent, I control everything.”
Tyler laughed nervously.
“You can’t just decide that.”
“I don’t have to. I’ve got paperwork.”
Paperwork.
That was Jason’s confidence.
He had spent months building a version of Helen.
Forgetful.
Dependent.
Confused.
Physically unstable.
Some facts were real.
Helen occasionally forgot appointments.
She had once paid the same utility bill twice.
She asked Jason to help with online banking after Thomas died.
Normal aging plus grief.
Jason turned those moments into a narrative.
Then he made sure people saw him “helping.”
At the bank:
“I’ll handle it for Mom.”
At the pharmacy:
“She gets confused.”
At the accountant:
“Just send me the statements.”
He was not improvising.
He was accumulating authority.
Then Rachel found a draft petition on Jason’s laptop backup obtained through Helen’s shared home system.
PETITION FOR TEMPORARY CONSERVATORSHIP.
Reason:
Immediate risk of financial self-harm due to impaired judgment.
Helen laughed when she read it.
Then stopped.
“What financial harm?”
Rachel turned the page.
Jason planned to argue Helen was giving money away recklessly.
Evidence:
donations to church,
gift to niece,
payment for a friend’s medical fundraiser.
Total:
$31,000 over three years.
Helen was worth nearly six million.
Not reckless.
But on paper, isolated from context, the donations could be made to look irrational.
Then one note from Jason:
USE HEAD INJURY IF NEEDED.
Helen went very still.
The plate was not necessarily part of the plan.
May you like
But after hurting her, Jason had immediately seen the injury as useful.
That was worse in a different way.
