Chapter 9 - ELAINE'S VERSION
Elaine requested a mediated interview before trial.
Arthur agreed only with lawyers present.
She looked smaller without the cream silk blouse and perfect kitchen.
But not broken.
“You think I wanted to kill you.”
Arthur said:
“I think you wanted me helpless.”
Elaine looked down.
Then:
“I thought you were becoming impossible.”
“Impossible?”
“You forgot things. You accused people. You refused every discussion about the lake.”
“So you drugged me?”
“I gave you something you had taken before.”
“Without telling me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She paused.
“To calm you.”
Arthur stared.
“And the videos?”
Her face tightened.
“I needed doctors to see what I saw.”
“You moved my papers.”
Silence.
“You arranged the wrong appointment.”
Silence.
“Did you want me diagnosed?”
“I wanted someone to admit you needed help.”
“Why?”
Elaine finally looked at him.
“Because you would never let go.”
There it was.
Not love.
Control disguised as rescue.
Then Arthur asked:
“Why Martin?”
Elaine’s eyes changed.
“He understood.”
“Because he did this before?”
“No.”
“Because he knew how records work?”
She said nothing.
Then:
“Were you sleeping with him?”
Elaine shook her head.
“No.”
Investigators found no evidence of a current affair.
That surprised Arthur.
Their relationship was financial and strategic.
Maybe emotionally entangled.
But not the simple betrayal he expected.
Then Elaine said:
“Martin helped me when no one else took me seriously.”
Arthur laughed bitterly.
“I took you seriously enough to marry you.”
“You took me seriously until I disagreed with you.”
That landed.
Arthur was stubborn.
Controlling in his own ways.
He had dismissed Elaine’s concerns about selling the property for years.
That did not excuse what she did.
But it belonged in the marriage history.
Then Arthur asked:
“Did you know the pills could interact badly with my heart medication?”
Elaine looked away.
“I knew they might make you sleepy.”
“Did Martin know?”
Silence.
May you like
That answer was not proof.
But it was enough to end whatever remained between them.
