“Mrs. Gillian, we’re investigating a case that has connections to your ex-husband, Robert Stevens, and his girlfriend, Sharon Patterson. We’d like to speak with you and your granddaughter about your experiences with Mr. Stevens’s financial deception.”
“What kind of investigation?”
“We have evidence that Mr. Stevens and Ms. Patterson have been running a sophisticated financial fraud scheme targeting older women in divorce proceedings. Your case may have been part of a larger pattern of systematic theft from vulnerable spouses.”
I felt my stomach drop as I realized that Robert’s betrayal of me might have been part of a broader criminal enterprise rather than a personal moral failure.
“Detective Rodriguez, are you saying that other women have been victimized the same way I was?”
“We’re investigating at least 12 cases where women in long-term marriages discovered that their husbands had hidden millions of dollars in assets, often with Sharon Patterson’s assistance as a financial consultant. Mrs. Gillian, your foundation’s work has helped us identify patterns that suggest organized fraud rather than individual cases of divorce-related deception.”
“How can Emily and I help?”
“Emily’s testimony in your divorce case documented planning conversations that match information we found in other cases. We need her to identify voices on recordings we’ve obtained and confirm details about the financial planning meetings she observed.”
That evening, I sat down with Emily to explain that the detective wanted to interview her about Grandpa Robert’s activities, but this time as part of a criminal investigation rather than our family’s divorce case.
“Emily, it appears that Grandpa Robert and Sharon weren’t just hiding money from me. They may have been helping other men hide money from their wives, too.”
“Like a business for stealing from grandmas?”
“Something like that. The police think they taught other husbands how to move money so their wives couldn’t find it. And then they got paid for helping with the stealing.”
Emily processed this information with the moral clarity she’d always brought to adult misconduct that didn’t make sense by any reasonable standard.
“So Grandpa Robert wasn’t just mean to you, he was mean to lots of grandmas.”
“That’s what the police are trying to figure out.”
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