That afternoon, Patricia Williams scheduled another interview with Emily, this time focusing specifically on any conversation she’d heard about property purchases or financial planning. Emily’s memory was remarkably detailed, providing dates, specific phrases, and context that painted a clear picture of systematic fraud.

“Emily, when Grandpa talked about using Grandma’s name on papers, did he explain why that was necessary?”

“He said Sharon had made some mistakes with money in the past, so they needed to be clever about how they bought things together.”

“Clever how?”

“By putting Grandma’s name on papers, even though Grandma didn’t know about it. Grandpa said it wasn’t lying. It was just being smart about legal stuff.”

Patricia looked at me with an expression that suggested Robert had provided enough documented evidence to build a criminal case, not just a divorce proceeding.

“Mrs. Gillian, your husband has been committing identity fraud by using your name and credit rating for purchases you didn’t authorize. This goes well beyond hiding marital assets.”

“What does that mean legally?”

“It means we’re going to request a full forensic accounting of every financial transaction he’s made in the past five years. And, Mrs. Gillian, we’re going to ask the court to award you significant damages for the financial fraud in addition to your rightful share of marital property.”

That evening, Jessica and I sat down with Emily to discuss what would happen when her testimony became part of the court proceedings.

“Emily, the judge is going to want to hear directly from you about the things you saw and heard. Are you okay with talking to a judge?”

“Will Grandpa be there?”

“Probably, but you’ll be talking to the judge, not to Grandpa. And Mommy and I will be there with you.”

“What if Grandpa gets really mad at me for telling the judge about his secrets?”

I knelt down to Emily’s eye level, taking her hands in mine.

“Emily, you’re not responsible for Grandpa’s choices. You’re not responsible for his secrets or his lies or his anger. You’re just responsible for telling the truth about what you saw and heard.”

“But what if telling the truth hurts Grandpa’s feelings?”

“Sweetheart, Grandpa hurt my feelings by lying and stealing money and planning to leave me with nothing. Sometimes people have to face consequences for the choices they make, even when those consequences hurt their feelings.”

Emily processed this with the moral clarity that children often bring to complex adult situations.

“So if I tell the truth and Grandpa gets in trouble, that’s because of what Grandpa did, not because of what I said.”

“Exactly.”

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