Chapter 6 - The Interrogation of Evelyn Vance
The following morning, Evelyn Vance—Wendy’s mother—was taken into custody at her suburban townhome after attempting to board a flight to Nassau.
I sat behind a one-way mirror in the precinct interrogation room alongside Detective Vance as Marcus conducted the deposition. Evelyn sat across from him, dressed in an expensive designer coat, her hands trembling as she adjusted her pearl necklace. Her attorney sat beside her, looking visibly uncomfortable.
"Mrs. Vance," Marcus began, laying a stack of notarized deeds on the table. "You stamped these transfer documents on October 12th, attesting that Jessi Ross appeared before you in full capacity and willingly signed over her liquid assets to your LLC."
"I... I believed Jessi wanted to give Wendy control," Evelyn stammered, her voice shaking. "Wendy told me Jessi was giving it as a gift!"
"A gift?" Marcus leaned forward, his voice dropping to a sharp baritone. "Jessi Ross was suffering from severe malnutrition, held behind a locked pantry, and covered in bruises inflicted by your daughter. You sat at that kitchen table for two hours while your daughter held Jessi’s hand down by force."
"That's not true!" Evelyn gasped, looking at her lawyer. "Tell him that's not true!"
Her lawyer leaned over, whispered into her ear for thirty seconds, and then looked up at Marcus. "My client is willing to cooperate fully with the District Attorney's office in exchange for a reduced charge on the notary fraud."
"Cooperate how?" Marcus asked.
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"She will testify under oath that Wendy masterminded the entire financial siphon, orchestrated the physical abuse, and coerced her into stamping the documents under threat of financial abandonment."
Behind the one-way mirror, I watched as the mother turned on her own daughter to save herself from prison. The entire toxic empire Wendy had built was tearing itself apart from the inside out.
