He had access to all of them.
When I moved back home, I had placed my important papers in a locked file cabinet in my bedroom. Tyler knew where the spare key was because Mom had once asked him to get Owen’s insurance card during an emergency.
The detective told me not to confront anyone.
The following morning, I met attorney Daniel Brooks and brought two years of bank statements with me. He looked through the payments and told me something I had never fully understood: I was not an adult dependent living in the house for free. I was the person financially holding the household up.
Over twenty-four months, I had paid more than forty-eight thousand dollars toward the mortgage, utilities, groceries, repairs, and Owen’s care. Tyler had paid almost nothing. Still, Mom had regularly moved money into his account and marked those transfers “mortgage reimbursement.”
The pattern made it appear as if Tyler was the one covering the household expenses.
Then Daniel discovered another issue.
The house had been jointly owned by my parents. After Dad died, his will left his half to all three children: Tyler, Owen, and me. Mom had never told us. She had continued acting as if the property belonged only to her.