Delia’s Plan
Ten minutes later, Nolan ended the call.
Twenty minutes after that, Delia arrived at my door.
She carried a bag of groceries as though this were an ordinary family visit.
I let her inside.
Then I played the security recording on the television.
Her expression changed.
“How long have you known?” she asked.
“Long enough to understand that my husband has been watching me from inside my own bedroom.”
Delia placed the grocery bag on the counter.
“Nolan needed certainty.”
“Certainty about what?”
“About you.”
She said the last word as though I were a problem she had been forced to tolerate.
Delia admitted that she had convinced Nolan I was having a relationship with a colleague. She had hired a private investigator named Warren Pike to follow me.
When the investigator found nothing inappropriate, Delia asked him to create a more damaging version of ordinary moments.
Photographs were cropped.
Messages were rewritten.
Times and locations were rearranged.
Nolan was told that confronting me would allow me to hide evidence and leave with Lacey.
Delia then revealed the larger plan.
Everett Sloan wanted Nolan to become a senior executive.
Everett’s daughter, Camille, had known Nolan in college and had recently returned to Illinois after ending her engagement.
Delia believed that if Nolan left me and eventually married Camille, both families would gain influence, wealth and status.
“You have always held him back,” Delia said. “He could have had a much bigger life.”
I quietly activated the voice recorder on my phone.
“So you created a fake trip and placed him behind my wall?”
“He agreed because he needed to see what you did when you thought he was gone.”
“And when he discovered I was not unfaithful?”
Delia’s face remained calm.
“Then Warren would have created a situation convincing enough to use in court.”
I stared at her.
“You planned to manufacture evidence against me?”
“People believe what appears organized and professional. You would have looked emotional. We would have looked prepared.”
