Chapter 10 - “G” Wasn’t GrantGrant denied the note involved him.
His phone extraction supported that.
No messages with Celeste about medication.
So who was G?
Contacts.
Gregory.
Gavin.
Grace.
G.
One contact saved only as:
G.
Number disconnected.
Phone provider traced registration.
Disposable account.
Location data around Hawthorne and downtown Raleigh.
Payment tied to prepaid card.
No identity.
Then Celeste’s email archive revealed an appointment with a concierge physician.
Dr. Gavin Cross.
G.
Gavin specialized in private wellness care for wealthy clients.
Celeste had seen him several times.
Andrew once too.
Kara interviewed him.
He looked horrified when shown the note.
“I never told her to medicate Andrew.”
“Did she ask about interactions?”
“Yes.”
Evelyn’s stomach tightened.
“When?”
“About eighteen months ago.”
Days before death.
“What did she ask?”
“She said Andrew accidentally took one of her propranolol tablets.”
“Did she ask whether it was dangerous?”
“Yes.”
“What did you say?”
“I told her because of his heart condition, he should contact his cardiologist immediately.”
“Did she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Anything about verapamil?”
Dr. Cross hesitated.
“She asked hypothetically.”
“What?”
“What would happen if someone took both.”
“And?”
“I told her potentially severe bradycardia, hypotension, heart block.”
“Did that alarm you?”
“Yes.”
“What did you do?”
“I asked why.”
“She said she was reorganizing medications and wanted to avoid mistakes.”
Kara looked at him.
“Did you document this?”
“Yes.”
Clinical note existed.
Celeste had asked specific interaction questions before Andrew’s death.
That was strong.
Then:
“Half dose didn’t change anything.”
What did that mean?
Maybe she had already administered something.
Investigators searched pharmacy quantities.
Celeste’s propranolol prescription was short by more tablets than expected.
But medication adherence could explain.
Verapamil old bottle also unaccounted.
A forensic pharmacologist modeled Andrew’s postmortem levels.
He likely ingested doses within several hours of death.
Combination could plausibly trigger fatal arrhythmia in his condition.
No certainty of intentional administration.
But homicide became likely.
Celeste was questioned.
She said Andrew had anxiety.
Sometimes took her propranolol.
His doctors denied knowing.
Yolanda never saw it.
Evelyn never heard.
Madison remembered something.
“Dad hated Celeste’s pills.”
Everyone looked at her.
“What do you mean?” Kara asked gently.
Madison sat with her advocate.
“He said they made her tired.”
“Did he ever take them?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“He wouldn’t even take my gummy vitamin.”
That almost made Evelyn laugh.
Andrew was rigid about medication.
Madison continued:
“Celeste made smoothies.”
“When?”
“A lot.”
“Did Dad drink them?”
“Yes.”
Evelyn’s heart sank.
“Did anything happen?”
“Sometimes he said they tasted bitter.”
Silence.
Madison looked confused.
“Is that important?”
Kara did not answer directly.
“We’ll look into it.”
Kitchen records?
No old samples.
But smart-home footage had cloud backups.
Hawthorne’s kitchen cameras were installed for security years earlier.
Retention supposedly ninety days.
Yet Andrew had configured a home server for longer storage after a burglary.
Yolanda remembered.
Search.
Old drive in network closet.
Data corrupted but partially recoverable.
The day Andrew died.
Kitchen camera.
7:12 a.m.
Celeste preparing two smoothies.
She opened one bottle.
Dropped something into one glass.
Could be supplement.
Could be medication.
Andrew entered.
Took the same glass.
Drank.
No audio.
Later footage.
Andrew rubbing chest.
Celeste watching.
Not helping? She asked something, then he waved her off.
He left house at 8:03.
Collapsed in car at 8:41.
Evelyn watched the footage once.
Never again.
Kara said:
“We need identify what she put in.”
No direct image.
Bottle label obscured.
But shape.
Brown pharmacy bottle.
Celeste’s prescription bottle likely orange, not brown.
Dr. Cross dispensed compounded supplements in brown containers.
Investigators searched his records.
He gave Celeste magnesium capsules.
Harmless.
Could have been one.
Then enhanced video.
Celeste opened capsule.
Poured powder.
If propranolol tablet? Different.
Maybe crushed.
No clarity.
Prosecutors needed more.
Grant then remembered a conversation after Andrew’s death.
“Celeste told me she had ‘made sure he couldn’t get to Malcolm.’”
Kara asked:
“Exact words?”
“Yes.”
“Context?”
“Rebecca’s papers.”
“Could she mean delaying him?”
“I asked that.”
“What did she say?”
Grant swallowed.
“She said, ‘Does it matter now?’”
Evelyn felt sick.
But Grant had credibility problems.
He was cooperating to save himself.
Need corroboration.
Then Peter Weller called.
He found old texts between Celeste and Charles.
The morning Andrew died:
C: He’s going to Malcolm today.
Charles:
Then let him. We can fight legally.
Celeste:
You’re too soft.
Charles:
Do nothing stupid.
Three hours later, after Andrew’s death was reported:
Celeste:
Problem solved.
Charles:
What does that mean?
Celeste never answered.
Charles had saved the messages because they disturbed him.
He had not reported them.
Another silence.
Another choice.
May you like
Now the case against Celeste was no longer only about a house.
It was about whether she killed her husband to make the house easier to steal.
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