Every January I Sent My Son-in-Law $40,000 for My Granddaughter. Then She Whispered, ‘Grandpa, Follow Dad.’

The full account of how those materials came to be used remained part of the evidence and investigation.

When I returned home, I stood looking at the urn for a long time.

For seven years it had been the center of my grief.

Eleanor had polished it every Sunday.

I used to place flowers beside it on Laura’s birthday.

Now it was evidence of a story someone had manufactured, yet the sorrow we’d experienced had been real.

I asked for the proper arrangements to be made when it was no longer needed in the case.

I didn’t want it casually thrown away.