“Avoid attending your spouse’s burial. Inspect your sibling’s residence…”…

She stopped not at her home, but at building I didn’t recognize. Checked address online. It was state prosecutor’s office.

What was Emily doing at prosecutor’s at midnight? Answer obvious. Meeting someone from investigators. Passing info about our actions.

They had people in prosecutor’s. Possibly the investigator I met worked for them. Noose tightened tighter.

Next morning after seeing Emily at prosecutor’s midnight, I woke with one thought: need to get into that house in woods. Checked tracker, Emily’s car at her city apartment. Meaning they’d returned from hideout.

I dressed dark clothes, took backpack with tools bought yesterday at hardware store. Screwdrivers, flashlight, gloves. If caught, say lost in woods.

Drove familiar road, heart pounding heard all over. Sun just rising, fog between trees. Perfect time, early morning, people still asleep, light enough to see.

Parked same place watched house from. Checked tracker again, red dot still downtown. Took backpack and walked through woods to house.

Approached windows and looked inside. Empty. No one.

Curtains not fully drawn, saw part room, table, chairs, but no people. Walked around house perimeter. Looked for way inside.

All windows locked, but in back yard found small basement window. Glass old, frame loose. Took screwdriver and started carefully prying frame.

Worked slowly, trying not noise. Ten minutes later, frame gave. Window opened quiet creak.

Squeezed into basement. Turned on flashlight. Ordinary basement, old boxes, garden tools, jars with preserves.

Nothing interesting. Found stairs leading up. Door to house unlocked.

Climbed and in corridor. House bigger than seemed outside. Several rooms, kitchen, bath.

I started inspecting in order. First room ordinary bedroom. Bed, closet, nightstands.

On nightstand documents. Approached closer and turned flashlight. Passport name Igor Peter Wolfe.

Photo Paul, but different hairstyle and glasses. Fake passport. Nearby more documents, driver’s license same name, income statement, even health insurance.

Whole set documents fake person. I photographed all on phone and went on. Second room office.

Desk, computer, printer. Walls hung with city maps, photos different people. Approached closer and horrified.

One photo me. Taken from afar, leaving house. Nearby photo my house, my car. Even my workplace.

They’d watched me long. Turned on computer. Password protected, but note with numbers on desk.

Tried entering, computer unlocked. Desktop many folders. Opened first, mary surveillance.

Inside hundreds photos. Me at work, store, doctor, even home through window. Second folder, mary contacts.

List all my friends, colleagues, relatives. With detailed info each, where work. What weaknesses, how influence them.

Third folder, destruction plan. Opened shaking hands. Inside detailed plan discredit me.

Point by point, dates and responsible. Who spread rumors, who forge documents, who pressure employers. All detailed.

Even how drive me to nervous breakdown. I copied all folders to flash drive brought. Info much.

Copying took several minutes. While computer worked, inspected rest room. In desk drawers more documents, house lease agreements, utility bills.

All under Igor Wolfe. In one drawer stack photos. Flipped through and almost screamed.

Photos other women. Dozens women different ages. Under each photo name, age, marital status, wealth size.

Paul hunted not only me. Had whole list victims. Photographed these shots and went next room.

There even bigger shock awaited. Whole wall huge scheme. Center my photo.

Arrows from it to other people photos. My friends, colleagues, doctors, bank clerks. Next each photo notes how use this person against me.

Under scheme desk with audio equipment. Tape recorder, headphones, computer sound processing. Turned on recorder.

From speakers my own voice. But words strange. I said something about wanting harm Emily, planning revenge.

I’d never said that. Rewound tape further. Again my voice, but now I allegedly told about hallucinations, seeing dead people.

That lie too. Understood they recorded my conversations, then edited from separate words new phrases. Created fake recordings where I looked crazy.

Next to recorder folder with transcripts. Dozens pages my alleged statements. All invented but sounded convincing.

Copied these files to flash drive too. In room corner another desk. On it medical certificates, psychiatrist conclusions, even medicine prescriptions.

All my name but all fake. One document especially struck. Conclusion I suffered paranoid disorder and prone to aggression.

Signature doctor I’d never seen. Nearby plan forced hospitalization. Date – week later.

They planned commit me to psychiatric hospital. Photographed all documents and went kitchen. There mobile phones on table.

Several, different brands. Turned on one. Phone had numbers people I knew.

My friends, colleagues, even distant relatives. Next each number notes what tell this person. How convince.

Second phone contained correspondence with doctors, lawyers, bank clerks. Paul arranged with them document forgery, false info spread. All for money.

All bought and sold. Third phone scariest. In it phone conversation recordings.

My talks with friends, colleagues, even doctors. Paul wiretapped all my calls. Copied contents all phones to flash drive.

Info accumulated so much flash drive almost full. Last inspected bathroom.

Nothing special there, only usual toiletries. But when opened medicine cabinet, found bottles meds. Sleeping pills, antidepressants, even some drugs didn’t recognize.

One bottle label my name. Inside pills allegedly prescribed psychiatrist. I’d never taken these pills.

But someone could slip them in my food or drink. Photographed these meds too. Walked house again checking if missed important.

In one room found safe. Open, inside money and more documents. Passports different names, all Paul’s photo.

Driver’s licenses, bank cards. He had at least five different identities. Next passports property documents.

Turned out Paul had apartments other cities, cabin, even small office. All this he hid from me years. Copied photos all documents and closed safe.

Checked time, in house over hour already. Needed leave before they returned. But first decided check one more room hadn’t inspected.

Door locked but lock simple. Opened with screwdriver. Behind door small room no windows.

Walls monitors, desks computers. Real control center. Turned on one monitor.

Screen image from surveillance cameras. Cameras installed all over city, my home, Emily’s home, even my work. They watched me 24/7.

Second monitor showed recordings these cameras. Saw myself leaving home morning, going work, returning home. All my movements recorded.

Third computer database all people I communicated with. Detailed dossiers each, marital status, work, finances, weaknesses. Paul studied my circle like military target.

Copied these files too though flash drive overflowed. Room corner printer. Next stack fresh printouts.

Took top sheet and read. Letter to prosecutor’s office. From concerned citizens.

Letter said I dangerous to society, need measures my isolation. Second sheet – statement to psychiatric hospital. Request forced hospitalization patient Mary Smith.

Third sheet – list witnesses ready confirm my insanity. People I considered friends. All ready my final destruction.

Photographed these documents and turned off computers. Needed leave urgently. I’d gotten more info than could imagine.

Returned basement same way came. Closed window, tried no traces. Walked woods to car, constantly looking back.

Any moment Paul and Emily could return. Sat in car and checked tracker. Red dot still downtown.

But knew could change any second. Drove home constantly checking rearview mirrors. No one followed.

At home immediately turned on computer and started reviewing all copied. Info huge amount. Photos, documents, audio, video files.

Whole dossier operation my destruction. Now understood why everything fell apart so fast. Why fired from work, why accounts blocked, why everyone turned away.

It wasn’t chance. Planned psychological terror. Paul not just faked death…