Free If You Only Knew by M. William Phelps

December, they could revisit this part of Don’s financial life and she could decide what she wanted to do then.
    While she was in Tennessee visiting her mother, she contacted Scott and told him she was in the process of helping her mother purchase a home. She wanted Scott to transfer some funds from Merrill Lynch into her account so she could have access to it right away. Billie Jean wanted the money as soon as possible.
    Scott asked her how much.
    â€œOne hundred thousand,” she requested.
    A wire transfer was made.
    There was some discussion between them about her financial future. Scott wanted to make it clear to Billie Jean that she needed to make responsible decisions that solidified her future. She needed to invest. The worst thing anyone on a spending spree could do was to think only about today. Buying cars and giving money away to family was fun and exciting and generous, but she needed to think about her own future.
    She asked what she could invest in. She knew nothing about investments. What was Scott suggesting?
    Scott talked about his company. At the time, he later claimed, it was experiencing a major growth spurt. He needed capital to finance the company’s progress, and the banks wouldn’t invest because the company was so young.
    Billie Jean indicated that she wanted to think about it.
    Scott went to his future wife and explained that he could use two hundred forty thousand dollars to take his company to the next level.
    A check was written in that amount and signed by Billie Jean’s daughter, according to Scott’s later testimony in court.
    Then Scott suggested that his future mother-in-law take all of Don’s money in Merrill Lynch and put it into another company.
    What company was that? she wondered.
    A financial investment firm Scott’s good friend owned.
    Billie Jean, who had agreed to the nearly quarter-million-dollar loan for Scott, said, “What the hell, go ahead.
    â€œDo it.”

CHAPTER 15
    LOOKING INTO DON ROGERS’S death, TPD detectives Don Tullock and Don Zimmerman sat down and listened to the 911 call Billie Jean had made on the night she and Vonlee reportedly came home to find Don Rogers dead on the kitchen floor. This call—and Billie Jean’s demeanor, which had become somewhat of a discussion piece among investigators of late—was rather telling. It said a lot about her personality, despite family members claiming she was the type of person not to show much emotion.
    In a matter-of-fact tone, she called and said: “Yes, this is Billie Rogers in Troy, and I was . . . I came in the house and I think my husband is dead on the floor.”
    No panic. No tears. No hurried delivery. Just plainly simplified and expressionless: “I think my husband is dead on the floor.”
    â€œDo you know what happened?” the operator asked.
    â€œI have no idea. We were at the casino and he’s supposed to go with us. And then he decided he wanted to drink.”
    Don had never wanted to go with them to the casino, Vonlee later said. At best, that statement was an exaggeration; at worst, a lie.
    â€œIs he breathing?”
    â€œI can’t . . . I can’t feel any breath.”
    As they are trained to do, the operator began asking questions intended to reveal simple facts. Things nobody would have a problem answering off the top of his or her head, even under stress.
    â€œOkay. You just got home and he was home alone or . . . ?”
    â€œYeah, he was here by himself. I was with my niece. She’s visiting us from out of town.”
    â€œOkay. I want you to stay on the line. I’m going to have you talk—”
    Billie Jean interrupted, as though she had trouble hearing: “Pardon me?”
    â€œStay on the phone. I want you to talk to the paramedics, okay?”
    Billie Jean said that would be fine.
    They discussed the address. Then the 911 operator transferred the call.
    â€œCommunity Atlanta, this is