It was a quiet evening around 8 PM. I was sitting at my desk with my little Yorkie curled up beside me when the phone rang. On the line was Mr. Miller, a man clearly distressed. He began telling me about his 35-year-old son, Jacob, who he believed was drinking heavily and destroying his marriage. Out of desperation, Mr. Miller had even bought his daughter-in-law a brand-new Honda Pilot to try and keep the family together—for the sake of their three teenage sons and five-year-old daughter.
He explained that Jacob’s wife, Caroline, claimed Jacob drank from morning till night and had become a useless husband. Mr. Miller poured his heart out. Caroline had been best friends with his daughter Jolene since college, and Jolene had introduced her to Jacob. The whole family had been deeply invested in the marriage.
He asked to hire StillWatch Investigations to follow Jacob for a week and verify just how much he was drinking, to prepare for a potential intervention. I began the intake form. When I asked the name of Jacob’s wife, Mr. Miller said, “Caroline.” I paused. “Caroline Miller?” I asked. “Yes,” he replied.
I told Mr. Miller to hold for just a moment.
I quickly verified his identity, cross-referenced phone numbers, and checked social media accounts, particularly Jolene’s. Everything checked out. I got back on the line and braced myself.
“Mr. Miller,” I said, “I need you to sit down. I have some difficult news. I’ve actually been following Caroline Miller for the past four weeks.”
I explained that another client—an ER doctor’s wife—had hired me to find out why her husband wasn’t coming home. That same ER doctor’s car was currently sitting in Caroline Miller’s garage. I sent Mr. Miller video evidence of Caroline entering the ER doctor’s home just a week earlier.
He was stunned. He believed me, but the pain in his voice was heavy. He told me Caroline had made Jacob leave the house and take the children with him, convincing everyone it was just a temporary break for counseling. Jacob had moved less than a mile away so the kids could still visit their mother easily.
Mr. Miller invited me to his home the next day.
When I arrived, Jolene—his daughter and a respected attorney in Nashville—was waiting. She was visibly upset and didn’t believe a word of the affair. She challenged me directly, saying she wouldn’t believe it unless she saw solid proof.
So I showed her.
I pulled up the surveillance videos on my phone—Caroline entering the ER doctor’s home while his wife was out of town. I showed her GPS tracking logs, proving the ER doctor’s vehicle had been parked in Caroline’s garage overnight. Jolene broke down in tears. Caroline hadn’t just lied—she had manipulated the entire family, driving Jacob out of his home under false pretenses.
As I listened to the full story and the toll it had taken on the Miller family, I paused and said quietly, “Wow… if I were your son, I would feel very betrayed.”
Mr. Miller looked at me and nodded. “He told me he felt that way—on Easter. He told me it seemed like we loved Caroline more than him.”
The pain in the room was thick. A father, realizing too late the weight of his choices. A sister grieving the betrayal of a best friend. And a son, cast out, whose loyalty and devotion to his children was quietly unfolding, unnoticed.
That’s when Mr. Miller stood up, walked over to his desk, and wrote me a check for $5,000. “I want you to follow my son,” he said. “If Caroline was right about him being a drunk, maybe there’s a reason. But if not—I want to know the truth.”
Over the next five days, I followed Jacob Miller from morning until night. What I found surprised me.
Jacob took his children to the gym every day except Sunday. I watched him play tennis with his sons and push his daughter on the swings. They went to parks, grabbed pizza, and laughed like any tight-knit family. I followed him to work, where he had lunch with a woman I later confirmed was his secretary. She flirted, he politely ignored her. He drank only water.
Later, I trailed him to a bar and grill. He sat with friends, drinking a clear liquid with a cherry in it. I ordered the same. The bartender handed me a glass of water with a cherry. Jacob heard this, stood up, and left.
On Sunday morning, while the ER doctor’s car was still parked in Caroline’s garage, Jacob took all four kids to church. They stayed for over three hours.
I called Mr. Miller: “I’m at church. Your son has been inside with all the children for hours. In five full days, I haven’t seen him take a single drink. He’s a devoted father. That’s what my report will show.”
Mr. Miller thanked me profusely and even offered to pay more. I told him he’d paid enough. My job was done.
A month later, Jacob called me.
“You don’t know me,” he said, “but I owe you lunch.”
We met up. Jacob told me that my report had restored his faith in his father. Mr. Miller had called and apologized. They were rebuilding their relationship.
Jacob said he’d stopped attending counseling with Caroline. He’d realized she was lying—and manipulative. She criticized his job in marketing, pushed him to become a lawyer like his sister, and told him daily that he wasn’t good enough. But Jacob didn’t want that life—he wanted to raise good kids.
I connected him with the ER doctor’s wife. Together, they began working on their divorce strategies.
In the end, the ER doctor left his wife and moved in with Caroline—only to return 60 days later, begging forgiveness. Caroline had learned the ER doctor was deep in debt from medical school. She was no longer interested. His wife allowed him to stay for a while, but they divorced and now share custody of their son.
As for Jacob? He’s doing great. Every now and then, I get a message from him on Facebook.
We called it The CrissCross Case—two lives, two investigations, crossing at exactly the right time to bring the truth into the light.
