As the latest edition of The Bachelor heads towards its finale, another drama played out this season far from Peter Weber and his would-be suitors. Here is the true story of how my Bachelor fantasy league was rocked by a cheating scandal, some dogged amateur detective work and an incredible email that put it all together. Names were changed to protect the guilty.

Enter Karen

We started our Bachelor fantasy league more than 10 years ago. Everyone in the league has known each other since high school, and the league has operated on good faith from the get-go. After all, who would want to risk a decade of friendship over a few hundred bucks? Not us. That meant we avoided “Reality Steve” and other Bachelor spoiler sites before the league draft to maintain a fair playing field.

This year our friend invited his coworker Karen to join the league. And that’s where everything went wrong.

First, a quick primer on how the league works. After Episode 1, we hold an uncapped online auction where every dollar bid is a real dollar that goes into the pot. Yes, it is gross and barbaric of us to engage in such behavior — but, my god, it is a rush. Last year, Cassie (who won the final rose) went for $37. The most expensive contender went for $48. Whoever picks the eventual winner takes home 40 percent of the pot. Spots 2 through 7 also pay out in descending percentages. Unlike other leagues, there are no points. It is all about finishing position on the show.

“Something is off here.”

But early on in this year’s draft there were signs that the process was going to be vastly different. That $48 “high bid” from the year before? Comical, as Karen came in and blew the doors off the auction by bidding $212 on Madison and $113 on Victoria P. She also spent $37 on Victoria F. and $18 on Kelsey.

View photos Peter Weber and several women on this season of "The Bachelor," including, from left, Kelsey, Madison, Natasha and Sydney, act out a soap opera on a group date. (Photo: ABC/Francisco Roman) More

I was sitting at my computer watching the prices rise just cackling at this newbie setting money on fire. Karen was in for $380 and single-handedly inflated the costs of all other contestants. The pot of our little nine-person league swelled to $1K.

My friend Henry is our de facto league ringleader. He does power rankings each week with engaging write-ups breaking down the action. I look forward to his notes after each episode.

Once the auction dust had settled, I realized Henry hadn’t bought anyone. When I texted him pointing that out he wrote back, “Something is off here and I intend to figure it out.” Away we go.

“I got her.”

Flash-forward to Week 5. You remember it as the episode where Alayah returned and that Kelsey had meltdown No. 15,112. I remember it as the week that Henry rocked our league to its core.

Henry called me after the episode. As soon as I answered he said, “I got her. I caught Karen cheating.” He continued, “I did forensic accounting on the draft.” He began to lay out his investigation for me and would eventually put it together in an email that he sent to the entire league. It read like a crime novel.

He started with the draft:

Karen never made an effort to bid on any of the other 19 women. Not even a single $1 increase on someone just to kick the tires. Put differently, Karen had zero interest whatsoever in 19 of the 23 candidates. On the other 4 candidates, she adopted the opposite strategy — she would outbid everyone, no matter the cost.

Now this may not sound that odd but consider that I only bought one contestant and bid on at least four others.

Henry also explained that the contenders she bought were two favorites and two relatively random people.

She ended up buying four girls, listed below in the order in which she bought them. To provide context, I'm including the prices paid, along with their post-Week 1 rankings on New York Post and USA Today power rankings [the two most widely read weekly roundups on the internet]. Remember, there were 22 total women left at this point. Victoria P: $113 (4th NY Post, 2nd USA Today)

Madison: $212 (2nd NY Post, 3rd USA Today)

Kelsey: $18 (19th NY Post, Tie 6-16th USA Today)

Victoria F: $37 (22nd NY Post, 22nd USA Today)