Chapter 8 - Hannah's Safeguards
Vera Finch arrived at my office with a canvas tote and the expression she wore whenever someone had underestimated her. She'd been Hannah's closest friend since college and, after Hannah's death, the co-trustee who handled June's inheritance.
"Celia can't touch the trust by marrying you," Vera said. "Your wife anticipated that. Hannah wanted oversight from two people who didn't always agree."
I almost laughed. Hannah used to say Vera could find an error in a grocery receipt from across the room.
Vera laid out the trust terms. Regular living expenses were permitted. Major transfers required independent approval. A change in guardianship wouldn't automatically turn someone into a trustee. But the forged papers, false behavioral reports, and possible witness videos could be used to create enough confusion to pressure a court or a bank.
"They weren't guaranteed to win," Vera said. "They were hoping we would panic and make a costly mistake."
Then she showed me something worse. A letter addressed to her office had been returned as undeliverable three weeks earlier. It purported to resign Vera from her role and appoint an interim trustee named Leonard Price.
"I didn't sign it," Vera said. "And the bank rejected it."
My hands went cold. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I told Celia. She answered your phone and said you were away. She promised you'd call back."
June had been sleeping in the next room while that conversation happened.
Vera took out one more document: a receipt for a payment from a shell company connected to Victor Voss. It had been sent to a consultant who specialized in manufacturing family-risk evaluations.
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The invoice description was only five words.
CHILD TRANSFER — PHASE TWO APPROVED.
