Chapter 18 - The Document in the Wall
Maria remembered where Vanessa kept papers she did not want staff to see.
The wine cellar.
Not in the safe. Behind it.
The house had been renovated the year before, and a removable wood panel concealed utility access behind the built-in cabinets.
Police returned with a warrant.
Behind the panel, they found a fireproof envelope.
Inside was a document titled SECOND CODICIL TO THE LAST WILL OF GRACE BROOKS.
It claimed that if I became incapacitated, the family residence and voting authority tied to Ella's trust would pass temporarily to "the lawful spouse of Ethan Brooks."
Grace's signature appeared at the bottom.
I knew it was fake before Laura finished the first page.
Grace had signed her name Grace M. Brooks on every legal document of her adult life.
This one said Grace Marie Brooks.
She hated the name Marie and almost never used it.
The notary seal belonged to a man who had been dead three years before the date on the document.
Vanessa had built an entire future around a forgery.
Police also found copies of my passport, tax records, old signature cards, Ella's birth certificate, and a folder labeled MONDAY.
Inside MONDAY was a script.
Vanessa's planned 911 call.
Her planned statement to police.
The order in which evidence would be "discovered."
And a note:
E.B. likely to agree to treatment voluntarily if threatened with loss of Ella.
I read that line three times.
She had understood the one threat that could break me.
Then Officer Mills pulled a small envelope from the bottom of the folder.
On the front, Vanessa had written:
FOR ELLA - AFTER PLACEMENT.
Inside was a letter.
May you like
The first sentence said:
Your father chose his company over you.
