Chapter 8 - THE SIGNATURE THAT WASN'T HERS
Emma met Nora at a diner with cracked red booths and coffee that tasted like burnt toast. Adrian stayed away at Emma's request. He wasn't happy about it, but he stayed away.
"I was present at his therapy sessions," Emma told Nora. "I saw him struggle, and I saw him improve. I never witnessed any test declaring him incompetent."
Nora placed the report beside an actual timesheet Emma had signed. The forged signature had an extra loop. More important, the date was wrong.
"I was in Milwaukee with my mother that morning," Emma said. "I have train tickets. And the clinic was closed for a power outage."
"Can you give a sworn statement?"
"Yes. But you need to hear something else."
Emma explained that Graham had visited Adrian's recovery suite in August. He'd brought flowers and asked Emma whether Adrian could understand contracts. She had told him to speak to Adrian himself.
"He offered me twenty thousand dollars to be 'helpful' when the board started asking questions," she said. "I thought he meant information. I told him to leave."
"Why didn't you tell Adrian?"
Emma looked into her coffee. "I did. I told him the next morning. He said Graham was just being clumsy."
Nora wrote that down. It was a detail Adrian wouldn't enjoy hearing again.
Outside, the diner windows reflected the gray morning. Emma caught sight of a man standing beside a delivery van, staring in at their table. She turned. He walked away.
"Are you in danger?" she asked.
"Maybe," Nora said. "That doesn't mean you have to keep helping."
"I lived at Crescent Harbor when I was twelve. My mom still does. If they sell those apartments, she'll lose the place she can afford. I'm not doing this only for Adrian."
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Nora's phone buzzed with a message from Detective Ortiz.
The doctor whose signature certified Adrian's permanent incapacity had died six weeks before the document was signed.
