Chapter 15 - The House She Tried to Sell
The document was fake.
But it was detailed.
My address.
My property tax number.
A sales price of $735,000, almost $150,000 below market value.
A forged signature at the bottom.
Mark forwarded everything to Detective Larkin.
Rachel nearly shouted when she saw it.
"She was trying to create the appearance of a private sale."
"Could she actually sell it?"
"Not without getting through title verification, identity checks, notarization, and closing. But fraud doesn't have to succeed to be dangerous."
The proposed buyer was an LLC registered in Arizona.
Mark recognized the name.
"Her cousin owns that company," he said.
The police suddenly had more questions.
So did I.
Why sell below market?
Why involve a relative?
Why rush?
The answer came from the bank records.
Sloan owed far more than $61,000.
Credit cards.
Personal loans.
A judgment from an old business venture Harrison knew nothing about.
Total exposure: roughly $178,000.
She had not been trying to save their marriage.
She had been trying to outrun herself.
Harrison sat at my kitchen table staring at the debt summary.
"How did I not know?"
I wanted to say because you didn't want to know.
Instead I said, "You knew enough to stop asking questions."
He nodded.
That hurt him because it was true.
The next morning, police in Phoenix located Sloan at a budget hotel near the airport.
She was questioned and released pending further investigation because the case crossed jurisdictions and required document review.
Rachel warned me not to expect a television-style arrest.
"These cases move on paper," she said. "Slowly."
I hated that too.
Then Detective Larkin called.
"We recovered a laptop from Sloan."
"And?"
"There are draft documents related to your property."
"How many?"
He paused.
"Mrs. Bennett, your house wasn't the only property in the folder."
May you like
"Whose else?"
"Three other older relatives."
