Chapter 15 - THE SIGNATURE
The bank's document showed Clara granting Miles broad authority to transfer funds from the trust. The signature looked right from a distance. Close up, Clara saw a tiny ink skip she recognized from an old mortgage page.
“It's a copy,” she said. “They lifted it from the papers Daniel and I signed when we bought our first house.”
Mae compared the images. The shapes and defects aligned precisely. Nora filed an urgent challenge and requested the original document, signing records, and notary information. The bank agreed to restrict disputed transfers while an independent investigation proceeded.
Meanwhile, Detective Vega received a new forensic report. The pool-house recording hadn't been corrupted by weather or hardware failure. An administrator account assigned to Miles had deleted eleven minutes from the main system after Rosie was rescued.
“So he stood there,” Clara said, “and then tried to erase what happened.”
“That's what the digital evidence indicates,” Vega replied. “We're working to establish who directed him.”
For the first time, Clara allowed herself to be angry instead of afraid. She went home and found Elena cooking soup while Rosie arranged dolls along the rug.
“I'm tired of being told to be quiet,” Clara said.
Elena stirred the pot. “Then stop being quiet. But be smart about where you speak.”
Clara took out the box from unit 317 and unfolded the letter Daniel had left for Nora. Beneath his signature was a sentence she had missed because it was written along the bottom fold.
Everett changed the trust after Beatrice threatened Clara. The original amendment is held by the person she couldn't buy.
“Who couldn't she buy?” Elena asked.
Silas, sitting at the kitchen table, looked up slowly.
May you like
“Your father's secretary,” he said. “And Beatrice told everyone she'd moved overseas.”
