Chapter 5 - The Woman With the Seal
Vivian Holt's notary office occupied two rooms above a tire shop. She listened to my account with her hands folded so tightly her knuckles whitened.
"I didn't notarize this," she said. "I haven't met you."
Tessa slid the copy across the desk. "The electronic verification code is yours."
Vivian looked at it and swore under her breath.
Three weeks earlier, someone had broken into her office. Her stamp was found untouched, but a laptop and a backup token were stolen. She'd reported it. Her credential provider said the account was locked, yet the fraudulent notarization bore a timestamp from the night before the lock took effect.
"Did you tell the police?" I asked.
"Of course."
"Did you tell Ashbrook?"
"I didn't know Ashbrook existed."
Tessa requested copies of the burglary report and Vivian's provider logs. Vivian was shaking now, not because she feared me, but because someone had made her signature part of a crime.
As we left, my phone buzzed with a message from an unknown number.
You're making a mistake. Come home and we can talk like adults.
I sent it to Tessa and did not respond.
Back at her office, she found something else in the loan file: a property inspection dated the day before Diane attacked me. The inspector had written that the homeowner confirmed she understood and approved the collateral.
"I wasn't even in town until eight that evening," I said.
Tessa tapped the inspector's signature. "Then somebody impersonated you."
The attached inspection photo showed a woman standing on my porch in my red winter coat.
May you like
Her face was turned away.
But she was wearing Diane's pearl bracelet.
