Chapter 14 - Every Dollar Has a TrailThe payment to Cedar Bridge was ninety-two hundred dollars. It had been described as a fee to protect the art fund's interest in Willow House, though no board member had approved it.
"I'm suspending access to all accounts immediately," Denise said. Vanessa threatened to sue the church. Denise did not change her mind.
Evelyn Marsh, our accountant, found more transfers once the bank produced complete records. Some paid Winter Hearth's vendors; others moved to Cedar Bridge. Nobody could yet say which expenses were genuine. Evelyn refused to speculate.
"Numbers tell you where money went," she told me. "Intent takes more evidence."
The developer's contract, however, told its own story. Travis Mercer had agreed to pay Vanessa a success fee if she obtained all signatures before December twenty-sixth. If the sale fell through, she would owe back the promotional advances she had spent on holiday events.
"She's in debt," Dad said quietly. "She made the gingerbread house look like she was winning."
Grandma tapped the contract. "Debt is not a reason to take someone else's home."
Naomi prepared a sworn statement from the real trustees. The court clerk accepted her request for a temporary order, with a hearing set for December twenty-third. The buyer's lawyers promised to contest it.
That evening an officer returned Grandma's call about the threatening text. The phone number was prepaid, but the photograph's angle matched a security camera across from her bungalow. Investigators had requested that footage.
My stomach loosened for the first time in days.
Then Naomi called again. "Hannah, Cedar Bend filed an affidavit from your father. It says you and Pearl consented verbally to the transaction last summer."
"That's impossible. Dad just told you otherwise."
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"The affidavit appears to have his signature. We need to know whether he's been lying to us again."
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