Chapter 16 - A Signature Without a Father
Richard's lawyers issued a statement before the police had finished processing the lodge. He denied wrongdoing, called the abduction a misunderstanding, and accused Vincent of creating false evidence to take a child from her legal guardian.
"He is trying to turn you into the suspect," I told Vincent.
"He knew that would be my first reaction years ago," he said. "Anger. Threats. Men at the door. He counted on it."
This time Vincent went voluntarily to investigators. He handed over passport records, email archives, and account access logs. An independent examiner found his signature had been copied from an older business agreement. The transfer order had been printed from a computer belonging to Sterling's firm.
Vanessa provided a statement through her lawyer. She acknowledged hiding Elena's suitcase and passing information to her father. She admitted lying about Elena. Cooperation didn't erase what she'd done.
At the hospital, Mara showed me the document that had been prepared for my unborn daughter. It described a "voluntary release" I had never requested, bearing a digital signature taken from an old employment form.
"It was never valid consent," she said. "The hospital has marked it as fraudulent. We've informed the relevant authorities."
"He never knew for sure I was pregnant," I said. "But we had talked about a family. He knew what Richard was capable of."
"That's why he left the recording," Mara said.
I looked up. "You found it?"
May you like
She nodded. "The storage company had an off-site duplicate authorized by Elena. It was released this afternoon."
Then she added, "Clara, Daniel speaks to you at the end."
