Chapter 4 - The Signature That Wasn't Hers
Natalie stared at the photograph until the words blurred.
“That isn't my signature.”
Evan leaned closer.
“No.”
He zoomed in.
The image showed a legal document with three signatures.
Diane.
Richard.
And Natalie.
Except Natalie had never seen the document.
“What does it say?”
She read the heading.
Property Assignment Agreement.
Her stomach tightened.
“Someone transferred an interest in our house.”
“To whom?”
She scrolled.
The recipient was listed as Northstar Logistics.
Evan stared.
“That company again.”
Natalie shook her head.
“This is impossible.”
Another message arrived.
You should probably stop asking your mother questions until you know who else is involved.
Natalie looked at Evan.
“Who sent this?”
“I don't know.”
“Call the number.”
He did.
The call went directly to voicemail.
A man's voice came through.
“You were never supposed to see this.”
Then the line disconnected.
Evan stared at the screen.
Natalie felt the same cold sensation she'd felt earlier.
“Do you know that voice?”
“No.”
“Listen again.”
He replayed it.
Evan shook his head.
“No.”
They returned home without speaking.
Hawthorne House was waiting.
The people who had actually RSVP'd were still eating.
The unexpected guests had been redirected to the community center.
Natalie felt detached from the entire evening.
She entered the dining room.
The twelve chairs looked almost ridiculous now.
They were so normal.
So peaceful.
As if the house hadn't just become the center of a family financial mystery.
Evan walked into the kitchen.
“What are we going to tell everyone?”
“The truth.”
“All of it?”
“No.”
He frowned.
“Why not?”
“Because we don't know all of it yet.”
At that moment, the doorbell rang.
Natalie froze.
Evan looked toward the front door.
“I thought everyone left.”
“They did.”
The bell rang again.
He opened the door.
Richard stood outside.
But he wasn't alone.
A woman stood beside him.
She was in her early sixties, elegant and sharply dressed.
Natalie didn't recognize her.
Richard looked exhausted.
“This is Elaine Harper.”
The woman's gaze moved directly to Natalie.
“You're the one.”
Natalie frowned.
“The one what?”
“The one your grandfather protected.”
Evan stiffened.
“Who are you?”
Elaine looked at him.
“I'm the attorney who handled the Brooks family trust.”
Natalie stepped aside.
“Come in.”
They sat in the living room.
Elaine placed a leather briefcase on the coffee table.
“I should have contacted you years ago.”
Evan looked angry.
“Why didn't you?”
“Your mother instructed me that the trust was inactive.”
“Was it?”
Elaine shook her head.
“No.”
Natalie's heart dropped.
“So she lied.”
“Yes.”
“Why would an attorney accept that?”
“I didn't.”
Elaine opened the briefcase.
“I retained copies.”
She placed several folders on the table.
“I suspected someone was manipulating the account.”
Evan stared.
“Who?”
Elaine looked toward Richard.
“Your mother was not the only person involved.”
Richard closed his eyes.
Natalie sat forward.
“Who else?”
Elaine opened a file.
A bank statement.
A payment trail.
And one name.
Mark Brooks.
Evan frowned.
“Who is Mark?”
Richard answered.
“Our cousin.”
“Why was he receiving money?”
Elaine shook her head.
“He wasn't.”
Evan looked confused.
“Then why is his name here?”
“It wasn't Mark who received it.”
She pointed to the account number.
“This account was opened in his name.”
“But?”
“But Mark died eleven years ago.”
Silence.
Natalie's throat tightened.
“How can a dead man's account receive money?”
“That is exactly the question I've been trying to answer.”
Richard looked sick.
Diane hadn't mentioned Mark.
Not once.
Evan sat back.
“How much?”
Elaine answered.
“One hundred seventy-two thousand dollars.”
Natalie looked at the documents.
“From the trust?”
“Yes.”
“Over how many years?”
“Eight.”
Evan whispered, “That can't be.”
“It can.”
Elaine opened another file.
“There were withdrawals in cash.”
“Who signed them?”
“Your mother.”
Evan closed his eyes.
Natalie touched his arm.
He looked at her.
His expression had changed.
He wasn't angry anymore.
He was devastated.
Elaine continued.
“The strange part is what happened to the account after your grandfather died.”
She handed Natalie a photocopy.
The account had been transferred.
To a second account.
Then a third.
Eventually the funds moved into Northstar Logistics.
Natalie looked up.
“Why would a family trust pay a logistics company?”
Elaine's expression was grim.
“It didn't.”
“What?”
“The payments were disguised.”
Richard said quietly, “Invoices.”
Elaine nodded.
“Fabricated invoices.”
Natalie felt the room spin.
“For what?”
“Renovations.”
She looked at the house around her.
“The renovations.”
Elaine nodded.
“But those renovations were real.”
“Yes.”
“So what's fake?”
“The prices.”
Natalie froze.
Elaine explained.
“Your kitchen renovation was billed at eighty-six thousand.”
“It cost thirty-six.”
“Your roof was billed at forty-two thousand.”
“It cost eighteen.”
“The basement was billed at sixty thousand.”
“It cost twenty-four.”
Evan stared.
“That is almost one hundred thousand dollars.”
“More.”
Elaine looked at him.
“A lot more.”
Natalie suddenly remembered all the construction crews.
All the receipts.
All the contractors Diane had recommended.
She had always assumed Diane was simply meddling.
Maybe she had been doing something else.
“She controlled the contractors,” Natalie whispered.
Richard nodded.
“She got kickbacks.”
The doorbell rang again.
Everyone looked toward the entryway.
Natalie stood.
“I'll get it.”
She opened the door.
A woman stood outside.
Her face looked familiar.
It was Evan's cousin, Melissa.
She held a small box.
“I think you need this.”
“What is it?”
“Something my mother gave me before she died.”
Natalie frowned.
“Why now?”
Melissa looked over her shoulder.
“Because Diane told me never to open it.”
Evan came closer.
“What is it?”
Melissa handed the box to him.
“Your grandfather's.”
Evan opened it.
Inside was an old brass key.
A folded note.
And a tiny cassette tape.
Natalie looked at the tape.
“Who has a cassette player?”
Richard answered.
“I do.”
Melissa's face was pale.
“What does it say?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Evan unfolded the note.
Three words were written on it.
Basement. Third Wall.
Natalie stared.
“The basement?”
Evan looked toward the hallway.
“Our basement.”
Richard stood immediately.
“No.”
Natalie turned.
“What?”
“You shouldn't go down there.”
“Why?”
Richard looked frightened.
“Because your grandfather's records were not the only thing hidden in that house.”
Evan stared.
“What else is down there?”
May you like
Richard's voice dropped.
“The reason your mother was so desperate to control this family.”
