Chapter 10 - The Signature on the DeedThe deed was fake.
The filing was real.
That distinction became the center of the next forty-eight hours.
Samuel Porter obtained a certified copy.
Rebecca Sloan brought it to the Carter house.
Ryan placed the document on the dining table.
Emily refused to sit in the same chair she'd used the night of the poisoning.
Nobody mentioned it.
Eleanor put on her reading glasses.
Her signature appeared at the bottom of the deed.
She stared.
"Not mine."
Rebecca nodded.
"The notary is Patricia Wells again."
Ryan leaned back.
"So Mom's friend notarized another forged document."
"That's what it appears."
"Can it be stopped?"
"Yes. We're already challenging it. But attempted transfer is significant evidence."
Emily looked at the execution date.
"Three weeks ago."
Rebecca nodded.
"Before Eleanor told Margaret about revoking the power of attorney."
Ryan frowned.
"So Mom had already decided to take the house."
"It appears someone had."
"Say her name."
Rebecca remained calm.
"Evidence is stronger when we don't outrun it."
Ryan hated lawyer language.
Emily appreciated it.
Emotion had already caused enough damage.
Eleanor touched the page.
"Patricia was at dinner three weeks ago."
Everyone looked at her.
"What dinner?" Emily asked.
"Here."
Ryan frowned.
"I wasn't home."
"No."
"Emily?"
"I was at my prenatal class."
Eleanor's eyes moved toward the kitchen.
"Margaret invited Patricia over."
Emily felt a chill.
"Did you sign anything?"
"Margaret brought me papers."
Ryan leaned forward.
"What kind?"
"Insurance forms, she said."
"Did you sign them?"
"Two."
Rebecca immediately asked, "Do you remember whether they had blank pages beneath or attached?"
Eleanor's face changed.
"I don't know."
Ryan stood.
"She tricked you into signing?"
"Maybe."
Eleanor looked ashamed.
Emily reached across the table.
"Don't."
The older woman looked at her.
"Don't be embarrassed because you trusted family."
Ryan's eyes met Emily's.
Both knew the sentence applied to him too.
Rebecca opened another folder.
"We obtained preliminary bank records."
"How much?" Ryan asked.
"Total questionable transfers connected to Margaret or Lone Star entities are approximately two point six million."
Eleanor covered her mouth.
Ryan stared.
"Plus the home loan?"
"Yes."
"Plus my forged guarantee?"
"Yes."
"Potential exposure?"
"Over six million."
Ryan sat.
Emily felt the number like physical weight.
Eleanor whispered:
"I don't have six million dollars to lose."
"You won't," Ryan said.
Rebecca looked at him.
"We need to be careful promising that."
He turned.
"What?"
"Some funds may be recoverable. Some may not."
Ryan looked furious.
Emily squeezed his wrist.
Rebecca continued.
"Lone Star is close to collapse."
"What does that mean?"
"If Margaret used family funds to satisfy capital calls or cover project debt, some money may already be gone."
Eleanor stared at the table.
"My son left her money."
Nobody spoke.
"Thomas left her enough."
Her voice broke.
"Why wasn't enough enough?"
Emily moved beside her.
Ryan looked away.
It was the question nobody could answer.
Rebecca's phone buzzed.
She checked it.
Then looked up.
"We got preliminary metadata from the security system."
Ryan frowned.
"The kitchen video?"
"More than that."
"What do you mean?"
"The camera stores thirty days."
Emily's pulse quickened.
"Is there other footage?"
Rebecca nodded.
"Detective Morales requested preservation of the full period because of the attempted deletion."
Ryan leaned forward.
"And?"
"Margaret has been using the kitchen late at night."
"Doing what?"
"We haven't reviewed everything."
Emily thought of papers.
Bank statements.
Her food.
The purse.
"Was she alone?"
"Usually."
"Usually?"
Rebecca opened her tablet.
"There's a recording from nine nights before Emily became ill."
She turned the screen.
Margaret entered the kitchen at 1:14 a.m.
She carried the same brown leather document case Eleanor had reported missing.
Margaret placed it on the table.
Opened it.
Photographed every page with her phone.
Then someone entered from the hallway.
Not Eleanor.
Not Emily.
A woman with dark hair.
Ryan stared.
"Patricia."
The notary.
The two women spoke for nearly twenty minutes.
The camera had no useful audio from that distance.
Then Patricia removed a stamp from her handbag.
A notary stamp.
Emily felt cold.
Rebecca paused the video.
"This was planned."
Ryan stared at the screen.
"Can police arrest them now?"
"They'll decide based on the evidence."
Ryan stood.
"I'm done waiting."
"Ryan."
Rebecca's voice sharpened.
He looked at her.
"If you confront your mother, you warn her about evidence she may not know we have."
That stopped him.
Emily watched him force his anger down.
Rebecca continued.
"Right now Margaret thinks the kitchen camera hurt her because of the food."
Emily understood.
"She doesn't know it recorded the financial fraud too."
"Exactly."
Ryan slowly sat again.
The strategy was simple.
Say nothing.
Let Margaret believe the worst evidence was already behind her.
Then Eleanor's phone rang.
Margaret.
Everyone stared at the screen.
Eleanor looked at Rebecca.
"Answer."
She did.
"Hello?"
Margaret's voice sounded soft.
Almost tearful.
"Eleanor, I need to come home."
Eleanor stared at the security footage on the tablet.
"Why?"
"I found something that proves Emily has been lying."
Emily went still.
May you like
Margaret continued:
"And when Ryan sees it, he'll understand why I did what I did."
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