Chapter 8 - The Hospital Records Broke the Timeline
Andrew’s hospital records did not prove every disputed document false.
But they destroyed the dates.
The codicil claimed Andrew signed on February ninth at 4:15 p.m.
Saint Catherine’s logs showed something else.
At 3:48 p.m., Andrew received medication before a procedure.
At 4:02, he was transported to imaging.
At 4:11, nursing notes described him as drowsy and minimally responsive.
At 4:36, he returned to his room.
Rebecca sat beside Mara and reviewed the chart.
“I was there that day.”
“Do you remember?”
“Bits.”
Andrew had been weak.
They had argued about whether Chloe should visit.
Rebecca said no because she did not want Chloe seeing him sedated.
Andrew had agreed.
Mara pointed.
“Could he have signed before 3:48?”
“Maybe.”
“But the codicil’s witness statement says 4:15.”
“Yes.”
“And Megan admits she wasn’t there.”
“Yes.”
“Preston claims he was.”
“Hospital entry logs?”
Mara smiled faintly.
“Already subpoenaed.”
The results arrived that evening.
Preston entered the hospital at 5:07 p.m.
Not 4:15.
Rebecca stared.
“So he could not have witnessed it.”
“Correct.”
“Unless the security log is wrong.”
“Yes.”
“Is it?”
“Badge camera confirms arrival at 5:06.”
Rebecca felt some of the tension leave her shoulders.
The codicil was cracking.
Then Mara pointed to the residence amendment.
Dated February eighteenth.
Andrew was home that day.
So timing alone could not disprove it.
They needed more.
A document examiner compared signatures.
Preliminary findings:
The codicil signature contained pixelation under magnification.
Likely reproduced from a digital source.
The residence amendment signature appeared wet-ink.
Possibly genuine.
Rebecca stared.
“How?”
“People sign documents without understanding attachments.”
Mara said.
“Or pages can be substituted.”
“Or signature pages moved.”
“Or Andrew actually signed.”
Rebecca hated that possibility.
“Would he sign something excluding Chloe?”
“We have his recordings saying he would not.”
“That is strong.”
“Not magical.”
Mara leaned back.
“We need to understand what he thought he was signing.”
Gavin was summoned for deposition.
He arrived with counsel.
Rebecca watched from across the conference table.
He looked older than forty-four.
“You signed the residence amendment.”
Mara said.
“Yes.”
“Did you read it?”
Gavin hesitated.
“Not every line.”
Rebecca closed her eyes.
Mara continued.
“What did Preston tell you it did?”
“Clarified sale authority.”
“Did he say it excluded adopted descendants?”
“No.”
“Did you know Chloe’s interest could revert?”
“No.”
“Did Andrew sign in front of you?”
Gavin thought.
“We signed a package.”
“Where?”
“At the mansion.”
“When?”
“February eighteenth.”
“Was Andrew present?”
“Yes.”
“Condition?”
“Tired.”
“Alert?”
“Yes.”
“What did Preston say?”
“That lender counsel needed beneficiary acknowledgment for a refinancing extension.”
Rebecca leaned forward.
“Refinancing Marrow Lane?”
Gavin looked at her.
“Yes.”
“Did Andrew know that?”
“I think so.”
“What exactly did he sign?”
Gavin looked uncomfortable.
“A stack.”
Mara asked:
“Were pages tabbed?”
“Yes.”
“Did he read them?”
“Some.”
“How many signatures?”
“Maybe six.”
“Did you see the residence amendment language?”
“No.”
“Could the signature page have belonged to another document?”
Gavin’s attorney objected to speculation.
Fair.
Mara moved on.
“Did Andrew trust Preston then?”
Gavin closed his eyes.
“No.”
Rebecca stared.
“Then why was Preston bringing him documents?”
“Mother.”
“What?”
“She insisted.”
“Why?”
“She said the bank deadline couldn’t wait.”
“Did Andrew object?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
Gavin swallowed.
“He said, ‘I’m not signing away Chloe’s house because Mother built a hotel nobody wanted.’”
Rebecca’s heart stopped.
Mara leaned forward.
“He said Chloe’s house?”
“Yes.”
“Those exact words?”
“Yes.”
“So Andrew understood Chloe had an interest.”
“Yes.”
“Did he say he would relinquish it?”
“No.”
“Then why did he sign?”
“I thought the papers only extended the lender standstill.”
Rebecca stared at Gavin.
“You let him sign documents from a lawyer he didn’t trust.”
Gavin’s jaw tightened.
“I was trying to keep the lender from foreclosing.”
“On the consequences of your mother’s decisions.”
“Yes.”
“And Chloe’s property became collateral.”
“I didn’t know that.”
Rebecca’s voice rose.
“You didn’t want to know.”
Gavin looked at her.
That landed.
Mara let the silence stay.
Then Gavin whispered:
“Maybe.”
Rebecca sat back.
Finally.
Honesty.
Not enough.
But something.
After the deposition, Gavin stopped Rebecca in the hallway.
“Andrew hated me at the end.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“No.”
“You don’t know.”
“I do.”
“He left recordings.”
Gavin froze.
“What did he say?”
“That you knew enough to be afraid, but maybe not enough to be guilty.”
Gavin’s eyes filled.
Rebecca continued.
“He told me not to destroy you unless evidence required it.”
Gavin looked away.
“That sounds like him.”
Then:
“I have something.”
Rebecca stared.
“What?”
“A letter.”
“From Andrew?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Two weeks before he died.”
“Why haven’t you given it to anyone?”
Gavin looked ashamed.
“Because I didn’t like what it said.”
Rebecca’s anger returned.
“What did it say?”
Gavin pulled out his phone.
Not the letter.
A photograph of an envelope.
Andrew’s handwriting.
Gavin — if you choose Mother over the truth again, you become part of what she did.
Rebecca stared.
“Where is the original?”
“My safe.”
“Bring it to Mara.”
“I will.”
Then Gavin added:
“There’s a second page.”
“What?”
“He wrote something about Preston.”
Rebecca waited.
Gavin’s voice dropped.
“Andrew said Preston had already created one false document for Mother years earlier.”
Rebecca felt cold.
“What document?”
Gavin looked toward the closed deposition-room door.
“The deed amendment after my father died.”
The document that gave Evelyn power to mortgage the mansion.
The one supposedly signed by Charles six weeks after his death.
Rebecca stopped.
If Andrew knew Preston had forged for Evelyn before—
May you like
then the current codicil was not an isolated desperate act.
It was a method.
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