Chapter 5 - The Storage UnitThe storage unit was almost empty.
That was the problem.
Police found packing material.
Custom foam.
Empty art crates.
Old inventory tags.
Photographs.
No $2.6 million collection.
Julian Pike had moved most of it elsewhere.
But he had left records.
A clipboard contained shipping references.
Auction-house codes.
Private-buyer initials.
Dates.
The trail had begun.
Detective Bell explained the situation carefully.
“Finding and recovering sold art can take time.”
“How much time?”
“Months. Years sometimes.”
Kiara stared at him.
“These were my father’s things.”
“They’re trust property. That gives you strong documentation.”
“Strong documentation doesn’t put them back in the house.”
“No.”
Kiara hated his calmness.
Then reminded herself it was not indifference.
He was doing his job.
Julian’s attorney contacted investigators that afternoon.
Julian denied knowing the objects were trust property.
He claimed Loretta represented herself as owner.
Miriam almost laughed.
“She had no title documents.”
“Apparently she produced something,” Bell said.
“What?”
“A letter.”
Kiara leaned forward.
“From whom?”
“Your father.”
The document appeared to state that Everett intended Loretta to have unrestricted authority over his personal collection.
Signed six months before his death.
Miriam read the copy.
“This is false.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I drafted Everett’s estate documents.”
“Could he have written a separate letter?”
“He could have.”
“But?”
Miriam pointed toward the signature.
“That’s not how he signed after his stroke.”
Kiara looked closer.
Everett had suffered a mild stroke eighteen months before he died.
His handwriting changed.
The letter used his older, stronger signature.
Bell nodded.
“We’re sending it for examination.”
The date on the letter was after the stroke.
A likely forgery.
Loretta’s possible crimes were widening.
Yet Kiara’s thoughts kept returning to Malik.
A therapist named Dr. Serena Wells began meeting with him.
After the second session, Serena spoke privately with Kiara.
“I cannot give you every detail of what he says.”
“I understand.”
“But I can tell you he has been afraid of Loretta for longer than the crate incident.”
Kiara’s stomach dropped.
“How long?”
“Months.”
“What did she do?”
“Kiara.”
“I need to know.”
“You need to know what helps you protect him.”
Kiara pressed her lips together.
Serena continued.
“She used humiliation and threats.”
“What kind?”
“She told him you would send him away if he became too difficult.”
Kiara’s face went cold.
“What?”
“She also told him you were exhausted because of him.”
Kiara closed her eyes.
Malik had started making his own breakfast recently.
She thought he was becoming independent.
Had he been afraid of being a burden?
Serena continued.
“He believed Loretta was helping you by making him behave.”
Kiara felt tears.
“I left him with her.”
“You trusted your mother.”
“I left him with her.”
Both statements were true.
Serena let the silence sit.
Finally she said:
“Guilt can be useful if it changes what you do next.”
Kiara wiped her face.
“What does he need?”
“Consistency. Choice. Truth.”
That evening Kiara ordered dinner.
Malik looked surprised.
“You didn’t cook?”
“I rarely cook.”
“You said we were eating healthier.”
“I also said I was tired.”
Malik almost smiled.
They ate pizza in the family room.
He dropped a piece of pepperoni on the rug.
Immediately he froze.
“I’m sorry.”
Kiara looked at the tiny red circle.
“It’s pepperoni.”
“I’ll clean it.”
“Okay.”
“You’re not mad?”
“No.”
Malik watched her carefully.
Then picked it up.
Kiara felt something inside her break.
How many small mistakes had become dangerous around Loretta?
The next morning Detective Bell called.
One of the real vases had surfaced.
A private collector in Boston had purchased it through Julian.
Purchase price:
$64,000.
Julian transferred $51,000 to an LLC.
The LLC belonged to Loretta.
Kiara sat down.
But the account no longer held the money.
“Where did it go?”
Bell hesitated.
“We’re still tracing.”
“To debt?”
“Some.”
“What kind?”
“Your mother had financial problems.”
Kiara stared.
Loretta had received annual income from Everett’s estate.
A comfortable amount.
“What problems?”
Bell’s answer stunned her.
“Your mother has been financing a lawsuit.”
“Against whom?”
Detective Bell looked directly at Kiara.
“Against the Everett Heritage Trust.”
May you like
Loretta had been stealing from the trust—
to pay lawyers to attack the trust.
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