The officer turned toward the manager.
“Lock the building.”
The manager immediately reached for his radio.
“No one leaves.”
Victor remained strangely calm.
I looked at him.
“You did this.”
He shook his head.
“I couldn't.”
“Why?”
“Because the authorization requires two signatures.”
Ethan looked at me.
“And the second?”
Victor said nothing.
Margaret understood first.
“The trustee.”
I felt my stomach tighten.
“Evelyn.”
Victor nodded.
“She received the false documents.”
“But she knew about the real ones.”
“Not all of them.”
Margaret looked at the ledger.
“She received the forged version first.”
I remembered the message Evelyn had sent.
Do not come here.*
Someone had already entered her office.
They had created a false record.
And now someone had used it.
“Where is Evelyn?”
Nobody answered.
The officer called her office.
No response.
He tried again.
Still nothing.
I looked at Victor.
“What did you do to her?”
“Nothing.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I never touched Evelyn.”
Margaret studied him.
“He's telling the truth.”
I turned toward her.
“How can you know?”
“Because if Victor had Evelyn, he would use her to negotiate.”
Victor looked at Margaret.
“You understand.”
“I understand what you are.”
He almost smiled.
“You understand less than you think.”
The manager returned.
“The account was accessed through a terminal upstairs.”
“Can you identify the terminal?”
“Yes.”
We hurried upstairs.
The bank office was empty.
A computer screen remained on.
A transfer authorization was open.
The amount was staggering.
It wasn't the entire account.
Only enough to make the transaction look routine.
But the destination account was overseas.
I photographed the screen.
Margaret read the authorization.
“Two signatures.”
One belonged to Evelyn.
The other belonged to Ethan.
He stared at the screen.
“I never signed this.”
I believed him.
But the digital signature looked authentic.
Someone had copied it.
Again.
Victor watched him.
“You're learning.”
Ethan turned.
“Learning what?”
“That your identity is worth more than your money.”
I stepped between them.
“Stop talking.”
Victor ignored me.
“They don't need your money.”
“What do they need?”
“Your name.”
Margaret pointed to the transaction.
“They're using Ethan as the legal transferor.”
“And you,” Victor said to me, “as the beneficiary representative.”
I felt sick.
“They've constructed a transaction that makes us appear to approve the transfer.”
“Yes.”
“Then who receives it?”
Victor gave a name.
“Nathan.”
Robert closed his eyes.
“Nathan is already in custody.”
Victor shook his head.
“His arrest doesn't stop the account.”
Margaret looked at the computer.
“Who is the receiving bank?”
The manager provided the information.
Margaret immediately called someone.
The officer ordered the computer preserved.
Then my phone rang.
Evelyn.
I answered.
Her voice was faint.
“Mara.”
“Where are you?”
“Safe.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Who accessed the account?”
“I don't know.”
“Your signature was used.”
“I know.”
“Ethan's too.”
There was silence.
Then Evelyn said, “It wasn't Victor.”
I looked at him.
“Who was it?”
“I think I know.”
“Tell me.”
“Your husband.”
I stared at Ethan.
He went pale.
“No.”
Evelyn continued.
“Not Ethan.”
“Then who?”
“Robert.”
Everyone looked at him.
Robert shook his head.
“I didn't.”
Evelyn said, “Someone used Robert's original authorization.”
“But how?”
“I don't know.”
Robert looked devastated.
“I haven't authorized anything in years.”
Margaret asked, “Where are you, Evelyn?”
“I can't tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm being followed.”
My heart tightened.
“By whom?”
“I don't know.”
The line went dead.
Robert sat down.
“This is my fault.”
“No,” Ethan said.
“You don't understand.”
“I do.”
“No. Your grandfather trusted me.”
“And you protected him.”
“I also kept secrets.”
“So did everyone.”
Robert looked at me.
“I should have told you about Daniel.”
“Yes.”
“But I didn't know Evelyn survived.”
I stared.
“What?”
Robert looked toward Victor.
“I thought she was dead.”
Victor shook his head.
“She isn't.”
My phone rang again.
This time it was a number I didn't recognize.
I answered.
A woman's voice said, “Mara?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Evelyn.”
I froze.
“I thought I was speaking to Evelyn.”
“You were.”
“What?”
“I've been using a secure line.”
I didn't understand.
“Why?”
“Because I need to tell you something before the next transfer happens.”
“What?”
“The account isn't the real target.”
I looked at Margaret.
“Then what is?”
“The trust itself.”
“How?”
“The trustee can be replaced if the beneficiary appears to be compromised.”
My heart sank.
“By whom?”
“The court.”
“And who is trying to make us look compromised?”
“Someone who has been preparing this for years.”
“Daniel?”
“No.”
“Victor?”
“No.”
“Nathan?”
“No.”
She paused.
Then said, “Someone inside the family.”
I looked at Robert.
Carol.
Ethan.
Everyone stood motionless.
“Who?”
Evelyn's voice lowered.
“I need you to look at the original trust.”
I opened the folder.
“I'm looking.”
“Find the witness signatures.”
I turned the page.
There were two.
Samuel's attorney.
And a second witness.
I read the name.
My breath stopped.
“Margaret.”
She looked at me.
“What?”
I showed her.
Her own name appeared.
She stared at the page.
“That isn't my signature.”
“But it has your name.”
“I never witnessed this.”
Evelyn said, “That's the person who has been helping them.”
I looked at Margaret.
She looked genuinely shocked.
Then I noticed something.
The signature wasn't identical to the one on her identification documents.
It had been copied.
“Someone forged Margaret's signature too.”
Evelyn said, “Yes.”
“Then who?”
There was a pause.
“Someone who had access to Samuel's files.”
I looked at Robert.
“Who had access?”
He hesitated.
Then answered.
“Daniel.”
“Daniel is dead.”
“I know.”
“Who inherited his files?”
Robert whispered a name.
“Nathan.”
Ethan frowned.
“But Nathan is in custody.”
“His files aren't.”
Margaret suddenly understood.
“They've been using Nathan's records.”
“Who has them?”
Nobody answered.
Then Victor spoke.
“I do.”
Everyone turned.
Victor continued.
“But I didn't create the false signatures.”
“Then who did?”
Victor looked at Robert.
“Your brother's daughter.”
Robert stared.
“Daniel had a daughter?”
“Yes.”
Ethan shook his head.
“I never heard of her.”
“She was raised outside the family.”
I looked at Victor.
“What is her name?”
He answered.
“Lena.”
The name meant nothing to me.
Then Carol gasped.
“I know her.”
Everyone turned.
Carol looked terrified.
“She worked for me.”
Ethan stared.
“What?”
“She helped with my accounts.”
Margaret whispered, “That's how she got access.”
I understood.
The person we had been looking for hadn't been hiding in some distant office.
She had been close.
She had been inside Carol's financial records.
She had learned the family structure.
She had learned our names.
And she had access to the very documents being used against us.
My phone buzzed.
A new message appeared.
You finally know my name.*
Below it was an address.
The old Bennett house.
And another sentence.
Come alone.*
Click here to continue reading: PART 23: Lena Wanted the Original Trust Brought to the House, but the Evidence Inside Her Message Finally Exposed Who Had Controlled the Family’s Secrets
At Half Past Four, the Front Door Opened, and One Look From My Husband Told Me the Night Was About to Change Everything
Part 22 of 24
