Alicia did not deny using Mark's phone.
That almost made the admission worse.
She sat in Henry's conference room with her own attorney beside her.
Mark sat across from her.
I sat near Henry.
The unknown number waited on a printed page between us.
"I sent the picture," Alicia said.
"Why from Mark's phone?" Henry asked.
"Because the picture was there."
"You told us Mark never received it."
"I didn't know Bruce had sent it until I saw the notification."
"Did you open it?"
"Yes."
"Without Mark's permission?"
"Yes."
Mark looked away.
"Why?"
"Because Bruce's name came up."
"Then why forward the image?"
Alicia swallowed.
"I recognized Raymond's signature page."
"To whom did you send it?"
She stared at the number.
"I thought it was Greg."
My stomach tightened.
"You had Greg Mercer's number?"
"No."
"Then how?"
"Bruce gave it to me."
Every path seemed to return to Bruce.
But Henry remained cautious.
"When?"
"After I asked him whether Raymond's old support could matter legally."
"What did Bruce say?"
"He said Greg knew more about the old deal."
"Did he tell you to contact Greg?"
"Not exactly."
"What does not exactly mean?"
"He said if anyone knew what Raymond intended, Greg might."
I stared at her.
"Raymond's business dealings are not Raymond's will."
"I understand that."
"Now."
"Yes."
Alicia's attorney touched her arm.
She continued more carefully.
She texted the number from Mark's phone because she did not want Greg to have her personal number.
She sent the image.
Then wrote:
Do you know why Raymond signed this?
A response came.
Yes. More than Mark knows.
Alicia replied:
Did Raymond mean Mark to get the house eventually?
The answer:
Raymond meant to protect Mark. There are documents.
I felt sick.
That was exactly the sort of vague statement someone could manipulate.
"What happened next?" Henry asked.
Alicia said she called.
A man answered.
She believed it was Greg.
She had never met him.
Only heard Mark describe him.
The man said Raymond had discovered problems in Walter's accounts and had prepared documents near the end of his life.
"Did he say will?"
"Not then."
"Later?"
Alicia nodded.
"He said Raymond may have signed a later estate document."
My hands tightened.
There was the seed.
Someone had planted the possibility before the false will surfaced.
"What did you do?"
"I asked Bruce."
"Why?"
"Because he had the archives."
Bruce claimed he knew nothing about a later will.
Alicia then began searching old files more aggressively.
Not because she had invented the idea.
Because someone had told her it might exist.
"Did you ever offer the caller money?"
Alicia hesitated.
"Yes."
Mark closed his eyes.
"How much?"
"Five thousand if he found something useful."
I stared.
"You were willing to pay someone for a document that could give Mark money from my estate."
"I was desperate."
"That is not an answer."
"It's the only one I have."
Henry asked whether any payment occurred.
"No."
"Did the caller request money later?"
"Yes."
"How much?"
"Twenty thousand."
"For what?"
"A copy of Raymond's later will."
The room went silent.
Alicia began crying.
"I didn't pay."
"Why not?" I asked.
"Because we didn't have twenty thousand."
Not because it was wrong.
Not because it sounded fraudulent.
Because they did not have the money.
She saw my expression.
"I know."
"No. I don't think you do."
Her attorney asked for a short break.
I walked into the hallway.
Mark followed but stayed several feet away.
"Mom."
"Don't."
"I didn't know."
"I believe you didn't know about some of it."
"Some?"
I looked at him.
"You spent years making it easy for Alicia to believe my property was eventually yours."
He flinched.
"I know."
"That belief created a market."
"What?"
"A market for a document telling her what she wanted to hear."
He stared at the floor.
When we returned, Henry had new information.
Investigators identified the unknown number.
Prepaid.
But call records showed repeated contact with another number.
Daniel Sayer's.
My stomach tightened.
"Daniel?"
Henry shook his head.
"Not necessarily."
Daniel's number had been used for years.
The calls could be innocent.
We needed more.
Daniel voluntarily came in the following morning with counsel.
He denied calling Alicia.
He denied knowing her.
He denied telling anyone about a later will.
"Did you know Greg Mercer?"
"Yes."
"Did you imitate him?"
"No."
"Did you know Raymond Hale?"
"Only through records."
"Did Walter tell you Raymond was investigating him?"
Daniel hesitated.
"Yes."
"What did Walter say?"
"That Raymond was asking questions he shouldn't."
"About stolen money?"
"About accounting."
"Did Bruce know?"
"Yes."
"Did Greg?"
"Yes."
Daniel admitted selling records to Greg years later.
He needed money.
Greg wanted proof for litigation.
Daniel copied old database exports and scans.
"Did you keep them?"
"Yes."
"Did anyone else know your cloud password?"
Daniel looked embarrassed.
"Bruce."
We already knew that.
"Anyone else?"
"My father."
Martin.
I thought of the courier account.
Daniel Sayer.
Martin's son.
"Did Martin use your email?"
"Sometimes years ago."
"Recently?"
"No."
Henry asked about the courier package.
Daniel denied sending it.
Then investigators showed him the email address used for booking.
He stared.
"That's not mine."
"It uses your name."
"Yes."
"The recovery address?"
Daniel looked again.
His face changed.
"What?"
"That domain."
"What about it?"
"Greg used one like that."
Henry leaned forward.
"Greg Mercer?"
"Yes."
"How do you know?"
"He had a custom email domain during the lawsuit."
Another circle.
We called Greg.
This time his cooperation vanished.
"I've told you everything."
"No," Henry said. "You haven't."
He asked whether Greg had contacted Alicia pretending to be someone else.
"No."
"Did you send a courier package?"
"No."
"Did you create an email using Daniel's name?"
"No."
"Did you tell Bruce that Raymond had prepared estate documents?"
Silence.
"Greg?"
"I told Bruce Raymond had papers."
"What kind?"
"I didn't know."
"Did you use the word will?"
Another silence.
"Maybe."
My stomach dropped.
"Why?"
"Because Raymond once told me he needed to change things before he died."
"What things?"
"He didn't say."
"You interpreted that as a will?"
"Maybe."
"Did you tell anyone there was a later will?"
"I might have."
Henry's voice hardened.
"Did you tell Alicia?"
"I don't know Alicia."
"But you could have spoken with her without knowing her name."
Greg hung up.
That did not prove guilt.
It did change the tone.
Investigators later obtained records connecting the prepaid number to a purchase made near Greg's current home.
Not conclusive.
But significant.
The supposed Greg caller might actually have been Greg.
If so, why deny it?
We found out the next day.
Greg called Henry.
"I want immunity."
Henry almost laughed.
"I'm not a prosecutor."
"Then get me someone who can discuss it."
"What did you do?"
Silence.
"I sold her a story."
My skin went cold.
"What story?"
"That Raymond had a later will."
"Did you create the document?"
"No."
"Who did?"
"I don't know."
"Then what did you sell?"
"Information."
Greg admitted contacting Alicia after she sent Raymond's signature image.
He realized she was looking for evidence that Mark had a larger claim to Raymond's estate.
Greg still hated Walter's family.
He also needed money.
He told Alicia there might be a later will.
He did not know one existed.
He invented the possibility.
Then Alicia offered money for useful documents.
"Did she pay?"
"No."
"Did you demand twenty thousand?"
"Yes."
"Did you have a will to sell?"
"No."
"Then what were you planning to give her?"
"I hadn't decided."
The ugliness was almost banal.
A desperate woman wanted evidence.
A dishonest man invented evidence he might later find.
Then, somehow, an actual false document appeared.
"Did you contact Daniel?"
"Yes."
There it was.
"Why?"
"To see what files he still had."
"Did you impersonate yourself?"
Greg laughed bitterly.
"No. I used my own name with Daniel."
That explained the earlier email.
"Did Daniel give you Raymond's signature?"
"No. I already had scans from years ago."
"Did you make the will?"
"No."
"Can you prove it?"
"No."
Henry asked about the courier booking.
Greg denied it.
The investigators then revealed something they had withheld.
The prepaid card used to book the courier had been purchased not near Greg's home, but online.
The apparent geographic connection came from a VPN exit point.
Someone wanted it to look like Greg.
Another deliberate misdirection.
"Who knew you were talking to Alicia?" Henry asked.
Greg thought.
"Bruce."
Of course.
"Anyone else?"
"Daniel."
"Anyone else?"
A long pause.
"Martin."
My heart sank.
"Why Martin?"
"I called him about the old signatures."
"His father?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because Martin witnessed Raymond's guarantee."
That meant all three men knew the false-will ingredients were circulating.
Greg.
Daniel.
Martin.
Bruce.
Alicia.
Too many hands near the same match.
Then Greg said something that changed the question.
"You're assuming the fake will was meant to succeed."
Henry frowned.
"What else would it be for?"
"To scare someone."
"Who?"
Greg answered immediately.
"Bruce."
I stared.
"Why would a document benefiting Mark scare Bruce?"
"Because the witnesses came from Walter's office."
The logic began forming.
A fraudulent will carrying signatures sourced from Walter's records would trigger scrutiny.
That scrutiny had already uncovered the old loan.
Walter's accounting.
Daniel's copied files.
Greg's lawsuit.
Bruce's knowledge.
The document might have been bait.
Not merely theft.
"Who wanted Walter's records reopened?" Henry asked.
Greg gave one name.
"Martin."
I stopped breathing.
"Why?"
"Because Daniel took the blame for things Walter made him do."
The elderly man in the recliner.
The cooperative witness.
The father whose name had been used for the courier account.
Martin Sayer had seemed peripheral because age made us underestimate him.
I knew that mistake better than anyone.
"Did Martin know Raymond discovered the accounting problems?"
"Yes."
"Did he have access to the genuine signature page?"
"He signed it."
"Did he know Mark's later address?"
"Easy to find."
"The twins' names?"
"Easy to find."
"Could he create a digital document?"
Greg hesitated.
"Maybe not."
"Could Daniel?"
"Absolutely."
I looked at Henry.
Father and son.
One with motive.
One with technical skill.
Then Greg added one final detail.
"Martin kept copies Walter didn't know about."
"What copies?"
"Everything."
Click here to continue reading: PART 16: Martin finally explained why he kept Walter’s hidden records, but the truth about the false will forced me to choose between revenge and evidence
When Mark arrived carrying papers about my future, he did not know I had already invited someone who understood every page
Part 15 of 43
