Chapter 8 - The Notary
They met Elaine in a diner forty miles outside the city.
She chose the location.
She arrived wearing sunglasses despite the gray afternoon.
Rebecca sat across from her.
Daniel beside her.
Elaine kept both hands wrapped around untouched coffee.
“I’m not innocent,” she said.
Daniel did not reassure her.
“What did you do?”
“I notarized documents I shouldn’t have.”
“Which documents?”
“Your father’s trust amendment.”
Rebecca asked, “Was Edmund present?”
“Yes.”
“Competent?”
“Yes.”
“Did he sign?”
“Yes.”
Daniel frowned.
“Then what’s wrong?”
Elaine swallowed.
“The version he signed isn’t the version Victor later recorded in the estate binder.”
Daniel felt anger rising.
“What changed?”
“Schedule C.”
Rebecca leaned forward.
“What did the original say?”
Elaine looked at Daniel.
“Your sister was not successor trust protector.”
Daniel had expected the answer.
Still, hearing it made his heart pound.
“Who was?”
“An independent fiduciary.”
“Name?”
“Margaret Ellis.”
Daniel knew her.
Retired federal judge.
Old friend of his father.
Rebecca asked, “What happened?”
“Victor said Edmund had requested a correction.”
“After signing?”
“Yes.”
“Did you see Edmund approve that correction?”
“No.”
“Then why did you notarize the replacement?”
Elaine looked down.
“Victor told me Edmund had orally authorized it.”
Rebecca’s voice sharpened.
“You notarized a signature you did not witness?”
“No. The signature page was genuine.”
Daniel understood.
“They kept Dad’s signature page and swapped the schedule.”
Elaine nodded.
Rebecca said, “That can still amount to fraud.”
“I know.”
Daniel asked, “Why are you telling us now?”
Elaine’s eyes filled.
“Because of the little girl.”
Silence.
“I saw the report about the pool. Victor called me Saturday night. He said there might be litigation and reminded me that everything I had done had been under his direction.”
“A threat?”
“He called it loyalty.”
Daniel’s hand tightened around the coffee mug.
“Do you have proof?”
Elaine looked around the diner.
Then removed a flash drive from her purse.
“I scanned the original before Victor destroyed the working file.”
Rebecca stared.
“Why?”
“I was scared.”
She handed it over.
“I’ve been scared for four years.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Four years?”
Elaine froze.
Rebecca caught it.
“This started before Dad’s amendment.”
Elaine said nothing.
Daniel leaned closer.
“North Lake Procurement.”
Her face drained.
Rebecca whispered, “You know the name.”
Elaine pushed back from the table.
“I shouldn’t have come.”
Daniel said, “Emily knew Victor was involved.”
Elaine stood.
“I can’t help you with that.”
“You already have.”
“I have children.”
“So do I.”
Elaine looked at him.
Daniel’s voice softened.
“My daughter is three.”
Elaine began crying.
“I didn’t know Claire would do anything like that.”
“Tell me what Victor did.”
“He created companies.”
“For whom?”
“I don’t know.”
“You worked for him.”
“I processed documents. I didn’t ask questions.”
“North Lake?”
“Yes.”
Rebecca asked, “Who signed the beneficial ownership instructions?”
Elaine shook her head.
“They weren’t in the normal file.”
“Where were they?”
“Victor kept a private cabinet.”
“Still does?”
Elaine wiped her face.
“I don’t know.”
Daniel stood.
“Did Emily ever contact you?”
Elaine looked startled.
“No.”
“Did my father?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“About six months before he died.”
“What did he ask?”
“Whether Victor had prepared entities connected to Hawthorne.”
Daniel and Rebecca exchanged a look.
“What did you tell him?”
“The truth.”
“Which was?”
Elaine spoke barely above a whisper.
“Yes.”
“Then Dad knew.”
Elaine nodded.
“He told me not to confront Victor.”
“Why?”
“He said he needed to know who else was involved.”
Daniel thought of the empty envelope.
FOR DANIEL ONLY — IF THE HAWTHORNE SALE IS REVIVED.
His father had known.
He had been building something.
A record.
Rebecca plugged the flash drive into an isolated laptop.
Files appeared.
Trust schedules.
Notary scans.
Drafts.
And one folder labeled:
E.W. PRIVATE — DO NOT FILE
Inside was a single PDF.
A handwritten memorandum from Edmund.
Rebecca opened it.
The first paragraph began:
If Daniel is reading this, then Victor has almost certainly moved before I could expose him. Claire may be involved, but I am not yet certain whether she is partner, victim, or both.
Daniel stopped breathing.
Partner.
Victim.
Or both.
He read the next line.
Do not trust the company books. The theft is larger than Emily discovered.
May you like
At the bottom, Edmund had written one figure.
$31,400,000.
