Chapter 6: The Signature That Could Destroy Us All
We found Victoria standing beside the library's open window.
Her phone lay on the carpet, its screen shattered. One of the police officers was speaking to her, but she seemed unable to hear him.
“You let him into the house?”” Dad demanded.
Victoria turned sharply.
“No!””
The officer raised the tablet.
“Mrs. Hayes, this authorization was issued under your account. The visitor arrived at 1:17 p.m. and was admitted through the front gate.””
“I didn't authorize him!””
“The system records the authorization under your credentials.””
“Then someone used my credentials!””
Dad stepped closer.
“Who has access to your account?””
Victoria looked at him, her face flushed.
“You do, Richard. So does the estate manager. So does the security director. You have no idea how many people can access those systems.””
The officer nodded.
“That is possible. We'll need to verify the records before drawing conclusions.””
Victoria seized on his words.
“Exactly! Thank you. Finally, someone in this house is being reasonable.””
She straightened her gown and looked at Dad.
“Your son has accused me of attempted murder. Your attorney has been treating me like a criminal. Now you're blaming me for a man who apparently broke into a room you kept locked for three years.””
Dad's expression didn't change.
“You knew Daniel Cross.””
“I knew of him.””
“You were the one who authorized his visit.””
“I didn't!””
“Then why did you recognize his name?””
Victoria looked toward the officer.
“I want a lawyer.””
“That is your right,” the officer replied.
She lifted her chin.
“And until my lawyer arrives, I have nothing else to say.””
Dad watched her for a long moment.
Then he turned away.
I followed him into the adjoining sitting room, where Martin had spread the documents recovered from my mother's desk across a table. The police had taken possession of the original materials, but Martin was reviewing a separate set of papers Dad had retrieved from the estate's business office.
My father looked exhausted.
“Do you think she did it?”” I asked.
He sat down.
“I think we have evidence that she may have concealed important information. I think she has lied to us today. But I won't pretend we know everything.””
“Dad, she put something in your juice.””
“Yes.””
“She slapped me.””
“Yes.””
“And she knew Daniel was coming.””
Dad stared at the table.
“We need to establish what she knew, when she knew it, and why.””
I hated how reasonable he sounded.
I wanted him to stand up and declare that Victoria was responsible for everything. I wanted someone to point at the villain so the world could become simple again.
But the truth was beginning to feel like a room with too many doors.
Every time we opened one, another appeared behind it.
Martin placed a document in front of Dad.
“This is the Northstar Holdings transaction you mentioned.””
The page contained a list of transfers, dates, and account references. Several entries had been highlighted.
Dad leaned forward.
“That's the account Elaine found.””
“It's one of them,” Martin said.
“The company was registered shortly before the first transfer. Its directors were listed through a corporate services firm in Delaware.””
“Who owned it?””
“The records we have don't establish beneficial ownership.””
“Then what are we looking at?””
“Transactions. Not proof of who directed them.””
Dad studied the page.
I leaned over his shoulder.
One line showed a transfer made nine days before my mother's death.
Another showed a withdrawal two days afterward.
Beside the second entry was a handwritten note.
*Authorized by R.H.*
My father's initials.
I looked at him.
“Did you approve this?””
Dad's face tightened.
“No.””
“But those are your initials.””
“I know what my initials look like.””
Martin examined the handwriting.
“This could have been copied from another document. We can't authenticate it from this page alone.””
Dad pushed the paper away.
“Someone made it look as though I authorized a transfer two days after Elaine died.””
“Why would anyone do that?”” I asked.
Martin answered carefully.
“To create a false trail. To make a legitimate transaction look suspicious. Or because someone actually used your credentials. We need the original banking records before we can distinguish between those possibilities.””
Dad rose and walked toward the window.
For a while, he said nothing.
Then he turned back.
“There's something I haven't told either of you.””
Martin's expression grew wary.
“Richard.””
“No. We can't keep doing this.””
Dad looked at me.
“Two weeks after your mother died, Victoria asked me to sign a set of documents relating to the estate. She said our financial advisers needed updated authorization to manage certain investments while I was grieving.””
I stared at him.
“You signed them?””
“Yes.””
“Without reading them?””
“I read the summary. I trusted the advisers, and Victoria said the paperwork was routine.””
Martin leaned forward.
“Do you still have copies?””
“Not the complete set. I remember signing a power-of-attorney document, but I believed it was limited to specific business accounts.””
“Who prepared it?””
“An attorney Victoria recommended.””
Martin's face went still.
“Name?””
“Evelyn Shaw.””
Martin slowly closed the folder in front of him.
Dad noticed.
“What?””
“Evelyn Shaw was the attorney who represented Northstar Holdings when the company was registered.””
Nobody spoke.
I felt the floor shift beneath me.
“So Victoria brought Dad the documents,” I said, “and the lawyer who prepared them was connected to the company taking his money?””
“We haven't established that Victoria knew the connection,” Martin replied.
Dad stared at him.
“Martin, stop protecting everyone from the possibility that they might be guilty.””
“I'm not protecting anyone. I'm protecting the investigation from assumptions.””
He opened the folder again.
“But I agree that the connection is significant.””
A knock sounded at the door.
The police officer returned, carrying a clear evidence bag.
“Mr. Hayes, we've received preliminary confirmation that the pitcher contained a substance requiring further toxicological testing. The laboratory will need to identify it before we can say what it was or what effect it might have had.””
Dad nodded.
“Thank you.””
The officer hesitated.
“There is another matter. Mrs. Hayes has requested access to her personal belongings and a private conversation with you before she contacts her attorney.””
“No,” Dad said immediately.
“Richard,” Victoria called from the hallway.
“Please!””
Her voice sounded different now.
Not commanding.
Not elegant.
Desperate.
“Just five minutes,” she pleaded.
“You owe me that much.””
Dad looked at Martin.
Then he looked at me.
“I'm not going to be alone with her.””
“I'll stay,” Martin offered.
Dad shook his head.
“James stays too.””
A few moments later, Victoria entered the sitting room with an officer behind her.
Her face was pale, and her carefully arranged hair had begun to loosen around her shoulders. Without the confident smile she wore for guests, she looked smaller.
She stopped when she saw me.
“I need to speak to Richard.””
“You can speak in front of us,” Dad replied.
Victoria pressed her lips together.
Then she looked directly at me.
“James, what happened today is more complicated than you understand.””
“Then explain it.””
“I can't.””
“Why not?””
“Because you don't know who you're dealing with.””
Dad's voice hardened.
“Stop using that line. If you have information about Daniel Cross, tell us.””
Victoria glanced at the officer.
“I want to know whether he's been found.””
“No,” the officer said.
She shut her eyes briefly.
Dad noticed.
“Why does that matter to you?””
Victoria opened her eyes.
“Because if Daniel has the records, we're all in danger.””
Martin stepped forward.
“What records?””
“The original account ledgers. The signed agreements. Everything your wife collected before she died.””
Dad's face tightened.
“You knew Elaine had those records?””
Victoria looked away.
“Yes.””
“How?””
“Because she showed me some of them.””
The admission fell into the room like a stone.
I stared at her.
“You knew Mom was investigating the money?””
Victoria's shoulders sagged.
“She came to me because she thought I could help. She believed the transfers were connected to a company my former employer had used.””
“Your former employer?”” Martin asked.
Victoria nodded.
“Before I met Richard, I worked for a financial services firm. One of our clients was connected to Northstar Holdings. I recognized the company name when Elaine showed me the documents.””
Dad's expression darkened.
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because I was afraid.””
“Of what?””
Victoria's hands twisted together.
“Of being blamed. Of losing everything. Of the investigation reaching people who could ruin my life.””
I felt anger rise in my throat.
“So you let Dad believe Mom's death had nothing to do with any of this?””
Victoria flinched.
“I didn't know that it did!””
“You told us nothing.””
“I thought the investigation would disappear!””
The room fell silent.
Victoria looked as if she had only just heard her own words.
Dad stared at her.
“You thought the investigation would disappear?””
She pressed a hand over her mouth.
“I meant the financial investigation. I thought once Elaine was gone, the documents would be lost and the company would close. I didn't know someone would keep looking.””
“Someone?”” Martin repeated.
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
“Daniel.””
Dad stepped toward her.
“Why did you authorize his visit today?””
“I didn't. I swear to you, I didn't.””
“But you knew he was coming.””
Victoria looked at the floor.
“I received a message this morning. He said he wanted to meet me at the estate. He claimed he had something that belonged to Elaine.””
“What did he say he had?””
“A ledger.””
Dad's jaw tightened.
“Where is it?””
“I don't know. He never showed it to me.””
“Then why was he in my wife's room?””
“Because he believed she had hidden the original documents there.””
I felt my pulse racing.
“And you knew about the safe.””
Victoria looked up sharply.
I understood then.
“You knew Mom had a safe in the desk.””
“I knew she'd hidden something in that room.””
“But you told the police you didn't know anything about it.””
“I didn't know where it was!””
Dad's voice shook with anger.
“You've been lying to us since the moment you walked into that garden.””
Victoria began to cry.
“I was trying to protect myself!””
“From what?”” I demanded.
“The truth?””
She turned toward me.
“You think your mother was an innocent woman who simply stumbled onto a financial crime. You think Daniel was helping her because he cared about her. You think your father knows nothing because he's too good to understand what people are capable of.””
She wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand.
“But your mother was preparing to destroy people, James. Powerful people. People who don't forgive betrayal.””
“Are you saying someone killed her?””
Victoria's face went blank.
“I didn't say that.””
“You didn't have to.””
Dad stepped between us.
“Enough. If you know anything about what happened to Elaine, you will tell the police.””
Victoria shook her head.
“I can't prove anything.””
“Then tell us what you know.””
She looked at Dad for a long time.
Finally, she whispered, “The night your wife died, Daniel called me.””
My father's entire body went rigid.
“What?””
Victoria's voice trembled.
“He told me Elaine had discovered something she shouldn't have. He said she was going to meet him the next morning, and he wanted me to convince her to stay home.””
“Why didn't you tell the police?””
“Because I didn't know whether he was telling the truth. And because the next morning, Elaine was dead.””
Dad gripped the back of a chair.
“What exactly did Daniel say?””
Victoria's eyes moved toward the window.
“He said, 'If Richard ever learns what she found, none of us will survive it.''”
The silence that followed was unbearable.
Then Martin's phone rang.
He answered, listened for several seconds, and slowly looked at my father.
“What is it?”” Dad asked.
Martin ended the call.
“The police have identified the vehicle used by the intruder. It's registered to a company connected to Northstar Holdings.””
Victoria began shaking.
Dad looked at her.
“Is Daniel working for them?””
She swallowed.
“No.””
“Then who is?””
Victoria stared at the floor.
When she finally spoke, her voice was barely audible.
“The person who paid him to come here.””
She raised her eyes toward Dad.
“Richard, I need you to understand something. Daniel didn't come to steal the records.””
“Then what did he come for?””
Victoria's lips trembled.
“He came to destroy the evidence before someone else found it.””
Martin took a step closer.
“Who hired him?””
Victoria looked at me.
Then at my father.
And for the first time since I had known her, she appeared genuinely afraid of saying someone's name.
“Your mother wasn't the only person investigating Northstar,” she whispered.
She reached into the pocket of her gown and pulled out a folded document.
“I found this in Daniel's car three weeks ago. I kept it because I thought I could use it to protect myself.””
Dad took the document from her.
It was a photocopy of a bank authorization, dated the day before my mother's death.
At the bottom was a signature.
Richard Hayes.
My father's face went white.
“That isn't my signature.””
Victoria nodded.
“I know.””
Martin examined the document.
“Where did you get this?””
“I told you. Daniel's car.””
Dad looked at the date again.
Then he turned the paper over.
Someone had written a single sentence on the back.
*THE ORIGINAL AUTHORIZATION IS IN RICHARD'S PRIVATE SAFE.*
Dad stared at the words.
“What private safe?””
Victoria's eyes filled with fresh tears.
“The one in your study.””
I looked toward the hallway.
My father's private study had been locked since the reception began.
And I suddenly remembered the security officer who had run into the storage room earlier.
He had been assigned to guard the study.
I turned toward the doorway.
“Dad,” I said slowly, “who's watching your office?””
Before he could answer, the alarm system began to sound.
A security officer appeared at the end of the hall.
“Mr. Hayes!””
His face was ashen.
“The study door is open.””
Dad ran toward him.
May you like
The officer swallowed hard.
“And the safe inside has been opened.””
