Chapter 5 - The Archives
The basement of the county municipal building smelled of damp paper, old ink, and decades of municipal neglect. Rows of heavy steel filing cabinets stretched into the dim fluorescent lighting, housing the forgotten paper trails of a thousand local family disputes.
Daniel and I sat at a scarred wooden table surrounded by three towering stacks of dusty binders.
For two hours, we sifted through corporate ledgers, tax returns, and loan applications from five years prior. Most of it was standard bureaucratic noise—until I opened a corporate resolution form dated three months before my father's death.
"Look at this," I whispered, sliding the document across the table to Daniel.
Daniel adjusted his glasses and traced his finger along the signature line. "The corporate loan for the warehouse expansion. Authorized by your father... except look at the notary stamp."
"It's the same name," I said. "The exact same notary public who supposedly notarized my signature on the trust document two weeks ago. Martha Higgins."
"Your mother's bridge club friend," Daniel murmured, pulling out his laptop to cross-reference the name. He tapped a few keys rapidly, bringing up public registry records. "Martha Higgins isn't just a bridge partner, Christian. She’s a retired bank teller who lost her notary license eight years ago for improper document handling."
"Which means any document she notarized after that date is legally fraudulent," I said, feeling the final pieces of the puzzle snap into place. "Mother used the same expired seal, thinking nobody would ever look back far enough to check."
"She didn't count on you coming home early," Daniel said. He closed his laptop and looked up at me with a serious expression. "We have what we need to invalidate the trust takeover and start an investigation into the corporate fraud. But Christian... your mother isn't going to surrender quietly when she realizes we've connected the past to the present."
Before I could answer, my phone rang in my pocket.
The caller ID flashed Home.
I stared at the screen as it vibrated against my palm. I looked at Daniel, who gave me a sharp, cautionary nod.
I swiped to answer and put it on speaker.
"Christian," my mother's voice came through the speaker, calm, controlled, and dripping with an icy, venomous sweetness. "You really should have stayed at the hospital with your wife. Because while you've been running around playing detective, someone broke into the house and turned the pantry upside down."
May you like
My hand tightened around the phone until my knuckles turned white. "What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything, darling," she said softly. "The local sheriff is here right now taking my report about a burglary. And he has a warrant out for your arrest for breaking and entering."
