Chapter 9 - The Signature
I stared at the scanned document on Reed’s desk.
LAURA BENNETT.
My name.
My forged signature.
The document listed me as a guarantor on a business loan tied to Horizon Auto Group.
Amount:
$126,000.
“I never signed this.”
“We know.”
“How?”
“The lender required electronic verification.”
He showed me an IP address.
It traced back to my parents’ house.
Then he showed me the timestamp.
2:13 a.m.
I had been working an overnight shift.
My hospital badge records proved I was inside the hospital at that exact time.
Reed leaned back.
“That’s strong evidence.”
I stared at the signature.
It looked almost perfect.
Almost.
Then I remembered.
“Mom.”
“What?”
“She signs birthday cards for me sometimes.”
Reed frowned.
“She what?”
“If we send something to relatives, she’ll sign everyone’s names.”
“She knows your signature.”
“Yes.”
He wrote that down.
The investigation moved faster after that.
By Friday morning, police executed a search warrant at my parents’ house.
They found copies of my driver’s license.
My Social Security card.
Tax returns.
Bank statements.
Loan applications.
And a notebook.
Jason’s notebook.
Inside were lists of debts.
Amounts.
Deadlines.
Names.
Beside several entries were notes.
MOM WILL HANDLE LAURA.
Another:
L HAS 40K+.
And beneath that:
IF NEEDED, USE SCHOOL MONEY.
I read those words twice.
School money.
They had discussed my future like it was an emergency reserve.
Then Reed turned the page.
There was another note.
PATRICIA ACCOUNT?
I looked up.
“What does that mean?”
“We’re not sure.”
I knew someone who might.
Martin Ellis answered immediately.
When I read him the note, he became quiet.
“Laura, Patricia had another account.”
My heart stopped.
“What account?”
“A small investment account.”
“How small?”
“Approximately eighty-two thousand dollars when she died.”
“I never received that.”
“I know.”
“Who did?”
“Nobody.”
I didn’t understand.
Martin continued.
“Patricia suspected someone had attempted to alter the beneficiary designation shortly before her death. She froze the account through her attorney and moved it into probate review.”
“Who tried to change it?”
“We couldn’t prove it then.”
May you like
I looked at Jason’s notebook.
Now we might.
