Chapter 8 - Robert’s Office
We ran upstairs.
Robert’s office door was open.
The computer was on.
A banking page glowed on the monitor, showing the completed transfer.
Jason checked the destination account.
“Collins Family Holdings,” he said. “That’s Brenda and Larry’s company.”
The deputy searched the room.
A window stood cracked open, letting snow blow across the floor.
Footprints marked the roof below it.
Someone had remained behind when Brenda’s relatives left.
A floorboard creaked above us.
The cabin had a narrow attic accessible through a ceiling panel in the hallway.
The deputy drew his weapon.
“Stay here.”
He lowered the ladder and climbed.
A crash shook the ceiling.
Then came shouting.
A man dropped through the opening and hit the hallway floor hard.
It was Tyler Collins, Sarah’s twenty-six-year-old cousin.
I had seen him earlier eating pizza in my kitchen.
He scrambled toward the stairs, but Jason blocked him.
Tyler swung a metal flashlight.
It struck Jason’s shoulder.
Jason drove him into the wall.
The deputy pulled them apart and forced Tyler facedown.
“You don’t understand,” Tyler gasped. “Sarah said the money was ours.”
“Nothing here is yours,” I said.
His backpack contained my spare checkbooks, jewelry, two external hard drives, and a key to my home in the city.
The theft went far beyond one cabin.
Tyler admitted he had hidden in the attic when everyone left. Sarah had instructed him to use the saved passwords on my computer and transfer the money if police became involved.
“How did she know my passwords?”
Tyler laughed bitterly. “Jason gave her everything.”
Jason looked sick.
“I gave her the password to help Mom pay bills after Dad died.”
Sarah had never forgotten it.
The detective returned and took Tyler into custody.
By sunrise, I had frozen every account, changed every password, and contacted an attorney named Evelyn Shaw.
Evelyn arrived before noon in a charcoal coat and snow boots.
She listened without interrupting.
When I finished, she placed both hands on the table.
“You need to understand something,” she said. “This was not a family disagreement. It was an organized financial attack.”
Jason swallowed. “Can the deed be canceled?”
“Yes. But Sarah’s attorney will argue that Diane signed voluntarily and later changed her mind.”
“We have evidence.”
“You have strong evidence. You also have a problem.”
Evelyn opened the guardianship petition.
“This document includes statements about Diane’s mental condition from a licensed physician.”
“The letter is fake,” I said.
“The signature may not be.”
She pointed to the doctor’s name.
I recognized it immediately.
Dr. Leonard Price.
May you like
He had treated Robert during the final months of his life.
And he was Brenda’s older brother.
