Chapter 2 - The Signature
The attorney's office smelled like coffee, old paper, and expensive wood.
Alison sat between her mother and Christopher while attorney Daniel Mercer studied the photograph Gregory had sent.
He didn't speak for nearly a minute.
Finally, he looked up.
“This isn't a standard purchase agreement.”
Alison leaned forward.
“What is it?”
“A contract designed to look incomplete.”
Christopher frowned.
“Meaning?”
“The tabs are hiding sections.”
Daniel carefully enlarged the photograph.
“There are pages underneath these.”
Alison's stomach tightened.
“Why would someone hide pages?”
“To make the document look less threatening to the person being pressured into signing it.”
Daniel turned to her.
“Did you sign anything recently?”
“No.”
“Anything at all?”
“No.”
“Power of attorney?”
“No.”
“Loan application?”
“No.”
“Authorization for Gregory to manage property matters?”
“No.”
Daniel nodded.
“Good.”
Alison's relief lasted less than five seconds.
“But someone has apparently submitted documents bearing your signature.”
He placed another sheet on the desk.
Alison stared at it.
It looked like her signature.
Her name.
Her handwriting.
Everything.
“No.”
Daniel watched her.
“Are you certain?”
“Yes.”
Christopher leaned over the table.
“Could she have signed something and forgotten?”
Alison turned toward him.
“No.”
The accusation hurt more than she expected.
Christopher immediately shook his head.
“I'm not accusing you.”
“You sounded like you were.”
“I've spent years watching people underestimate how easily paperwork gets lost. I'm asking.”
Daniel interrupted.
“There may be another explanation.”
He pointed at the signature.
“This is close to hers.”
“Close?”
“Not identical.”
Alison leaned closer.
The final loop of the letter “n” was too long.
She had a habit of pressing harder at the end of her signature.
This one didn't.
“It was copied,” she whispered.
Daniel nodded.
“Possibly traced. Possibly digitally reproduced.”
Catherine suddenly spoke.
“Then Gregory has been planning this.”
Nobody answered.
Daniel opened another document.
“There's something else.”
He turned it around.
A notarized statement.
It claimed that Alison had authorized Gregory to act on her behalf because she was “temporarily unable to manage financial affairs.”
Alison laughed in disbelief.
“That's ridiculous.”
“Was there ever a time when you were hospitalized?”
“No.”
“Were you traveling?”
“No.”
“Any reason someone could claim you were unavailable?”
“No.”
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
“Then this is fraud.”
Christopher leaned back.
“Can we stop the transfer?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“First, we notify the county. Second, we file a fraud alert. Third, we secure every original document. And fourth…”
Daniel paused.
“Do not go home.”
Alison's eyes met his.
“Why?”
“Because if Gregory knows what you have discovered, he may destroy evidence.”
The room went silent.
Alison thought of the apartment.
Her daughter's room.
The kitchen table.
The photograph.
Then her phone rang.
Gregory.
She didn't answer.
He called again.
Then again.
Finally, a text.
You are making this much harder than it needs to be.
Another message followed.
Your daughter doesn't understand what adults have to do to survive.
Alison felt sick.
Christopher stood.
“Block him.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Don't.”
Everyone looked at him.
“Keep the messages.”
“Why?”
“Because every message helps establish intent.”
Alison saved everything.
Then another number called.
She answered without speaking.
A man's voice said:
“Mrs. Reed?”
“Yes?”
“This is Thomas Bell from Lakeshore Title.”
Alison's heart jumped.
“I've been trying to reach you.”
“Why?”
“There appears to be an irregularity with the ownership of your condominium.”
“What kind of irregularity?”
“A pending transaction.”
“I didn't authorize any transaction.”
There was a pause.
“We know.”
Alison closed her eyes.
“Then why is there one?”
“We received paperwork indicating you had granted your partner authority to negotiate the sale.”
“I didn't.”
“That's what concerns us.”
Thomas lowered his voice.
“Someone submitted a copy of your deed, identification, and a power-of-attorney document.”
Alison felt her throat tighten.
“Who?”
“We can't disclose everything over the phone.”
“Please.”
“Mrs. Reed, whoever did this appears to know your personal history.”
Her heart began pounding.
“Why?”
“Because they didn't simply forge your signature.”
“What did they do?”
“They built a paper trail around it.”
The call ended.
Alison stared at her phone.
A paper trail.
That meant Gregory hadn't simply stolen a document.
He had constructed a story.
A fake story in which Alison had willingly given him control.
And suddenly another possibility appeared.
“Mom,” Alison said slowly.
Catherine looked at her.
“Gregory knew about my divorce.”
“Yes.”
“He knew about the apartment.”
“Yes.”
“He knew Abigail's school address.”
“Yes.”
“He knew Christopher didn't own the property.”
Christopher's face hardened.
“Where did he learn all that?”
Alison looked toward Daniel.
“That’s what we need to find out.”
Daniel nodded.
“I'll have an investigator review the filings.”
Then Abigail spoke from the corner.
“Mom?”
Alison turned.
Her daughter was holding something.
A small brass key.
“Where did you get that?”
“From my backpack.”
Alison stared at it.
“I've never seen that.”
Abigail shook her head.
“Gregory gave it to me.”
“When?”
“Two weeks ago.”
“Why?”
“He said it was a secret.”
Christopher stepped closer.
“What does it open?”
Abigail looked frightened.
“I don't know.”
Daniel carefully took the key.
There was a tiny number engraved on it.
317.
Catherine frowned.
“That's not your apartment number.”
“No.”
Alison suddenly remembered something.
A storage facility.
Gregory had mentioned renting one several months earlier.
She had never asked why.
Daniel looked at the key.
“Do you know where this is?”
Alison shook her head.
Christopher did not.
But Catherine did.
Her expression drained of color.
“There's a storage building near the old railway station.”
She looked at Alison.
“Unit 317.”
The room went silent.
Alison stared at the little key.
May you like
For the first time, she understood that the apartment wasn't the only thing Gregory had been hiding.
And whatever was inside that storage unit might explain why he was so desperate to make her sign.
