Richard said nothing.
Martin Cole closed his eyes.
Sarah turned toward him.
“You know.”
Martin looked at Richard, then at the envelope in his hand.
“Do not say a word,” Richard warned.
Margaret’s gaze shifted between them.
“Mr.
Cole has been named in a civil complaint involving the transfer of those funds into a company account.
He may choose whether loyalty to Mr.
Hale is worth the consequences of silence.”
Martin loosened his tie.
“Richard said Sarah had agreed to invest the equity in our development project,” he said.
“He gave me board consents with her signature.”
Sarah’s expression hardened.
“I never signed board consents.”
Martin lowered his voice.
“I know that now.”
Richard lunged toward him, but the title investigator stepped between them.
“You coward,” Richard said.
“You approved every transaction.”
“Because you told me the documents were legitimate.”
“They were legitimate.”
Margaret lifted the third pile.
“Then perhaps you can explain this.”
She displayed a report prepared by a forensic document examiner.
The gift letter, the refinance authorization, and two company consents all contained signatures reproduced from other documents.
Tiny flaws repeated in exactly the same places—something that did not happen when a person signed naturally.
The signature on my gift letter had been copied from a birthday check I had given Sarah years earlier.
Sarah’s signatures had been copied from a tax return.
Richard’s mother sat down heavily.
“Richard,” she whispered.
“Tell them you did not do this.”
He ignored her.
Instead, he looked at me.
“This is your fault.”
A few hours earlier, that accusation might have wounded me.
Now it sounded almost childish.
“My fault?”
“You inserted yourself into our finances.
You gave money and then acted as though you owned us.
Sarah was happy before you started poisoning her against me.”
Sarah took one step forward.
“Mom did not know I called Margaret.”
Richard’s face tightened.
“Then who put you up to it?”
“You did.”
She walked to the television and selected another recording.
This one showed Richard standing in the study three months earlier.
Sarah was visible near the doorway.
“Your mother is a liability,” he said in the video.
“Once the house sells, we are moving.
You will stop sending her money, and you will stop visiting unless I approve it.”
Sarah’s recorded voice asked, “What happened to the money she gave us?”
“She gave it to us.”
