Chapter 5: The Name She Wouldn't Say
Marcus Webb arrived at three minutes past eight with a younger colleague named Patricia Grace, who carried a leather folder and said very little and wrote down everything.
Andre laid the documents on the table.
Marcus put on his glasses and read without speaking.
Patricia photographed each page with a small camera she pulled from the folder.
Neither of them reacted with visible alarm, which somehow made it worse.
"All right," Marcus said finally.
"Let me tell you what we're looking at."
He pulled out a chair.
Patricia sat beside him.
Andre sat across from them.
"The power of attorney document is fraudulent on its face," Marcus said.
"Your mother's signature doesn't match her legal signature on file with the bank — we can verify that within twenty-four hours.
The notary stamp is the bigger problem.
Either the notary was negligent or they were complicit.
We'll find out which."
"And the transfer?"
"We're going to contact the bank today and flag it as fraudulent before it processes.
If we move fast enough, the thirty-two thousand doesn't leave your mother's account." Marcus looked at him over his glasses.
"We may be in time.
That depends on when exactly it was initiated and which institution holds the destination account."
"What's the destination account?" Andre asked.
"That's what we need to find out." Marcus slid the transfer document toward Patricia, who photographed it again from a different angle.
"The routing number on this form belongs to a private account, not a major bank.
That's a pattern.
It's consistent with someone who intended to move funds through an intermediary and then move them again before they could be traced."
"This wasn't her first time doing this," Andre said.
It wasn't a question.
Marcus took off his glasses.
"Tell me about Daniel."
Andre told him everything — the way Simone's eyes had moved across the room, the expensive suit, the untouched glass, the practiced casualness of the name, the way he had walked out when Andre pushed.
Patricia was writing without looking up.
"She won't give me his last name," Andre said.
"She doesn't need to," Patricia said, still writing.
"The notary on the power of attorney document is registered.
That's a public record.
And if Daniel is an attorney — which his behavior suggests he may be — we can cross-reference his name against the bar association and your mother's county."
"How long will that take?"
"Less than a day," she said.
Marcus folded his hands on the table.
"Andre, I need to ask you something directly, and I need you to answer honestly."
"Go ahead."
"Before last night — before the wedding — did you have any indication that Simone had access to your mother's home?
Any reason to believe she had been there alone?"
Andre was quiet for a moment.
"Six weeks ago," he said slowly.
"I asked Simone to drop off a birthday card for my mother.
I was stuck at work.
Simone said she'd do it.
My mother called me that evening and said Simone had stayed for almost two hours.
She seemed pleased.
Said Simone had helped her organize some papers in the office." He stopped.
"My mother thought she was being helpful."
Patricia looked up.
"Loretta has a home office?" Marcus asked.
"A small one.
Where she keeps her financial records.
Her insurance documents.
Her late husband's pension paperwork." Andre's voice was even but his jaw had tightened.
"Everything."
Marcus and Patricia exchanged a look.
It was brief and professional.
It told Andre everything he needed to know about how serious this was.
"I'd like Loretta to come in this afternoon if she's able," Marcus said.
"And Andre — I need you to ask her one more thing before she does."
"What?"
"Whether Simone ever visited her alone a second time.
Before or after the birthday card.
Any visit that Loretta didn't mention to you because she thought it was casual." He paused.
"Sometimes people don't report what they don't realize matters."
Andre stood up and reached for his phone.
The call to his mother lasted four minutes.
When he hung up, he set the phone down on the table and looked at Marcus.
"Simone visited her four times in the last three months," he said.
"Always when I was at work.
Always with a reason — a gift, a question about the wedding seating chart, help with the printer.
The last time was eight days ago." He swallowed.
"My mother made her lunch."
The room was very quiet.
"She trusted her," Andre said.
"Because I trusted her."
May you like
Marcus put his glasses back on.
"Then let's make sure that trust is the last thing Simone ever st0als from your family."
