Chapter 4: What the Notary Knew
My lawyer's name was Daniel Hess.
I had used him twice before — once for the house purchase, once for a contract dispute at work.
He was methodical, unhurried, and he never told me what I wanted to hear.
He called me back at seven the next morning.
"I've looked at the document," he said.
"The signature is a forgery.
Not a careful one.
Whoever did this was confident they wouldn't get caught."
"Can we prove it?"
"Your original signature is on the purchase deed from four years ago.
A handwriting analyst will take about a week.
But Connor — the notary is the bigger problem."
"Why?"
"Because a notary is supposed to witness the signing in person.
If your signature is forged, the notary either participated or was negligent to a degree that borders on participation.
Either way, that notary's license is finished.
And if they participated knowingly, we're talking about something more serious than a civil matter."
I was standing in the hospital corridor.
Amy was still inside with Frederick, who had been admitted overnight for observation — fever, mild dehydration, exhaustion.
"What do I need to do?" I said.
"Send me everything the police collected last night.
Then I need you to come in this afternoon.
Bring Amy if she's able."
Amy was able.
She insisted.
We sat across from Daniel at two o'clock, Frederick asleep in the carrier on Amy's chest, and I watched my lawyer go through the documents with the same expression he used for everything — focused, neutral, giving nothing away.
Then he set one page down separately from the rest.
"This is the notary's stamp," he said.
"Do you recognize the name?"
I leaned forward.
Raymond Colt.
Nashville, Tennessee.
Notary Public.
"No," I said.
Amy went very still.
Daniel looked at her.
"Mrs.
Bradley?"
"I know that name," she said quietly.
"Raymond Colt.
He came to the house."
I turned to her.
"When?"
"About six weeks ago.
I thought he was a friend of Teresa's.
She introduced him as someone from her church.
They sat at the kitchen table for about twenty minutes.
I was upstairs with Frederick." She paused.
"Teresa asked me to stay upstairs.
She said they needed to discuss something private."
Daniel wrote something down.
"Did you see him leave?"
"I heard the door.
When I came downstairs, Teresa said he was an old friend and that was all."
"Did she have any papers on the table when you came down?"
Amy thought about it.
"She was putting something in her bag," she said.
"A folder.
I didn't think anything of it."
Daniel set his pen down.
"That's the session," he said.
"That's when it happened.
Colt came to the house, Teresa presented the forged document, and he stamped it.
Whether he was deceived about whose signature it was or whether he knew — that's what the police investigation will determine."
"How long will that take?" I said.
"Weeks, possibly months for the full criminal process.
But the civil side moves faster.
I can file to have the deed transfer voided within the week.
The forgery evidence is strong.
The recording Amy made adds criminal weight to the intent." He looked at both of us.
"I want to be direct with you.
Teresa and Mason didn't just try to take your house.
They planned this.
The party, the notary visit, the folder Mason was carrying — that was a staged exit.
If the police hadn't arrived when they did, Mason walks out with the original deed, and you spend the next year fighting to prove what happened."
Amy's hand moved to Frederick's back.
"She planned it around his birthday," Amy said.
It wasn't a question.
"The party gave them cover," Daniel said.
"Noise, people, distraction.
And it put you, Connor, somewhere else — at work — while it happened."
"Except I came home early," I said.
Daniel almost smiled.
"Except you came home early."
I looked at Amy.
She was looking at Frederick.
"There's one more thing," Daniel said.
He pulled a second document from the folder.
"I ran a title search this morning.
The deed transfer was filed.
It didn't go through — there's a processing window — but it was submitted.
Which means Teresa had already taken the next step before last night."
He slid the paper across the desk.
At the bottom, beneath the filing timestamp, was a second name I didn't recognize.
May you like
A buyer.
Someone had already been lined up to purchase my house.
