Chapter 7: The Mark in the Notary Book
I stood beside Daisy while the surveyors planted orange stakes through her pasture.
Ethan stayed between their equipment and the horses.
“Keep the truck outside the fence,” he said.
Conrad pointed to the court order.
“The access route includes this field.”
“The order permits measurement, not damage,” Graham replied.
A small sedan pulled into the yard.
Marilyn Voss stepped out carrying a black ledger against her chest.
Brooke’s smile disappeared.
“What is she doing here?”
Marilyn faced me.
“Graham called about a document bearing my seal.”
Brooke moved toward her.
“You confirmed my mother-in-law’s signature.”
“No, I did not.”
“You notarized it.”
Marilyn opened the ledger.
“Every document I witness is numbered here.
Your paper shows entry 4187.”
She ran her finger down the page.
“Entry 4187 was a pension affidavit signed by Harold Pierce.”
Conrad took one step away from Brooke.
She caught his sleeve.
“You told me your copied seal would pass.”
The yard went silent.
Marilyn looked at Graham.
“Did everyone hear that?”
“I did,” he said.
Brooke released Conrad.
“I misspoke.”
“You accused me of putting a false seal on a legal document,” Marilyn said.
“I was visiting my sister in Scotland on the date shown.”
Graham held out his hand.
“May I photograph the ledger and your passport stamps?”
“You may have certified copies by this afternoon.”
Conrad turned to his men.
“Remove the stakes.”
Brooke stared at him.
“You have a court order.”
“Obtained from a document you assured me was genuine.”
“You created the document.”
“I created a draft.
You returned it signed and notarized.”
She laughed sharply.
“So that is how this ends?
You blame the woman?”
“I blame the person who brought me a false authorization.”
Ethan picked up his phone from the fence post.
“You just blamed each other on camera.”
Conrad lunged toward it, but Graham stepped between them.
“Touch that phone, and I will add it to the emergency application we are filing today.”
Conrad’s hands dropped.
Brooke pointed at Ethan.
“He put his hands on me last night.
Why is everyone acting as if he is some hero?”
“No one said he was,” I replied.
“He was wrong, and he will answer for it.”
Ethan nodded.
“My mistake is not your shield.”
Brooke’s voice cracked.
“You choose her every time.”
“I should have chosen basic decency years ago.”
Marilyn closed her ledger.
“There is something else.
Brooke visited me four months ago asking for copies of Jack’s notarized estate papers.”
“I needed them for family records.”
“You offered me five thousand dollars to backdate a statement.”
Graham’s head lifted.
“Do you have proof?”
Marilyn removed a printed bank transfer request from the ledger.
“She sent this before I refused.”
Brooke snatched for it.
Marilyn stepped back, and Tessa appeared at the gate with two county investigators.
“I told them where to come,” Tessa said.
Brooke looked at the investigators, then at the open records-room door.
“You cannot prove I entered that office.”
A voice came from behind the stable.
“Yes, we can.”
May you like
Wren, my farm manager, raised the small security camera Brooke had ripped from the wall.
“It uploads directly to the cloud.”
