Chapter 7: The Voice That Broke Her Story
Lucille locked the visiting-room door.
Conrad pulled me beneath the table while someone rattled the handle.
“Matthew?” Veronica called.
“I came to take you home.”
“You have no order,” Lucille shouted.
“I have his belongings and written authorization.”
Emergency lights flickered on.
A staff member hurried around the corner with Deputy Shaw behind her.
Veronica held up a paper.
“The judge restored my guardianship.”
Deputy Shaw read it once.
“This is a photocopy, and the clerk’s office is closed.”
“You think I forged a court order?”
Conrad rose from behind the table.
“It wouldn’t be your first forgery.”
Veronica’s face changed.
“What are you doing here?”
“Correcting my testimony.”
“Think about your daughter.”
“She knows what I did.
She told me she would rather lose every dollar than watch me become you.”
Veronica stepped toward him.
“You signed the amendment as a witness.”
“I created it on your computer.
The flash drive contains the metadata.”
Her eyes moved to my hand.
“Give that to me, Matthew.”
“No.”
“You don’t know what it contains.”
“I know you want it.”
She reached into her purse.
Deputy Shaw caught her arm before her hand came out.
“Slowly,” the deputy said.
Veronica withdrew a checkbook.
“I was going to offer Conrad what he is owed.”
Conrad laughed once.
“You transferred eight hundred thousand dollars into an account under your maiden name.”
“That was Alexander’s instruction.”
“He couldn’t speak.”
“You’re a frightened employee trying to save yourself.”
Deputy Shaw took the checkbook.
“Everyone is returning to court in the morning.”
At the hearing, Conrad sat facing Veronica.
Naomi asked, “Did Alexander Banks sign the amendment?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
“I copied his signature from an insurance form while Veronica watched.”
Veronica shot to her feet.
“Liar!”
The judge struck his gavel.
“Sit down.”
Conrad connected the flash drive to the courtroom computer.
The file history showed his username, Veronica’s home computer, and a creation time two days before Dad entered the hospital.
Naomi placed the transfer record beside it.
“Who authorized this payment?”
“Veronica did.”
Her attorney whispered to her, but she shoved his hand away.
“This is a conspiracy,” she said.
“Gabriel bought him.”
Gabriel stood.
“With what?
The accounts you emptied?”
The courtroom door opened.
Maribel entered with an older woman in a nurse’s uniform.
The nurse raised her right hand and took the oath.
“My name is Fiona Bell.
I cared for Alexander Banks during his final week.”
“What happened at 6:14?” Naomi asked.
“Mr.
Vale placed a pen between Alexander’s fingers.
Mrs.
Banks moved his hand across the paper.”
Veronica pointed at her.
“You were dismissed for misconduct.”
“I resigned because you ordered me to say your husband was alert.”
“Why didn’t you come forward?”
Fiona took a sealed envelope from her bag.
“I did.
I sent this statement to the probate court the day Alexander passed.
It never reached the file.”
The judge examined the postal tracking page.
“The envelope was signed for by Veronica Banks.”
Veronica’s attorney slowly moved his chair away from her.
The judge voided the amendment, restored Gabriel as trustee, and ordered that I be released to his temporary care.
Then he looked toward Deputy Shaw.
“I am referring the forged document, diverted funds, false guardianship order, and child abandonment allegation for immediate investigation.”
Deputy Shaw approached Veronica.
Veronica stared at me as she was escorted toward the door.
“You think Gabriel saved you?
Ask him what your father was trying to say about your mother.”
Gabriel’s hand closed around mine.
“What did she mean?” I asked.
He looked at the folded receipt in my other hand.
May you like
“I don’t know,” he said.
But for the first time, I could tell he was afraid to turn it over.
