Chapter 6: The Last Transfer
The judge ordered the courtroom doors closed.
Elaine’s attorney stood beside her, speaking through clenched teeth.
“Tell me you did not move those funds.”
Elaine lifted her chin.
“A trustee may protect trust property.”
“Where did you move it?”
“To a secure account.”
The judge leaned forward.
“Whose name is on that account?”
Elaine did not answer.
“Mrs.
Walker, answer the question.”
“Mine.”
Melissa sank into her chair.
“Mom, you said you were fixing it.”
“I am fixing it.”
“You took the rest?”
“I prevented Connor from freezing money that belongs to this family.”
I stood.
“My daughters are this family.”
Elaine looked straight at me.
“Not in the way Melissa is.”
My lawyer put a printed alert on the evidence table.
“At 8:14 this morning, Mrs.
Walker transferred $9,800 into a personal account and initiated a second transfer to an investment service.”
The judge turned to Elaine’s attorney.
“Did you know about this?”
“No, Your Honor.”
“Did you advise it?”
“Absolutely not.”
For the first time, Elaine looked at him with uncertainty.
The judge spoke to the clerk.
“Prepare an emergency order freezing every account identified in these records.
Notify the bank while we are in session.”
Elaine grabbed her phone.
The bailiff stepped forward.
“Put it on the table, ma’am.”
“I need to call my bank.”
“That is precisely what you will not do.”
She set it down, but the screen lit up with an incoming call.
The name read CARL—INVESTMENTS.
My lawyer pointed to it.
“Your Honor.”
The judge nodded to the bailiff.
“Answer it on speaker.”
The bailiff tapped the screen.
A man’s voice came through.
“Elaine, the wire was rejected.
The receiving account was flagged because the trust name didn’t match your personal information.”
Elaine reached for the phone.
The bailiff moved it away.
“Carl,” the judge said, “this is Judge Helen Ward of County Probate Court.
Do not process another transaction from that account.”
There was a long pause.
“Yes, Your Honor.”
The call ended.
Melissa stared at her mother.
“You were going to take all of it and leave me holding the false forms.”
“I was protecting you.”
“No.
You put my name on the account.”
“You accepted the money.”
“You told me it was an advance for my girls.”
“You didn’t ask questions because you liked the answers.”
Melissa flinched.
Daniel stepped beside her.
“She’s right about that part.”
Melissa covered her face.
“I know.”
The judge ordered a forensic accounting and temporarily removed Elaine as trustee.
My lawyer was appointed to help an independent bank officer preserve the funds.
Elaine pointed at me.
“You did this to your sister.”
“No,” Melissa said before I could answer.
“He didn’t.”
Elaine turned on her.
“After everything I gave you?”
“You gave me his daughters’ money and called it love.”
Elaine’s face went rigid.
Melissa looked at me.
“I knew Mom favored my girls.
I knew it hurt Emma and Riley.
I told myself it wasn’t my job to correct her.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because Dad chose you every time it mattered.” Tears ran down her face.
“I thought if Mom chose me, it made us even.”
“It didn’t make us even.
It made four children watch adults keep score.”
“I know.”
Elaine gathered her purse.
“This performance is pathetic.”
The judge stopped her.
“You are not free to leave yet, Mrs.
Walker.
We still need to discuss the false waiver.”
The courtroom door opened, and a gray-haired woman entered beside an investigator.
She looked at the notarized page, then at Elaine.
May you like
“I’m Ruth Keller,” she said.
“And I have never seen that document in my life.”
