Chapter 6: The Amendment
My estate lawyer was a man named Gerald Fitch.
He had handled Elena's affairs, and then her estate, and then Lily's trust.
He was sixty-three, methodical, and had sent a handwritten condolence card when Elena passed.
I trusted him the way you trust someone who has only ever given you reason to.
I called him from the station parking lot.
"Gerald," I said.
"I need you to pull Lily's trust documents.
Right now.
Today."
A pause.
"Is everything all right?"
"No.
I need to know if any amendment was filed in the last two months.
Anything that changed the terms of the trust."
A longer pause.
"Daniel," he said carefully.
"Where are you?"
"Answer the question, Gerald."
I heard him set something down.
Papers, maybe.
Or a mug.
Then: "There was an amendment request submitted six weeks ago.
I assumed — it came through your signature.
I processed it."
My hand tightened on the phone.
"What did it change?"
"The reversion clause," he said.
"In the event of Lily's death before eighteen, the original language reverted the trust to Elena's blood relatives.
The amendment narrowed that.
It named a single beneficiary."
"Who?"
The pause this time was different.
Heavier.
"A woman named Renata Hargrove," he said.
"She provided documentation establishing herself as Elena's half-sister.
The paperwork was — Daniel, it was thorough.
I had no reason to question it."
"That signature wasn't mine, Gerald."
Silence.
"It wasn't mine," I said again.
"Someone forged it."
I heard him exhale.
A long, slow breath that carried something that sounded like the beginning of a very bad day for Gerald Fitch.
"I need you to pull everything," I said.
"Every document she submitted.
Every piece of identification.
And I need you to call the police — Detective Cole, I'll text you her number — and give her all of it."
"Daniel, I am so sorry.
If I had known — "
"I know," I said.
"Call her today, Gerald.
This morning."
I ended the call and sat in the parking lot for a moment.
The amendment.
Renata Hargrove — Meredith — had already changed the trust.
She hadn't needed to wait.
She had already put herself in position.
Which meant the only thing left on V's list was Lily.
I drove home faster than I should have.
Ruth met me at the door.
Behind her, I could hear Lily in the kitchen, talking to Bunny about something involving crackers.
"She's fine," Ruth said quietly.
"She's been fine.
But Daniel — " She lowered her voice.
"A man came to the door about forty minutes ago.
Said he was from the gas company.
I didn't let him in.
I told him we weren't expecting anyone and closed the door."
"Did he leave?"
"He stood on the path for a moment.
Then he walked away." Ruth looked at me steadily.
May you like
"He didn't have a van."
I called Cole before I had my coat off.
