Chapter 7: Marcus Hale Makes a Mistake
Victoria filed, and for two weeks the silence between us in the house was the kind that has lawyers behind it.
We moved around each other like strangers in a waiting room, speaking only when necessary, saying nothing that mattered.
Then Marcus Hale made a mistake.
Patricia called me on a Tuesday afternoon, and I could hear something different in her voice — not excitement, because Patricia didn't do excitement, but a particular sharpness that meant the situation had shifted.
"Marcus Hale filed a civil claim this morning," she said.
"Against your grandfather-in-law's estate."
I stopped walking.
"He filed a claim against the estate?"
"He's alleging that the land parcel Victoria transferred into his holding company was done so with the full knowledge and blessing of the estate, and that the subsequent trust amendment — the one protecting you — constitutes an attempt to retroactively void a legitimate business arrangement." She paused.
"He's claiming the land was a gift.
Documented."
"What documentation?"
"A letter," she said.
"Signed, supposedly, by your grandfather-in-law.
Dated fourteen months ago."
I sat down.
"Is it real?" I asked.
"Your grandfather-in-law says he has never seen it before in his life," Patricia said.
"He called me this morning before I'd even read the filing.
He was angry in the way that very calm people get angry — very quiet, very certain."
"It's forged."
"Almost certainly.
But we have to prove it." She paused again.
"There's something else.
The letter — the supposed gift letter — it was notarized."
"By who?"
"A notary named Gerald Fitch.
Who, according to his public records, retired from practice eleven months ago.
And who, according to a source I trust, has done work for Marcus Hale's holding company on at least two prior occasions."
I let that settle.
"So Marcus forged a letter," I said, "had a notary he controlled stamp it, and is now using it to claim the land was never part of the estate to begin with."
"That's the shape of it," Patricia said.
"Which means Victoria didn't just move assets.
She and Marcus planned this together.
The Scottsdale trip wasn't a romantic getaway.
It was a working meeting."
I thought about the photographs in the envelope.
The document on the table between them.
Property Transfer.
"They were finalizing it," I said.
"When she disappeared for three days, they were finishing the plan."
"Yes," Patricia said.
"And they didn't expect her grandfather to move first."
"What do we do?"
"Gerald Fitch," she said.
"He's retired, which means he has no license left to protect.
But he does have a pension, a reputation, and presumably a family.
I want to find him before Marcus Hale's attorneys do." She paused.
"I also want the original letter examined by a forensic document specialist.
If it was printed on modern equipment and backdated, we'll know."
"How long will that take?"
"The document examination, three to five days.
Finding Fitch — I have someone working on it now."
I stood up and walked to the window.
"Patricia," I said.
"If they forged a letter with his signature — a man in his eighties who just lost his wife — and they're using it to strip his estate—"
"I know," she said.
"That's not just a divorce anymore."
"No," she said.
"It's not." A beat.
"Daniel, I need you to do something for me.
Go see him tonight.
Your grandfather-in-law.
Don't call ahead.
Just go."
"Why?"
"Because Victoria knows the claim was filed.
And she knows he'll be upset.
May you like
And right now, the people in that house who care about him can be counted on one hand."
I was already reaching for my keys.
