Chapter 4: What the Attorney Already Knew
Her attorney's name was Graham Selby.
He had handled Henry's estate, the cottage deed transfer, and every legal document Dorothy had signed in the past eleven years.
He was not a man who asked clients to come in without a reason.
She was in his office by noon.
He had a folder open on the desk when she sat down.
He didn't reach for it immediately.
"How much did Robert tell you this morning?" he asked.
"That Patricia Welles is the developer's legal representative.
That she told him the letter of intent could be used to challenge a trust transfer."
Graham nodded slowly.
"That's partially accurate.
Here's what's more accurate." He opened the folder.
"Coastal Meridian Development Group filed a notice of interest against three coastal properties in this county in September.
Yours was one of them.
A notice of interest isn't a lien.
It has no legal force on its own.
But it is a public record, and it signals intent to pursue acquisition."
Dorothy looked at the paper he slid toward her.
Her address was printed in the third line.
"They filed this in September," she said.
"Before I changed the estate plan."
"Three weeks before."
"And Robert signed the letter of intent in October."
"After the notice was already filed." Graham leaned back.
"Dorothy, I want to be careful here, because I don't yet know how much Robert understood about what he was signing.
It's possible Megan managed the relationship with Coastal Meridian and Robert simply did what she asked without reading carefully.
It's also possible he understood exactly what he was doing."
"Which do you think is more likely?"
Graham was quiet for a moment.
"I think Megan is the one who found Coastal Meridian.
I think she understood the document better than Robert did.
But Robert signed it.
That's not nothing."
Dorothy looked at the notice of interest again.
Her address.
Henry's cottage.
A company she had never heard of, filing paperwork on her home without her knowledge.
"Can they actually challenge the trust transfer?"
"Patricia Welles told Robert they could.
She was not being entirely honest." Graham pulled a second sheet from the folder.
"A letter of intent signed by someone who does not own the property has no standing to challenge a legitimate estate transfer.
What it can do is create noise.
Delay.
Legal correspondence that costs money to respond to.
Some people in your position — older, alone, not wanting conflict — would simply agree to sell rather than fight."
"They were counting on that."
"I believe so."
Dorothy sat with that for a moment.
The kettle ticking.
The gull calling once.
Robert at the window, not quite able to look at her.
"What do I need to do?"
"Several things." Graham turned to a fresh page in the folder.
"First, I want to send a formal cease and desist to Coastal Meridian, making clear that no authorized representative of this property has entered into any binding agreement and that the letter of intent is without legal force."
"Do it."
"Second, I want to formally record the trust documents we prepared.
We've been holding them pending your final decision.
I think that decision has been made."
"Yes."
"Third — and this is the part I want you to think carefully about — I want to contact the county recorder's office and request a full title search.
If Coastal Meridian has filed anything beyond the notice of interest, I want to know about it before they use it."
Dorothy looked up.
"You think there might be more."
"I think Patricia Welles told your son that a trust transfer could be challenged.
I think she said that with confidence.
I'd like to know why she was so confident."
The room was quiet.
Outside Graham's window, the street went about its ordinary business.
A delivery truck.
Two women with a stroller.
The ordinary world, indifferent to what was happening in this office.
"There's something else I need to ask you," Dorothy said.
"Go ahead."
"Is there any scenario in which what Robert did — signing that letter — could be considered fraud?"
Graham was careful.
"Misrepresentation of ownership in a real estate document is a serious matter.
Whether it rises to fraud depends on intent and damages.
At this stage, I would say it is grounds for significant legal action if you chose to pursue it.
I would not recommend deciding that today."
"But it's possible."
"It's possible."
Dorothy nodded.
She looked at the notice of interest one more time, then pushed it back across the desk.
"Send the cease and desist.
Record the trust.
Do the title search."
"I'll begin this afternoon."
She stood.
Graham stood with her.
"Dorothy." He paused.
"When Megan said the letter of intent didn't have to be a problem — she was offering you a way out.
She expected you to ask what she meant.
She expected a negotiation."
"I know."
"She didn't expect you to come here."
Dorothy picked up her bag.
"Henry always said the people who expect you to negotiate are the ones who haven't prepared for the alternative."
She left Graham's office at 12:47 p.m.
By 2:15, she had a missed call from Robert.
No voicemail.
By 3:40, she had a text from Megan.
*"We need to talk before you do anything else.
There are things about Patricia you don't understand yet.
Things that could actually help you."*
Dorothy read it once.
Set her phone face-down on the passenger seat.
She drove back to the cottage and sat in the sunroom until the light changed.
At 4:58 p.m., a second message arrived from Megan.
*"Patricia isn't working alone.
There's a third party involved.
May you like
Someone you know.
Call me."*
