Chapter 5: The Signature That Shouldn't Exist
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
Victor crouched, but Officer Harris gently stopped him from picking up the envelope.
"Please let me handle that, sir.""
Victor straightened.
"Why is my wife's name on a document dated six months ago?""
Richard rubbed his forehead.
"I can explain that.""
"Then explain it.""
"The document may have been prepared as part of an estate review.""
"Angela died two years ago.""
"I am aware of that.""
"Then why would anyone prepare a document using her name?""
Richard looked toward Vanessa.
She had gone very still.
"That is precisely why I said this needs to be handled privately," he replied.
Victor's voice rose.
"You've had eleven years to handle things privately. Look where that's gotten us.""
Noah sat at the end of the dining table, eating slowly while Danielle stayed beside him. He watched the adults between bites, his eyes moving from one face to another.
Every time Vanessa shifted her weight, his shoulders tensed.
Victor noticed and lowered his voice again.
"Richard, I want a direct answer. Did you prepare this document?""
Richard adjusted his cuffs.
"I prepare dozens of documents every month. I would need to examine it before I could say.""
Officer Harris carefully opened the envelope.
Inside was a three-page document titled Amended Family Trust Instructions.
The first page contained Victor's full legal name, the date, and a reference to the trust established after Angela's death.
The second page listed Noah as the primary beneficiary.
The third page contained a signature.
Angela Romano.
Victor stared at it.
The signature looked right.
The same elegant capital A. The same sweeping line beneath her surname. The same small flourish at the end.
He had watched Angela sign birthday cards, school permission slips, holiday checks, and thousands of other ordinary things.
He knew her handwriting.
And this signature looked exactly like hers.
"That's impossible," he whispered.
Vanessa moved toward him.
"Victor, please.""
He turned sharply.
"Did you know about this?""
She shook her head.
"I've never seen that document.""
Richard looked at her.
The look lasted less than a second, but Victor saw it.
"You told me you had never seen it," Victor said to Vanessa.
"Yet you just asked me to stop.""
"Because you're upsetting yourself.""
"Stop telling me how I feel!""
Noah dropped his fork.
The sharp clatter made him jump.
Victor immediately turned.
"It's okay, buddy.""
Noah nodded quickly, then reached for his fork.
Danielle put a hand on his shoulder.
"You don't have to rush, sweetheart.""
He looked at her.
"Will Daddy still be here when I finish?""
Victor felt his chest tighten.
"Yes.""
"Even if everyone gets mad?""
"Even then.""
Noah returned to his food.
Victor turned back toward Richard.
"Who had access to the original trust?""
"Yourself, me, and the financial institution holding the assets.""
"Anyone else?""
"Not officially.""
"Could Vanessa have accessed it?""
Richard hesitated.
"She could have seen certain documents in your office.""
Victor's eyes narrowed.
"Could she have accessed the original signature?""
"I suppose it's possible.""
Vanessa shook her head vigorously.
"This is insane. Why would I forge a signature? I married you. I have everything I need.""
Danielle gave a bitter laugh.
"Then why were you trying to remove Noah from his own family?""
Vanessa spun toward her.
"I wasn't trying to remove him!""
"Your words are on the recorder.""
"That recording is taken out of context!""
Officer Coleman stepped forward.
"Mrs. Romano, please stop interrupting. We need to establish what happened before making any conclusions.""
Vanessa drew a shaky breath.
Then she looked at Victor with tears shining in her eyes.
"Darling, you know how much I have sacrificed to make this family work. I have spent two years trying to help Noah. I have taken him to appointments, dealt with his outbursts, and tried to give him a stable home.""
Victor remembered the appointments.
He remembered Vanessa telling him Noah had behavioral problems after Angela's death. He remembered receiving bills for child psychologists and private consultations.
But he had never attended a single appointment himself.
Vanessa had always insisted that his presence would make Noah nervous.
"Which doctors?"" Victor asked.
She blinked.
"What?""
"Which doctors have you taken him to?""
"Several.""
"Names.""
Her lips tightened.
"Victor, this isn't the point.""
"It's exactly the point.""
She looked toward Richard.
The attorney said nothing.
Victor turned to Officer Harris.
"I have a private office upstairs. I want to retrieve my original trust records, but I don't want anything disturbed.""
Officer Harris nodded.
"We can accompany you, provided we maintain the evidence procedure.""
Victor glanced at Noah.
"Danielle, will you stay with him?""
"Of course.""
He kissed his son's forehead.
"I'll be right back.""
Noah caught his sleeve.
"Don't let her take me.""
Victor crouched until they were eye to eye.
"Nobody is taking you anywhere without making sure you're safe. I promise.""
Then he followed Officer Harris toward the staircase.
The mansion's upstairs hallway was bright with sunlight. Family photographs lined the walls: Victor and Angela on their wedding day, Angela holding newborn Noah, the three of them at a beach in Florida.
Victor stopped at the photograph of Angela holding their son.
She was smiling at Noah, her forehead resting against his tiny head.
He touched the frame.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
Officer Harris gave him a moment.
Then Victor unlocked his office.
The room smelled of leather, paper, and the faint cedar scent of the desk Angela had chosen for him years earlier.
He crossed to the wall safe and entered the code.
Inside sat several document boxes, a stack of property deeds, and a dark-blue folder marked ROMANO FAMILY TRUST — ORIGINAL.
Victor pulled it out.
The folder was thinner than he remembered.
He opened it on the desk.
The original trust agreement was there. So were the amendments made after Angela's death.
But the final page was missing.
Victor flipped through the papers again.
Once.
Twice.
Then a third time, faster.
"The last page is gone.""
Officer Harris leaned closer.
"Are you certain?""
Victor showed him the index.
"The original document had a final page with both our signatures and the notary's seal. It's missing.""
He searched the box.
Then the desk drawers.
Then the locked cabinet where he kept documents he rarely needed.
Nothing.
He returned to the folder and examined the binding.
A narrow strip of paper clung to the inside cover.
Someone had torn a page out recently.
Victor's pulse quickened.
He looked toward the office door.
Vanessa had known where the trust records were kept.
Richard had known every detail of the agreement.
And someone had prepared a new document using Angela's signature.
Officer Harris photographed the damaged folder.
"We'll document this and determine the appropriate next steps.""
Victor nodded, but his eyes had settled on something else.
A small cream-colored envelope sat beneath the folder.
It had no stamp, no return address, and no name on the front.
He opened it.
Inside was a single photograph.
It showed Angela standing in the garden outside the mansion, holding a folder against her chest. The image had been taken through one of the dining-room windows.
Victor recognized the outfit.
A pale-blue blouse. Black trousers. The silver necklace he had given her on their tenth anniversary.
He remembered the day.
It had been two weeks before her death.
On the back, someone had written a sentence in black ink.
*SHE KNEW WHAT THEY WERE PLANNING.*
Victor felt the blood drain from his face.
Officer Harris took the photograph by its edges and examined it.
"Do you know who wrote this?""
"No.""
"Have you seen this image before?""
"Never.""
Victor turned it over again.
He stared at Angela's face.
She wasn't smiling.
She was looking toward the window with an expression he had never noticed in any photograph before.
Fear.
He remembered that final fortnight now: Angela asking him to review the trust, Angela insisting that certain documents be kept in a different place, Angela trying to talk to him one evening when he was rushing to an important meeting.
He had told her they would talk the following morning.
The following morning never came.
His phone vibrated.
A message from an unknown number appeared on the screen.
*Stop asking about Angela. Noah is not the only person who remembers that night.*
Victor read it twice.
Then he handed the phone to Officer Harris.
The officer photographed the message and asked whether Victor recognized the number.
He shook his head.
"No.""
"Has anyone contacted you about this before?""
"No.""
Victor looked through the office window toward the garden.
The party was still underway, although the guests had begun to gather their belongings. Beyond the glass, sunlight shone across the patio stones.
Everything looked normal.
That was what frightened him most.
His wife had been smiling among those guests while his son knelt on the dining-room floor.
His attorney had arrived carrying documents that should not have existed.
And someone had been watching Angela before she died.
Victor returned to the dining room with the original trust folder and the photograph secured with the other evidence.
When he entered, Vanessa was sitting in a chair near the window, her face composed again.
Richard stood beside Officer Coleman.
Noah had finished his meal. Danielle was helping him wipe his hands with a napkin.
Victor approached the table.
"Richard, I want you to tell me everything you know about Angela's last two weeks.""
Richard's face hardened.
"I've already explained that I cannot speculate about a deceased client's affairs without reviewing the relevant documents.""
Victor placed the photograph on the table, keeping it within the evidence officer's control.
"Then start by explaining this.""
Richard glanced at the image.
For the first time, he looked genuinely stunned.
"Where did you find that?""
Victor stared at him.
"You recognize it.""
Richard didn't answer.
Vanessa rose so abruptly that her chair scraped across the floor.
"Richard, don't say another word.""
Everyone turned toward her.
She seemed to realize her mistake a second too late.
Victor's voice became very quiet.
"Why would you tell him not to speak unless you already know what he's about to say?""
Vanessa's mouth opened.
Then closed.
Richard looked at the photograph again.
May you like
And finally, he whispered six words that made Victor's hands go cold.
"Angela wasn't supposed to see it.""
