Chapter 4 - THE FORGED SIGNATUREI stared at the document.
My son had never signed it.
I knew his handwriting.
The signature looked almost perfect.
Almost.
But there was one tiny difference.
Thaddeus always made the final stroke of his T unusually long.
This signature didn't.
I looked at Gideon.
“It's fake.”
He nodded.
“I suspected that.”
“Why would someone forge it?”
“To make Claire the beneficiary.”
I felt sick.
“How much?”
Gideon pointed to the policy amount.
Ten million dollars.
Ten million.
Claire wasn't simply taking the house.
She was positioned to inherit everything.
The house.
The company.
The insurance money.
And whatever else my son owned.
Then I saw another document.
A medical consent form.
Claire had signed it.
My son's name was listed as the patient.
But again, the signature was fake.
Gideon photographed everything.
Then the USB drive.
We plugged it into his laptop.
There were dozens of files.
Emails.
Audio recordings.
Videos.
Bank records.
Then one video opened automatically.
My son appeared on screen.
He looked tired.
Terrified.
But alive.
“Mom…”
I covered my mouth.
It had been recorded weeks before his death.
“I don't know if you'll ever see this.”
His eyes moved away from the camera.
“If you're watching this, something went wrong.”
I began crying.
He continued.
“Claire knows I've discovered what she's doing.”
He took a breath.
“She isn't alone.”
I froze.
“She has someone inside my company.”
A name appeared on the screen.
Martin.
Claire's brother.
The same man who had come to the cabin.
My heart pounded.
Thaddeus continued.
“Martin has been moving money.”
He looked directly into the camera.
“And there's something worse.”
He leaned closer.
“Claire has been meeting Dr. Reeves.”
I whispered:
“No.”
My son continued.
“I think they're manipulating my medication.”
The video ended.
I sat completely still.
Gideon closed the laptop.
“We have enough to reopen the investigation.”
“But he's dead.”
“Yes.”
“And they think no one knows.”
“Exactly.”
Then we heard a sound upstairs.
A door closing.
Gideon grabbed my arm.
“Someone's here.”
We turned off the lights.
Footsteps moved across the floor above us.
Then voices.
Claire.
And Martin.
“She shouldn't have found the cabin.”
Martin answered:
“She couldn't have.”
“She did.”
My heart pounded.
Claire continued.
“Then we need to find what Thaddeus left.”
Martin whispered:
“What if she already found it?”
“Then we make sure she never talks.”
Gideon looked at me.
His expression was deadly serious.
We had to leave.
But before we could move, the cellar door opened.
Light flooded in.
Claire stood at the top of the stairs.
She stared directly at me.
For a moment, neither of us moved.
Then she smiled.
Not the grieving widow smile.
Not the polite smile she had worn at the funeral.
A cold, merciless smile.
“You should have stayed in the mountains.”
I stood.
“You killed my son.”
Her smile disappeared.
“You don't know what you're talking about.”
“I know enough.”
She descended one step.
“You're an old woman who has lost everything.”
I looked at her.
“No.”
I held up the USB drive.
“I've just found everything.”
Her face went white.
Martin moved behind her.
Gideon stepped in front of me.
Claire whispered:
“Give me that.”
“No.”
She took another step.
Then sirens sounded outside.
Claire froze.
Gideon smiled.
“I called the police ten minutes ago.”
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For the first time...
Claire looked afraid.
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