“The original was recovered from an archived client box when the law office moved,” I told her. “This copy is certified. My attorney has the original.”
“Nora contacted you?”
She said it too quickly to pretend the name meant nothing. Ethan guided the girls toward the breakfast nook while I drew the second document out from beneath the first.
A forensic examiner had compared Dad’s verified signatures with the one on the authorization redirecting money allocated to me into Ryan’s company. The conclusion was that the disputed signature wasn’t Dad’s; the ink analysis also indicated it had likely been added after his death.
The witness line carried my mother’s name.
“You signed as witness,” I said.
“I signed hundreds of things for your father.” She straightened the pages against the counter, an old habit whenever something untidy needed to become somebody else’s problem.
“You witnessed him signing this?”
“You have no idea what was happening then.”
“I’m beginning to.”
I told her the civil complaint had been filed Friday. Before she could answer, the doorbell rang, followed by three hard knocks.
Mom caught my wrist. “Before Ryan says anything, you need to understand that he doesn’t know everything.”
Then his voice came through the door. “Mara! Open up! I brought the bank statements!”
Her hand fell away. I went to the foyer and found Ryan in jeans and work boots, holding a thick folder, with Kelsey beside him and neither twin in sight.
“You could’ve answered my calls,” he said.
“You could’ve asked before planning to move into my house.”
He frowned. “Mom said you offered.”
I stepped aside and looked toward her. Kelsey explained that Mom had shown them messages, then unlocked her phone and held out screenshots supposedly sent by me.
In them, I had too much space, wanted to put old arguments behind us, and invited their family to stay for a year. The wording was familiar enough to be unsettling, but I had never written any of it.
“I didn’t send these,” I said.
Ryan turned toward Mom. She answered that she was trying to bring the family back together because we weren’t speaking.