Chapter 10 - The Death Certificate That Didn't Exist
The envelope held a copy of an insurance inquiry. It wasn't a completed claim. It was a request for the documents required to begin one.
Beside my name, someone had written DECEASED in block capitals.
"How can they do that?" I asked.
"They can't lawfully collect if you're alive," Tessa said over speakerphone. "But they can lie to see what paperwork is required. Calvin, don't destroy anything you've got."
Calvin sat at Dad's kitchen table with both hands around an untouched mug of coffee.
"Ethan's company is in trouble," he said. "The bank called its line of credit in June. Margaret guaranteed a portion with her brokerage assets. Westbridge advanced them money against a closing that hasn't happened."
"How much?" Dad asked.
"Just under eight hundred thousand dollars. And the advance becomes payable immediately if the land deal fails."
I thought of every dinner when Ethan had said we couldn't afford a weekend trip, every time he'd accused me of ruining our future by refusing to sell the orchard.
"He was trying to make my property pay his debts."
"That's the short version," Calvin said. "There's a worse one."
He told us that Margaret had arranged a meeting with a notary to sign the supposed power of attorney while I was at a school fundraiser. Calvin had been ordered to process an invoice for the notary's services.
"Did you see anybody forge my signature?" I asked.
"No. I saw an invoice. I don't want to claim more than I know."
It was the first honest sentence I'd heard from anyone connected to Ethan in days.
He pulled a flash drive from his pocket.
"These are ledger exports. The originals are still in the business system. I kept a copy because Margaret asked me to delete several entries and I refused."
Tessa instructed us to give the drive directly to Ortiz, preserve Calvin's notes, and let investigators verify the files.
Calvin rose to go, then paused by the door.
"There was a call after the accident," he said. "Margaret told her contact that she needed a funeral director recommendation."
"She thought I was dying," I whispered.
May you like
Calvin looked at me with exhausted eyes.
"No," he said. "She sounded angry that you weren't."
