Chapter 15 - The Last Offer
Brooke's lawyer claimed Evan had submitted the deed, had my identification, and wanted to inherit the house. All of that was true. He left out the office computer, fake notary stamp, and messages in which Brooke described the plan.
Evan's attorney told him not to speak publicly. Daniel told me the same. The case would be decided by records, not by who could tell the most convincing story at a family dinner.
Brooke still found a way to reach me. A letter arrived by certified mail, offering to withdraw the transfer and repay any costs if I signed a statement saying Evan had acted alone. She promised never to contact me again and wrote that Sophie needed her father, accusing me of destroying the family over a house. It was a careful piece of cruelty: she wanted me to believe protecting my home meant harming my granddaughter.
I took it to Daniel.
"Don't answer," he said. "This is an attempt to influence your statement. We'll give it to the investigator."
That afternoon, Evan called from his attorney's office. He said Brooke had told him to accept the blame in exchange for keeping her out of prison. He asked whether I would consider it.
"No," I said. "I won't lie for you, and I won't lie for her."
"I wasn't asking you to lie. I was asking if you'd tell them I thought it was a refinance."
"You did think that at first. Then you knew better. Both things are true."
He went quiet. "I understand."
For the first time, I believed he might.
Two days later, Detective Kim called with an update. Brooke's former business partner had agreed to speak to investigators. She had kept emails from the week the deed was created, including one in which Brooke asked her to witness a statement she had never actually seen me sign.
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The former partner had also kept an attachment Brooke sent by mistake.
It was a spreadsheet listing three other older homeowners Brooke had approached about "family asset planning."
