Chapter 5: The Money My Brother Left Behind
I read the bank statement three times.
Eighty-five thousand dollars.
The account had belonged to Daniel and me.
We opened it when he was thirty, after our father passed away. Daniel had inherited a small investment portfolio, while I had received the family house.
We agreed to keep a joint emergency fund.
Neither of us touched it without discussing it first.
After Daniel died in a car accident, I assumed the account had been closed according to the instructions in his estate documents.
I had never questioned it.
Now I was looking at a withdrawal made eleven months ago.
"Where did you get this?"" I asked Emily.
"Richard gave it to me.""
"Why?""
"He said it was money my uncle had left for me.""
Sarah took the statement.
"That's impossible. Daniel never had children.""
I nodded.
"Daniel always said Emily was the closest thing he had to a daughter.""
He had adored her.
When she was little, he'd carried her on his shoulders at the county fair. He bought her a miniature piano for Christmas and taught her how to play the first few notes of a song.
Once, when Emily was seven, Daniel had told me something I never forgot.
"Michael, if anything ever happens to me, make sure that little girl gets a chance to go to college. She's got a good head on her shoulders.""
I had laughed.
"You're not going anywhere, idiot.""
He'd smiled.
"Nobody gets to choose that.""
Now I stared at the bank statement.
"Emily, did Richard tell you where this money came from?""
She nodded.
"He said Uncle Daniel wanted me to have it. He also said you'd been keeping it from me.""
Sarah looked horrified.
"Richard told you Michael stole your uncle's money?""
Emily lowered her eyes.
"Not exactly. He said Michael had control of it and didn't want me to know.""
I felt my jaw tighten.
"Did you believe him?""
She didn't answer.
That silence hurt more than I expected.
I pulled out my phone and called the bank.
After verifying my identity, I explained the suspicious transaction.
The representative asked me to wait.
Several minutes passed.
Then a woman returned to the line.
"Mr. Carter, I can confirm that the account was closed eleven months ago. The remaining funds were transferred to an external account.""
"Whose account?""
"One moment.""
I heard keyboard clicks.
Then she spoke again.
"The receiving account was registered under Richard Hayes.""
Sarah grabbed my arm.
"Richard?""
I nodded.
The woman continued.
"The transfer was authorized using a notarized power of attorney document.""
I frowned.
"What power of attorney?""
"One signed by your late brother, Daniel Brooks.""
I nearly dropped the phone.
"That's impossible. Daniel died before the transaction.""
The representative paused.
"According to our records, the document was submitted approximately three weeks after his death.""
"Who notarized it?""
She read the name.
I recognized it immediately.
Gerald Whitmore.
Our father's former attorney.
A man who had helped Daniel prepare his estate documents.
"Thank you," I said.
I ended the call.
Emily was staring at me.
"Richard stole Uncle Daniel's money?""
"That's what it looks like.""
She started crying.
"I defended him.""
I reached for her hand.
"Emily...""
"I called you a fake father while he was stealing from our family.""
Her voice broke.
I wanted to tell her it was okay.
But it wasn't.
Not entirely.
And pretending otherwise wouldn't help either of us.
Sarah sat beside her.
"Sweetheart, you were manipulated.""
Emily shook her head.
"I should have known.""
"No," Sarah said firmly.
"You should have been allowed to know the truth.""
I looked at the statement again.
There was another detail.
The external account number ended in 7724.
I knew that number.
It belonged to a business account Richard had used years earlier when he owned an automotive repair shop.
The shop had closed.
But the account was still active.
I called Daniel's old attorney.
After two attempts, a receptionist answered.
"Whitmore Legal Services.""
"This is Michael Carter. I need to speak with Gerald.""
"Mr. Whitmore is currently unavailable.""
"It's urgent. It concerns a power of attorney document signed by my deceased brother.""
There was a pause.
"May I ask what this is regarding?""
"Someone used a document supposedly signed by Daniel three weeks after his death to withdraw eighty-five thousand dollars.""
The receptionist became noticeably quieter.
"Mr. Carter, can you come to the office tomorrow morning?""
"Why?""
"Because Mr. Whitmore has been expecting you to ask about that document.""
My stomach tightened.
"Expecting me?""
"Yes. He left instructions that if you ever contacted us regarding Daniel's account, we were to give you a sealed envelope.""
I looked at Sarah.
She had gone pale.
"What envelope?""
"I can't discuss its contents over the phone. But I can tell you that it contains a copy of the original estate instructions.""
I thanked her and ended the call.
Emily looked confused.
"What original instructions?""
I didn't know.
Daniel had prepared a will, but I'd never seen anything suggesting he had left money directly to Emily.
I thought about the little piano he'd bought her.
The Christmas cards he'd written.
The way he'd always called her his favorite girl.
Maybe there was more to his generosity than I had understood.
Sarah leaned closer.
"Michael, there's something I need to tell you about Daniel.""
I turned.
"What?""
She looked at Emily, then back at me.
"Six months before he died, Daniel came to me privately. He said Richard had contacted him.""
My chest tightened.
"Why would Richard contact Daniel?""
Sarah took a shaky breath.
"Because Daniel had discovered something about Richard's past.""
"What?""
She glanced at the bank statement.
"Richard wasn't just in debt. He had been using other people's identities to obtain loans.""
Emily's eyes widened.
"Other people's identities?""
Sarah nodded.
"And Daniel told me he had evidence.""
I stared at her.
"Where is it?""
Sarah shook her head.
"He said he had hidden it somewhere safe. He never told me where.""
Then Emily suddenly stood.
"Wait.""
She opened her graduation purse and pulled out her phone.
"Richard gave me another thing yesterday.""
She unlocked the screen and showed us a photograph.
It was a picture of an old wooden box.
Inside were several envelopes, a small USB drive, and a photograph of Daniel standing beside Richard.
On the back of the photograph, someone had written four words.
*The original agreement exists.*
Emily looked at me.
"Richard said Uncle Daniel had something that belonged to him.""
I studied the photograph.
Then I noticed the location in the background.
It was Daniel's old garage.
The garage that had been sold after his death.
And the new owner had called me just two weeks earlier.
May you like
He'd found something behind a false wall.
Something he thought belonged to my family.
