Chapter 12: The Woman Behind the Scheme
By noon, Daniel had discovered that Victoria Shaw was not merely a name in an old property file.
She was the former director of a small investment company that had once managed several assets connected to my grandmother's estate.
The company had closed years earlier.
Its records, however, showed a series of transactions involving Richard Cole.
And one payment had been made to Linda Carter shortly before she married my father.
Dad sat motionless while Daniel explained the findings over the phone.
“Linda received money from Victoria's company?”” he asked.
“Yes. The payment was described as a consulting fee, but we haven't found evidence that Linda performed any consulting work.””
“How much?””
“Just under twelve thousand dollars.””
Dad stared at the wall.
“Linda told me she had been working as a receptionist before we met.””
“She may have been,” Daniel replied.
“We need to verify the payment's purpose before drawing conclusions.””
Margaret closed her eyes.
“Eleanor knew something was wrong. That's why she began documenting every transaction.””
I looked at the notebook.
“Could Victoria have been the person who convinced Linda to marry Dad?””
Nobody answered immediately.
The idea sounded absurd.
But the deeper we looked, the more our family history seemed to contain deliberate gaps.
Daniel promised to contact the former company's registered agent and request any surviving records. He also arranged for the lender to preserve the loan applications and their supporting documents.
Dad paced the living room.
“I need to speak to Linda.””
Margaret shook her head.
“Not alone. If she has information, it should be documented properly.””
“I want to know whether my marriage was built on a lie.””
“Michael, I understand,” she said gently.
“But confronting her now could make it harder to establish what happened.””
Dad stopped pacing.
For the first time, he looked less angry than heartbroken.
“I loved her.””
I reached for his hand.
“I know.””
He squeezed my fingers.
“I thought we were building a family.””
“We were,” I said.
“But she made choices that hurt us.””
He looked down.
“I should have listened to you sooner.””
I didn't know what to say.
I had spent years wishing Dad would notice the small ways Linda treated me differently. I had wanted him to defend me when she criticized my clothes, dismissed my plans, or insisted that Ashley's needs always came first.
Now he was finally seeing it.
But the cost had been enormous.
At 2:40 p.m., Daniel called again.
He had located a former accountant who worked for Victoria's investment company. The accountant remembered preparing records for a property transaction involving Richard and Linda.
More importantly, she remembered a separate payment connected to my grandmother's estate.
The amount was $18,500.
The date was two weeks before Grandma died.
Dad stared at the paperwork Daniel sent.
“Where did that money go?””
“The account details are incomplete,” Daniel replied.
“But the transaction description refers to a property management expense.””
Margaret shook her head.
“Eleanor never authorized an expense of that size.””
“Could it have been a legitimate payment?”” I asked.
“Possibly,” Daniel said.
“But the supporting invoice appears to have been created after the transaction date.””
Dad's face hardened.
“So someone fabricated an invoice.””
“We need the original records before making that conclusion.””
I looked at the date again.
Two weeks before Grandma died.
The same period when the blue folder disappeared.
The same period when she had asked me whether someone had entered her room.
“What if Grandma discovered the payment?”” I asked.
Margaret nodded slowly.
“That would explain why she became so concerned about protecting the trust.””
My phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
I almost ignored it, but a message appeared.
Emily, this is Victoria Shaw. We need to talk before Richard makes another mistake.
My breath caught.
I showed the message to Daniel.
He immediately told me not to reply without consulting him. He documented the number and arranged for any further communication to go through the legal team.
But another message arrived before he could take my phone.
Your grandmother knew what Linda and Richard were planning. She also knew who paid them.
I stared at the screen.
“Who paid them?”” I whispered.
Margaret leaned closer.
“Don't answer yet.””
A third message appeared.
Meet me at the old house. Come alone. Bring the blue folder.
My heart began pounding.
The old house.
Grandma's house.
The property Linda had insisted was sold.
Daniel took a screenshot and asked the attorneys to preserve the message records. He made it clear that I should not meet Victoria alone or follow instructions from an unknown sender.
But Victoria sent one final message.
If you want to know why your mother died without leaving you what she intended, ask Margaret about the hospital records.
I turned toward my great-aunt.
“Why would she say that?””
Margaret had gone completely still.
Dad noticed immediately.
“Margaret?””
She lowered herself into a chair.
For several seconds, she seemed unable to speak.
Then she reached into her handbag and removed a small envelope.
“I hoped this would never become part of the investigation,” she whispered.
Inside was a photocopy of a medical record from the hospital where my mother had been treated before she died.
I recognized my mother's name.
Beneath it was a note about a life insurance policy and a request to update the beneficiary designation.
Dad read the page.
“This says your mother requested a change shortly before she died.””
I nodded, tears stinging my eyes.
“She told Grandma she wanted me to be protected.””
Margaret looked at me.
“She did. But the change was never completed.””
“Why?””
Margaret swallowed.
“Because someone submitted a second form claiming your mother had withdrawn the request.””
Dad stared at the document.
“Who submitted it?””
Margaret pointed to the authorization line.
The name was written in neat, familiar letters.
Richard Cole.
My hands began to shake.
“How could Richard have been involved with my mother?””
Margaret looked at me with unbearable sadness.
“Richard worked with your mother's insurance adviser. He had access to the paperwork. After she died, he told Eleanor that the policy had been settled according to your mother's wishes.””
Dad stood abruptly.
“He lied to us?””
“We don't know whether he acted alone,” Margaret replied.
“But the records suggest your mother intended to leave you more than you received.””
I couldn't breathe.
All my life, I had believed my mother's death had left us with nothing but grief and a few photographs.
Now I was learning that even her final wishes might have been manipulated.
Daniel called the insurance company while Margaret sat beside me, holding my hand.
The representative confirmed that an archived claim file existed, but it would require formal legal authorization to release.
Daniel began the process immediately.
Then his phone rang again.
He listened, asked several questions, and slowly turned toward us.
“The police have located Richard Cole.””
Dad stepped forward.
“Where?””
Daniel lowered the phone.
“At a storage facility outside Nashville. He was attempting to remove several boxes of archived financial records.””
Margaret's expression hardened.
“Did they find the missing page?””
Daniel hesitated.
“They found something else.””
He looked directly at me.
“A sealed envelope bearing your grandmother's handwriting. It's addressed to Emily, and the officers say it appears to contain a list of names.””
My heart hammered.
“Which names?””
Daniel's voice dropped.
“The people Eleanor believed were involved in the scheme.””
May you like
He paused.
“And Victoria Shaw is not the first name on that list.””
