PART4

“If they have access to any of your financial records, we need to determine exactly what they took and whether they attempted anything else.”

That last sentence stayed with me.

Whether they attempted anything else.

I looked toward the filing cabinet.

“Robert, I think there may be more.”

He asked me to come to his office the following morning.

That afternoon, I received another message.

It was from Kevin.

“Mom, did you get my picture? The cruise is amazing! You should come with us next time. We love you.”

I stared at it.

Then another message arrived.

“By the way, can you check your email? There might be something from the bank. We handled a little paperwork for you. Nothing to worry about.”

I felt my stomach tighten.

I had never authorized them to handle any paperwork.

I opened my email.

There it was.

A message from my bank.

The subject line read:

IMPORTANT: Your account information has been updated.

I opened it.

The message stated that certain contact details had recently been changed.

A new telephone number had been added.

A new email address had also been registered.

Neither belonged to me.

I called the bank’s fraud department immediately.

After verifying my identity, the representative explained that the changes had been made several weeks earlier.

“Can you tell me which email address was added?” I asked.

She read it aloud.

It was an address I didn’t recognize.

But the first name was familiar.

Daniel.

Tara’s brother.

My hands became cold.

He hadn’t simply witnessed the account opening.

He had apparently been involved in changing the contact information on my original account.

“Please remove those details and restore my original information,” I said. “And I want every security setting reviewed.”

The representative assured me they would handle it.

I hung up and looked at the cruise photograph again.

Kevin and Tara were standing together, smiling at the ocean.

They looked like a happy couple enjoying a vacation.

I wondered whether Kevin knew how the money had been obtained.

I wondered whether he knew about the forged signature.

I wondered whether he had watched Tara sign my name.

And then I remembered something Kevin had said during his last visit.

“Mom, you know, sometimes these things are easier when family handles them. You don’t need to worry about every little detail.”

At the time, I had smiled.

Now, those words sounded very different.

The following morning, I arrived at Robert’s office at nine o’clock.

He was waiting for me with a legal pad and a cup of coffee.

After hearing everything again, he made several phone calls.

He arranged for copies of the bank’s records to be preserved and advised me to report the suspected identity theft to the appropriate authorities.

He also asked whether Earl had left any important documents that might have been accessible to Kevin or Tara.

I nodded.

“There’s one thing.”

I opened my handbag and removed a small envelope.

Inside was a photocopy of an old document.

It was part of Earl’s estate paperwork.

When Earl died, he had left me his savings, investments, and our house.

But there was something else.

A separate investment account had been established years earlier.

It was intended to cover unexpected medical expenses and provide additional security during my retirement.

The account had originally held approximately $185,000.

I had not touched it in years.

Robert examined the document.

“Have you checked this account recently?”

“No. I receive a statement every few months, but I usually just file it away.”

“Do you still receive those statements?”

I thought about it.

Then I realized I hadn’t seen one in several months.

“Actually, I don’t think I have.”

Robert looked up.

“Margaret, we need to check that account immediately.”

We contacted the financial institution.

After several security checks, a representative reviewed the account.

I heard her typing.

Then she asked me to wait.

A few minutes passed.

Finally, she returned.

“Mrs. Dalton, I need to inform you that your account has been accessed recently.”

My heart began beating faster.

“By whom?”

“An authorized representative was added to the account in May.”

I gripped the telephone.

“Who?”

There was a pause.

“Mr. Daniel Mercer.”

Tara’s brother.

Robert looked at me.

I could barely speak.

“How much money is left?”

Another pause.

“Mrs. Dalton, the account currently holds approximately $121,000.”

I felt the room tilt.

“How much was withdrawn?”

“Sixty-four thousand dollars.”

Robert immediately leaned forward.

“Can you tell us where the withdrawals went?”

The representative explained that several transfers had been made to different accounts.

Some had gone to an investment company.

Others had been transferred to an account registered under a business name.

Robert asked for the complete transaction history.

Then he asked another question.

“Was Mrs. Dalton physically present when the representative was added?”

The woman checked the records.

“No. The authorization was submitted electronically.”

“Do you have a copy of the authorization?”

“Yes. We can provide it to the account holder through our secure investigation process.”

Robert thanked her and ended the call.

Neither of us spoke for several seconds.

Finally, he looked at me.

“Margaret, this is no longer just a suspicious forty-thousand-dollar transfer. We may be looking at a much larger pattern of financial exploitation.”

I stared at the old document in front of me.

Forty thousand from my checking account.

Sixty-four thousand from Earl’s investment account.

A forged signature.

A false representative authorization.

And two people who had somehow obtained enough private information to access my financial life.

I thought about Kevin.

My little boy.

The child who used to run into the kitchen after school and ask whether I had made apple pie.

The boy who once cried because he thought our old dog had run away.

I had spent my entire life trying to give him a good future.

And now I was sitting in a lawyer’s office trying to understand how he could have become involved in something like this.

Robert gently interrupted my thoughts.

“Margaret, I need to ask you something difficult.”

“What?”

“Do you believe Kevin knew about the theft?”

I looked down.

“I don’t know.”

“Then we shouldn’t assume either way. We need evidence.”

I nodded.

He continued.

“There’s something else. You mentioned Tara had four hours alone with your filing cabinet. Did she ever have access to your house keys?”

I froze.

“Yes.”

Robert stopped writing.

“Why?”

“Last winter, I gave Kevin and Tara spare keys. I thought it would be sensible in case I fell or needed help.”

Robert slowly placed his pen on the desk.

“Do you still know where those keys are?”

I swallowed.

“No.”

He leaned back.

“Then I recommend changing every lock today.”

I agreed.

But before I could stand, my phone rang.

It was Kevin.

I looked at Robert.

He nodded toward the phone.

“Put it on speaker. Don’t accuse him of anything. Just listen.”

I answered.

“Hello, Kevin.”

“Hey, Mom! How are you?”

His voice was cheerful.

Almost too cheerful.

“I’m fine.”

“Listen, Mom, I need to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

“Did the bank call you?”

I glanced at Robert.

“Why?”

There was a short silence.

“Well, Tara said she received some notification that there might be an issue with one of the accounts.”

I felt my fingers tighten around the phone.

“Which account?”

CONTINUE FOR NEXT PART5…