My hands were so cold that I could barely hold the telephone.
By afternoon, I was sitting in the office of Mara Keene, the attorney who had handled Peter’s estate.
She listened without interrupting.
Then she examined the documents the bank had provided.
The signature was remarkably similar to mine.
But it wasn’t mine.
The purported notarization was another problem. The notary information on the document belonged to someone whose commission had expired years earlier.
Mara looked at me across her desk.
“Eleanor, someone has gone to considerable trouble to make this appear legitimate.”
I thought of the missing car keys.
The misplaced glasses.
The conversations that ended when I entered the room.
And the brochures advertising senior apartments.
“Do you think they’ve been planning this for months?”
Mara didn’t answer immediately.
“I think we need to establish exactly what happened before we decide how to proceed.”
She helped me contact the appropriate authorities, secure my financial accounts, and preserve the bank’s records. The attempted loan remained blocked while the suspected fraud was investigated.
Then she gave me advice that changed the way I looked at my family.
“Don’t confront anyone until you have copies of everything. And don’t let anyone pressure you into signing another document.”
I went home with a thin envelope inside my handbag.
For two days, I watched Vanessa and Daniel move around my kitchen, pretending nothing had happened.
Vanessa discussed paint colors.
Daniel asked whether I had seen his work jacket.
June sat at the breakfast counter doing mathematics homework.
And I wondered how many ordinary family moments could exist on top of a secret so terrible.
On Sunday morning, Vanessa announced that we needed to have a serious family discussion over dinner.
“I think it’s time we stopped postponing the inevitable,” she said.
I nodded.
Then I began preparing Peter’s favorite Sunday meal.
Roast chicken with rosemary. Buttered potatoes. Glazed carrots. Fresh rolls baked in the little blue ceramic dish June had given me for Christmas.
