“Yes?”
“My name is Clara Wells. I work in the venue office.”
Margaret waited.
“I was the one who noticed the second name on the authorization when I prepared the cancellation file.”
“You called the manager?”
“I flagged it.”
Margaret looked at the woman’s face.
“Thank you.”
Clara glanced at the red mark on Margaret’s cheek.
“I’m sorry no one stopped her.”
Margaret’s fingers tightened around her purse.
“So am I.”
Clara hesitated.
“There is something else.”
The words made Margaret’s body go still again.
“What?”
“The final document in your folder is not a policy authorization.”
Margaret looked down at the folder.
“It was labeled as one.”
“It was filed with the insurance papers, but it came from your bank. I didn’t understand why your signature looked different on that page.”
Margaret opened the folder.
The final document was a single sheet folded in half. She had assumed it was the insurance policy because Daniel had placed it behind the others.
Clara pointed to the lower corner.
“Look at the date.”
Margaret unfolded it.
The date was six months earlier, two weeks after her husband’s funeral.
The document was a letter of instruction to her attorney. It stated that if Margaret ever believed her property, savings, or identity had been used without permission, the land sale proceeds were to be transferred into a protected family trust.
The signature was hers.
But beneath it was another line.
The beneficiary was listed as Daniel Bennett.
