Chapter 5 - The Woman Carly Never Expected Me to Call
Monday morning began with the county recorder and ended with a woman crying in my living room.
Her name was Melissa Crane.
The notary.
Carly’s cousin.
And she was terrified.
Getting her into my house had not been my idea.
Elaine called her after filing an emergency affidavit challenging the deed.
Melissa answered on the fourth attempt.
At first, she denied everything.
Then Elaine mentioned the criminal penalties for knowingly notarizing a forged signature.
Melissa agreed to meet.
She arrived wearing oversized sunglasses even though it was raining.
She looked younger than I expected.
Early thirties.
Nervous hands.
No makeup.
She sat on the edge of my sofa and refused coffee.
“I didn’t know she was going to use it like that.”
Elaine spoke before I could.
“Use what?”
“The notarization.”
“You notarized Mrs. Whitmore’s signature without Mrs. Whitmore present.”
Melissa glanced at me.
“I thought she knew.”
“That’s not how notarization works.”
“I know.”
“Apparently you didn’t.”
I gave Elaine a look.
We needed information, not humiliation.
Melissa twisted the strap of her purse.
“Carly said you were sick.”
I blinked.
“Sick?”
“She said you were having memory problems.”
My jaw tightened.
“What kind of memory problems?”
“She said doctors thought it might be early dementia.”
Andy stood so quickly his chair scraped the floor.
“That is a lie.”
Melissa flinched.
He sat back down.
“Sorry.”
His apology was automatic.
That broke my heart in a new way.
Melissa continued.
“She said you wanted the house transferred before your condition got worse.”
“Did she show you anything from a doctor?”
“No.”
“Did you ask?”
“No.”
“Did you speak to me?”
“No.”
Elaine folded her arms.
“And yet you notarized my signature.”
“I know.”
For the first time, Melissa looked directly at me.
“I’m sorry.”
“Why did you do it?”
Her eyes filled.
“Because Carly said if I didn’t help, Richard would fire me.”
There it was.
Richard Vale.
“What is your relationship with Richard?”
“He owns Hawthorne.”
“We know.”
“I work there.”
“Doing what?”
“Administrative things. Documents. Scheduling.”
“Fraudulent deeds?”
Her face collapsed.
“No.”
I believed the fear.
Not necessarily the denial.
Elaine leaned forward.
“What else did you notarize?”
Melissa went still.
“Nothing.”
“That answer was too fast.”
I almost smiled.
Elaine had spent too much time in my courtroom.
Melissa began crying.
“There were loan documents.”
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
“Related to this property?”
“One.”
“Related to Andy?”
Melissa looked at my son.
He froze.
“Yes.”
Andy’s face changed.
“What?”
“Carly brought paperwork for loans.”
“How many?”
“Three. Maybe four.”
“Using my name?”
“Some.”
“You knew?”
“I thought you knew.”
He laughed bitterly.
“Apparently everyone thought everyone knew except me.”
Melissa wiped her face.
Then I asked the question that mattered most.
“What did Richard expect to receive from this?”
She shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“Melissa.”
“I swear.”
“What did Carly expect?”
That changed everything.
Melissa stared at the floor.
“She said once the house transferred, she could sell it.”
Andy stood again.
This time he didn’t apologize.
“What?”
Melissa shrank into the sofa.
“She said you two would move.”
“Where?”
“Florida.”
“I hate Florida.”
Under any other circumstances, that might have been funny.
No one laughed.
“Did Carly say my mother was moving too?”
Melissa looked at me.
“No.”
The room became silent.
“Where did she expect me to go?”
“I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do.”
Melissa’s mouth trembled.
“She said there were communities.”
“What communities?”
“For older people.”
My stomach turned.
“She intended to put me in assisted living?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did she use those words?”
Melissa nodded.
Andy walked out of the room.
A minute later, we heard the back door close.
I wanted to follow him.
Elaine shook her head slightly.
Give him a minute.
Melissa continued.
“Carly said you’d fight at first.”
“And then?”
“She said Andy could convince you.”
I looked toward the kitchen.
“No. Andy couldn’t.”
Melissa’s face twisted.
“I’m sorry.”
“Stop apologizing and tell me the truth.”
She inhaled shakily.
“Richard didn’t want to do the deal at first.”
“Why?”
“He said Carly didn’t have enough control over Andy.”
That sentence chilled me.
“Control.”
“That’s the word he used.”
“What changed?”
“She told him you were getting weaker.”
I touched the stitches above my temple.
The irony was almost unbearable.
“She said once the title was changed, they could get financing fast.”
“Why did they need money so badly?”
Melissa hesitated.
Then she whispered, “Because Richard owes people.”
“What people?”
“I don’t know.”
Elaine leaned closer.
“Business creditors?”
“Maybe.”
“Illegal creditors?”
“I really don’t know.”
Melissa opened her purse.
“I brought something.”
She removed a flash drive.
“Carly used my office computer sometimes. I copied a folder after she got arrested.”
Elaine took it carefully.
“What’s on it?”
“Emails. Draft documents. Scans.”
“Why bring this to us?”
Melissa stared at her hands.
“Because Friday night, Carly called me from jail.”
Andy had returned quietly through the kitchen and was now standing in the doorway.
“What did she say?”
Melissa looked at him.
“She said if she went down, she was taking everyone with her.”
Then she turned to me.
May you like
“And she said you had no idea what she’d already done.”
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