Chương 10
Paige added sugar.
Nora enlarged the scanned page.
At the top edge, barely visible above the cropped margin, were two partial letters.
RE.
“Could be anything,” Nora said.
Penelope opened Thomas’s file index.
They reviewed documents he had signed during May. A home-health authorization. A limited release of medical records. A durable equipment order. A notice allowing the nursing agency to speak with Paige and Calvin.
The medical release ended with a signature page matching the partial letters.
The original remained in the nursing agency’s records.
Thomas had signed it at the breakfast table on May thirteenth, in front of Marnie Bell, who had notarized his signature because Tabitha said the agency required it. The agency did not require notarization.
The signature page in the disputed amendment was a scanned copy.
It had not been physically signed as part of the amendment.
Paige leaned back.
“So it’s over.”
Penelope did not answer immediately.
“Isn’t it?”
“This is strong evidence.”
“It’s the same page.”
“The other side may argue Thomas authorized electronic assembly, adopted the document afterward, or directed Tabitha to prepare it this way.”
“He didn’t.”
“I agree.”
“Then say it’s over.”
“It is not over until they withdraw, settle, or the court rules.”
Paige stood and walked to the sink.
She had imagined proof would feel like release. Instead it felt like reaching the bottom of a staircase in the dark and discovering another step.
Nora rotated the image. “There’s metadata from a scanning application registered to Tabitha’s phone.”
“Can she claim Dad asked her to do it?” Paige asked.
“Yes,” Penelope said.
“Can people claim anything?”
“Almost.”
Paige looked at the coffee Penelope had brought.
“Did you know how I take it?”
“No.”
“I use milk.”
“I apologize.”
“There’s no milk.”
“I apologize more deeply.”
Paige began laughing.
Nora laughed too, softly at first. Penelope watched them both with concern until Paige’s laughter broke and turned into something she had to cover with both hands.
Penelope came around the table but did not touch her.
That restraint made Paige cry harder.
The next morning, Kyle’s attorney requested a private meeting.
Kyle arrived without Calvin. He wore a blue work shirt with his company name stitched above the pocket. Chlorine had faded the fabric around the cuffs.
He placed his phone on Penelope’s table.
“I want to correct my declaration.”
His attorney, a patient woman named Renée Alvarez, nodded once.
Penelope turned on the recorder after confirming everyone’s consent.
Kyle described signing the witness statement at Calvin’s office on May twenty-first. Calvin told him Thomas had signed a trust amendment and needed family confirmation because the notary’s paperwork might be challenged. Kyle did not see the complete amendment. He saw only the signature page and a separate declaration.
“Did Calvin offer you money in exchange for signing?” Penelope asked.
“No.”
“Did the eighteen-thousand-dollar payment influence your decision?”
Kyle looked at his hands. “Yes.”
“Did Calvin say the payment depended on your signature?”
“No.”
“Did Tabitha communicate with you about the document?”
Kyle unlocked his phone.
There were messages.
Tabitha: Calvin saved your house. The least you can do is confirm what you already know Dad wanted.
Kyle: I wasn’t there.
Tabitha: You saw him sign.
Kyle: Not that.
Tabitha: You saw his signature. Don’t let lawyers turn normal family help into a crime.
Later:
Tabitha: Paige will sell everything and go back to Chicago. Calvin is the only one keeping Dad’s life intact.
Kyle had answered, I’ll sign.
Paige read the exchange twice.
“Why didn’t you show this sooner?”
Kyle looked at her. “Because it makes me look exactly like what I am.”
“What are you?”
“A man who knew better.”
His voice did not ask for comfort.
Renée placed a hand near his arm without touching it. “Kyle understands there may be consequences.”
“What consequences?” Paige asked.
“Employment issues, civil exposure, possible referral concerning the false declaration. We are cooperating and will address those if they arise.”
Kyle looked at Penelope. “I need to say something else.”
Penelope waited.
“The night before Dad died, I went to the house. Calvin was there. They were arguing in the library.”
“Who?”
“Dad, Calvin, and Tabitha. Dad kept saying, ‘That’s not what I signed.’”
Paige stopped breathing for a moment.
“Did you enter the room?” Penelope asked.
“No. Calvin came out. He told me Dad was confused.”
“Did you speak to Thomas?”
“I went in after they left. He was sitting by the window. He asked me whether Mom’s roses were still there.”
Paige looked down.
Kyle’s voice roughened. “I told him yes. He said, ‘Then it isn’t done yet.’ I thought he was talking nonsense.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
“I told Calvin.”
“What did he say?”
“That Dad had been having a bad day.”
“Did you tell Paige?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Kyle looked at her.
“Because Dad always trusted her more when he was scared,” he said. “And I was tired of being the person no one trusted.”
Paige felt anger, pity, and a mean little satisfaction that he finally had to say it aloud. The satisfaction shamed her more than the anger.
After the meeting, Kyle waited in the hallway while his attorney spoke with Penelope.
Paige stood beside him near a framed photograph of Bellweather’s courthouse before the building acquired metal detectors.
“How’s Lily?” she asked.
“She thinks I’m being sued by the government.”
“Are you?”
“No.”
“Did you tell her that?”
“She said that’s what someone being sued by the government would say.”
Paige smiled despite herself.
Kyle rubbed his palms on his trousers. “I’m sorry.”
“For which part?”
“All of it.”
“That’s too easy.”
“I know.”
“You helped them.”
“I know.”
“You watched Dad get pressured and decided being resentful was a reason not to call me.”
“I know.”
“You let me stand in that office and ask you.”
“I know.”
She turned toward him. “Stop saying you know.”
May you like
He closed his mouth.
At the end of the hall, the elevator chimed. An older man stepped out carrying a folder and asked whether this was the dentist.
