Chapter 4: Another Way
My attorney's name was Daniel Farro.
He had handled the Wentworth estate since my father passed four years ago.
I called him at 7 a.m.
from the hospital corridor.
He picked up on the second ring.
"Austin.
I heard about last night.
Are Irene and the baby all right?"
"They're stable.
Daniel, I need you to pull the full estate file.
My father's trust, every amendment, every codicil.
I need to know if there's a grandchild clause."
A pause.
"Where did you hear that term?"
"From Irene.
Margaret told her about it when Irene was eight weeks pregnant."
Another pause.
Longer this time.
"Austin, I think we need to meet in person."
"Tell me now."
He exhaled slowly.
"There is a clause.
Your father added it two years before he passed.
It states that if a direct grandchild is born and registered before a specific asset transfer is completed, the transfer becomes void and the assets revert to a protected trust for the grandchild's benefit.
Margaret would lose access to the discretionary fund she has been drawing from."
I pressed my back against the corridor wall.
"How much is in that fund?"
"As of last quarter — just over four million dollars."
I didn't speak.
"Austin, I should have flagged this to you when Irene became pregnant.
I assumed Margaret had disclosed it.
I'm sorry."
"Did Margaret ever contact you directly about an amendment?"
"She contacted my office twice in the past two months.
I declined both times.
The requests were not legally sound and I told her so." He stopped.
"She then contacted a separate firm.
I only learned about it last week through a colleague."
"What did she ask the other firm to do?"
"To draft a trust amendment that would predate the grandchild's registration.
Effectively backdating a document to make it appear the transfer was completed before the birth."
My hand tightened on the phone.
"That's fraud."
"Yes," Daniel said simply.
"It is."
"Is there evidence?"
"My colleague kept the correspondence.
He refused the work and referred it to me.
I have the emails." A brief pause.
"I was going to call you this week.
I didn't know it had already escalated to what happened last night."
"I need everything you have.
Today."
"I'll have it to you by noon." He hesitated.
"Austin, the documents in your safe — were any of them estate-related?"
I thought about the open suitcase.
The papers Carla had already pulled out.
"I don't know yet.
I need to get back to the house."
"Don't touch anything before the police have documented the scene.
And Austin—" His voice dropped.
"If they already have certain documents, we may need to move quickly.
A fraudulent amendment, even an unsigned one, can cause significant delays if it's filed before we can block it."
I ended the call and stood in the corridor for a moment.
Margaret had said she found another way.
The backdated amendment.
That was the other way.
She didn't need Irene's signature if she could make it look like the transfer had already happened before the baby existed on paper.
I walked back toward Irene's room.
Rosa was standing outside the door, still in her coat, her eyes red.
"Mr.
Wentworth.
I came as soon as the hospital opened for visitors.
I wanted to see her."
"She's awake.
She'll want to see you." I stopped beside her.
"Rosa, last night you said they knew about the baby before I did.
What did you mean exactly?"
Rosa looked at the floor.
"About ten weeks ago, I found a piece of paper in the kitchen trash.
It was a photograph — printed from a phone, I think.
It was an ultrasound image." She looked up.
"It had Irene's name on it.
And a date.
But you hadn't announced anything yet.
I thought maybe Irene had dropped it by accident."
"And you think Margaret found it first?"
"The next morning, Margaret was on the phone in the garden very early.
I heard her say—" Rosa stopped.
Pressed her lips together.
"She said, 'It's confirmed.
We need to move before he finds out.'"
The door to Irene's room was right in front of me.
I put my hand on it but didn't push it open yet.
"Rosa," I said.
"I'm going to need you to write down everything you just told me.
Every date, every conversation, everything you saw.
Can you do that?"
"Yes," she said immediately.
"I should have done it months ago."
"You're doing it now." I pushed the door open.
"That's enough."
Inside, Irene was sitting up slightly, watching the doorway.
When she saw Rosa, something in her face finally gave way.
Rosa crossed the room and took her hand without a word.
I watched them for a moment.
Then I stepped back into the corridor and called the detective who had taken my statement the night before.
"Detective Marsh," I said when he answered.
"I think what happened last night was part of something larger.
I have an attorney with documentary evidence of attempted fraud and a witness who can place the planning at least ten weeks back.
I'd like to meet today."
A brief silence.
"Mr.
Wentworth," Marsh said, "I was about to call you.
May you like
We've been going through what we recovered from your home this morning." He paused.
"There's something in that suitcase you need to see."
