Chapter 5 - The Signature Signed by a Dead Man

Gabriel called his attorney from the hospital hallway.

He put the phone on speaker.

The attorney was silent for almost a minute after seeing photographs of the transfer document.

Then he said:

“Do not sign anything.”

Gabriel laughed without humor.

“I wasn’t planning to.”

“The filing system shows a transfer request was submitted at 12:18 a.m.”

Victoria covered her mouth.

Gabriel asked:

“By whom?”

“Marcus Raines.”

Joseph closed his eyes.

The attorney continued.

“He claimed Joseph Raines had been legally deceased for fourteen years and that the controlling family trust had defaulted.”

Gabriel looked at his father.

Joseph whispered:

“There is no default.”

“I know.”

The attorney paused.

“There is another problem.”

Gabriel’s jaw tightened.

“What?”

“The transfer includes a new confirmation page.”

“Signed by who?”

The attorney hesitated.

“Joseph Raines.”

No one spoke.

Joseph stared at the phone.

“I have not signed anything in months.”

“When is it dated?”

“Yesterday.”

Gabriel’s face changed.

Victoria whispered:

“My mother.”

We all looked at her.

She stepped back.

“Six weeks ago, she brought papers to the hospital.”

Joseph frowned.

“I refused them.”

Victoria shook her head.

“She told me she only needed a sample.”

Gabriel stared.

“A sample of what?”

Victoria looked at Joseph’s hand.

“His signature.”

Joseph became very quiet.

Margaret said:

“You watched her do that?”

Victoria’s voice cracked.

“I didn’t understand what she was planning.”

Gabriel looked at her.

“But you understood enough to lie to me.”

She lowered her eyes.

“Yes.”

The attorney interrupted.

“Gabriel, I can freeze the transfer temporarily if I have proof Joseph is alive and present.”

Gabriel looked at his father.

Joseph leaned toward the phone.

“This is Joseph Raines.”

The attorney stopped breathing.

Joseph continued.

“I am alive.”

He looked at Gabriel.

“And I have been kept hidden through fraud and threats for sixteen years.”

The attorney answered:

“I need a sworn statement.”

“You’ll have one.”

“And original evidence if possible.”

Joseph looked at the empty room.

“That may be harder.”

The call ended.

Gabriel stared at the transfer papers.

I noticed a small embossed mark in the corner.

A clock.

I had seen it before.

On stationery in Marcus’s study.

I pointed.

“That symbol.”

Gabriel looked at me.

“What about it?”

“Your uncle keeps old files with the same stamp.”

Joseph leaned forward.

“Where?”

“In the west study.”

His expression changed.

“That used to be my office.”

Gabriel looked at him.

“The room with the large clock?”

Joseph nodded.

The clock.

The one Marcus had moved into the ballroom for the New Year’s countdown.

Joseph looked suddenly alert.

“Is it still in the house?”

“It was behind me when I gave the toast.”

Joseph gripped the wheelchair.

“Then we need to go back.”

Victoria frowned.

“Why?”

Joseph looked at Gabriel.

“Because the ledger Evelyn took from Room 314 was not the only original.”

Gabriel stared.

“What else did you hide?”

Joseph almost smiled.

“Something Marcus has been standing beside for sixteen years.”

We returned to the estate at 2:03 a.m.

Most guests were gone.

Security had sealed the ballroom.

The giant clock was still there.

Marcus was not.

Gabriel walked toward it.

Joseph stopped him.

“Not the front.”

He pointed toward the back panel.

“There is a brass screw beneath the lower hinge.”

I found it.

Gabriel turned it twice.

A narrow compartment opened.

Inside was an old microcassette.

A key.

And a folded page wrapped in plastic.

Joseph stared at it.

“I put those there the night before I confronted Marcus.”

Gabriel opened the page.

It was a list of payments.

Evelyn Hale.

Marcus Raines.

Dates.

Amounts.

Names.

The final entry was circled.

PAYMENT FOR J.R. REMOVAL.

Gabriel looked at his father.

Joseph nodded.

“That was me.”

Victoria stepped backward.

“No.”

Her voice was almost silent.

“My mother said it was relocation.”

Joseph looked at her sadly.

“People use softer words when they want to sleep.”

Gabriel picked up the cassette.

“Can we play this?”

I remembered an old recorder in the study cabinet.

I brought it.

The tape crackled.

Then two voices filled the empty ballroom.

Marcus.

And Evelyn.

Marcus said:

“If Joseph reaches Gabriel, everything changes.”

Evelyn answered:

“Then make sure he never reaches him.”

The recording clicked.

Another voice entered.

Joseph’s.

Younger.

Angry.

“You sold my people and now you want my son.”

Marcus laughed.

“You still think this is about loyalty.”

The tape stopped.

Gabriel looked at his father.

“What did he mean?”

Joseph’s face hardened.

“He meant you.”

“Me?”

Joseph nodded.

“The estate was never the real prize.”

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He looked at Victoria.

“Gabriel was.”