Chapter 6 - The Forged Signature
The doorbell camera recorded Tyler two nights later.
He arrived at 1:13 a.m., wearing a hooded jacket and gloves. He tried an old key, discovered the locks had been changed, then walked around the side of the house.
Claire watched from the upstairs window while speaking quietly to emergency dispatch.
Tyler left before the police arrived.
The next morning, he claimed he had only been checking whether she was safe.
Marlene did not believe him.
Neither did Claire.
A week passed without contact. The silence felt unnatural.
Then a letter arrived from a property management company congratulating Claire on “the upcoming family occupancy transition.”
Attached was a copy of an authorization form bearing Claire’s signature.
She had never seen it before.
The document claimed Claire had agreed to add her mother and Tyler as permanent occupants while preparing a transfer of ownership.
The signature looked almost correct.
Almost.
Claire’s hands went cold.
Marlene examined the form under the study lamp.
“This is fraud.”
“How did they get enough information to do this?”
“The missing folder. Possibly photographs of your identification. Maybe copies from the funeral.”
Claire felt violated in a way that went beyond money. They had entered her grief, searched through Daniel’s private papers, and treated her future like a prize.
Marlene called the county recorder’s office.
May you like
No transfer had been completed.
But someone had scheduled an electronic filing for Monday morning.
