Chapter 3 - The Lawyer Who Knew Too Much
Nolan Price arrived at Mercer House just after midnight.
He was sixty, silver-haired, expensive, and angry at being summoned.
Then Julian placed the forged amendment in front of him.
The anger disappeared.
“Where did you get this?” Nolan asked.
“My wife had it.”
Nolan did not touch the pages.
“That document should not exist.”
“Interesting choice of words,” Julian said. “Not ‘it’s fake.’ Not ‘I’ve never seen it.’ You said it should not exist.”
Nolan took off his glasses.
Maya stood near the doorway. Leo had fallen asleep upstairs after the doctor wrapped his ankle.
Julian leaned forward. “Start talking.”
Nolan exhaled. “Amelia created two versions of the trust.”
Julian stared at him. “You told me there was one.”
“There was one active version.”
“And the other?”
“A contingency draft. Amelia was afraid someone might try to gain control through marriage.”
Julian almost laughed. “She predicted Eleanor?”
“No. She was afraid of everyone.”
“Why?”
Nolan glanced toward Maya, then lowered his voice. “Because two months before her death, she discovered somebody had been moving money through Mercer charitable accounts.”
Julian sat back.
“Who?”
“She never told me.”
“Convenient.”
“She said she needed proof.” Nolan tapped page fourteen. “This signature is not real. But it was copied from a private version of the contingency draft.”
“Who had access?”
“Amelia. Me. And you.”
Julian’s eyes narrowed.
Nolan added, “The copy in my vault disappeared eighteen months ago.”
Julian stood so quickly his chair scraped the floor.
“You never told me?”
“I thought it had been misfiled.”
“For eighteen months?”
“I made a mistake.”
“No. You made a choice.”
Nolan looked toward the stairs.
“Keep Leo away from Eleanor.”
Julian’s voice dropped. “You think she would hurt him?”
“I think someone already tried to remove him legally. Physical removal is not a giant leap after that.”
Maya’s face tightened.
Julian pointed to the photo of Nolan and Eleanor beside the black sedan.
“Then explain why you met my wife yesterday.”
Nolan went silent.
Julian pushed the photo closer.
“Tell me the truth before I have security search you.”
Nolan closed his eyes.
“She called me. She said she had found something Amelia left behind.”
“What?”
“A sealed letter addressed to Leo.”
Julian froze.
“Where is it?”
“I never saw it.”
Maya suddenly whispered, “I did.”
Both men turned.
She reached into her apron pocket and pulled out a small brass key.
“Mrs. Mercer dropped this when she pushed Leo.”
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Stamped into the metal were three tiny words:
AMELIA - LEO - 12.
