Chapter 7 - EVELYN SHAW
Evelyn Shaw lived alone in a small house outside Savannah.
She was seventy-six.
Sharp-eyed.
Straight-backed.
And terrified.
She invited us inside and locked the door behind us.
"You look like your grandfather."
I swallowed.
"Everyone says that."
"He was a good man."
"What document do you have?"
She disappeared into another room.
When she returned, she carried a brown leather case.
She placed it on the table.
"The original trust."
I stared at it.
"Grandma's?"
"No."
She opened the case.
"This."
A corporate agreement.
Sixteen years old.
My father had partnered with an investment company.
The goal?
Acquire Grandma's land.
But Grandpa had discovered the plan before he died.
He had stopped it.
Then, apparently, someone had decided to wait.
Evelyn pointed to a signature.
"Your father."
Then another.
"Your mother."
Then a third.
I didn't recognize it.
"Who's that?"
Evelyn's face hardened.
"Vanessa Gray."
My blood ran cold.
"The woman from the law office?"
"She was there from the beginning."
"Who is she?"
Evelyn leaned closer.
"Your father's former business partner's daughter."
That explained why she didn't exist in the obvious records.
She had changed her name.
Her connection had been deliberately buried.
"Why did they need my signature?"
"They didn't."
"Then why forge it?"
"Because once you became the beneficiary, they needed you to look like the criminal."
I stared at the document.
It suddenly made sense.
If they could prove I had financially exploited Grandma, they could have me removed as beneficiary.
Then the property would become vulnerable.
They weren't trying to steal my grandmother's estate.
They were trying to steal mine.
Evelyn reached into the case again.
"There is one more thing."
She handed me a photograph.
It showed Grandma, Grandpa, my father, my mother...
And Vanessa.
All standing together at the farmhouse.
On the back was a date.
Sixteen years earlier.
"She was family?"
"No."
"Then why was she there?"
Evelyn's expression darkened.
"Because your grandfather caught her breaking into the trust files."
I stared at her.
"What happened?"
"He confronted her."
"And?"
"Three days later, he died."
The room went silent.
I couldn't breathe.
"You think she killed him?"
"I don't know."
"But you suspect it."
"I suspect nothing anymore."
Evelyn pointed to the photograph.
"I know what I saw."
"What?"
"Your father meeting Vanessa the night before your grandfather died."
I stood.
"Where?"
"At the farmhouse."
"Did you tell the police?"
"Your father was a respected businessman."
She looked at me.
"And I was a woman nobody listened to."
I understood.
Fear had kept her silent.
For sixteen years.
But now she was ready.
"Will you testify?"
She looked directly at me.
"Yes."
Then her phone rang.
She checked the screen.
Her face went pale.
"Who is it?"
She didn't answer.
The phone rang again.
Then a text appeared.
Evelyn showed it to me.
YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED QUIET.
May you like
A second message followed.
HANNAH WILL BE NEXT.
