Chapter 5: The Seventy-Five-Thousand-Dollar Deposit
Patricia arrived at our house at 2:40 that afternoon.
She didn't come alone.
A man in a gray suit accompanied her, carrying a leather folder.
Vanessa opened the front door before I could reach it.
“What are you doing here?”” she demanded.
Patricia stepped inside.
“We need to talk.””
“Not now.””
“Vanessa, you told me Daniel agreed to sell the property.””
Vanessa glanced toward me.
“Patricia, we discussed this. Don't start creating problems.””
Patricia's companion cleared his throat.
“My name is Robert Ellis. I'm representing Ms. Miller in connection with the proposed property purchase.””
I stood.
“I'm Daniel Carter. The property owner.””
Robert nodded.
“Mr. Carter, I understand there's a disagreement concerning the transaction.””
“There's no disagreement. I never authorized the sale.””
Vanessa immediately interrupted.
“That's not true. Daniel knew about the financial restructuring.””
Robert opened his folder.
“Ms. Carter, perhaps we should let Mr. Carter explain.””
She turned on him.
“Don't speak to me as if I'm a child.””
Patricia placed her handbag on the dining table.
“I transferred seventy-five thousand dollars because you said the house was going to be sold.””
Vanessa crossed her arms.
“And I told you the money would be accounted for.””
“Where is it?””
“I have it.””
“Where?””
Vanessa didn't answer.
I pulled out a chair.
“Patricia, do you have proof of the transfer?””
Robert removed a printed bank confirmation.
The payment had been sent to an account under Vanessa's name.
Not our joint account.
Not the mortgage account.
A separate account I had never seen.
The transfer date was three weeks earlier.
I read the document.
“Did you receive a signed purchase agreement?””
“Yes,” Patricia said.
“Did you meet with me?””
“No. Vanessa said you were traveling for work.””
“Did you speak to me on the phone?””
“No.””
“Did you receive an email from my personal address confirming the sale?””
She looked uncomfortable.
“Vanessa forwarded me an email.””
I held out my hand.
“May I see it?””
Patricia unlocked her phone and showed me the message.
The sender address looked almost identical to mine.
Almost.
My actual email address ended in .com.
This one had an extra letter before the domain.
Someone had created a look-alike address.
The message read:
Patricia, I'm comfortable proceeding with the sale. Vanessa has my full authority to manage the transaction. Please coordinate directly with her.
At the bottom was a digital signature using my name.
I handed the phone back.
“That's not my email address.””
Patricia stared at the screen.
“What?””
“Look at the address carefully.””
Robert leaned forward.
His expression changed.
“That's a fraudulent impersonation.””
Vanessa slammed her hand onto the table.
“Enough!””
Everyone turned toward her.
She pointed at Patricia.
“You agreed to the deal. You can't back out now because Daniel suddenly wants to act like he doesn't remember anything.””
Patricia's eyes filled.
“You told me he was divorcing you.””
Vanessa went still.
I slowly turned toward my wife.
“What?””
Patricia continued.
“You said Daniel was moving out. You said the house was part of the divorce settlement, and you needed the sale completed before he changed his mind.””
I stared at Vanessa.
“You told Patricia we were divorcing?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“That's not what I said.””
Patricia pulled another document from her folder.
“This is the financial summary you gave me.””
It was a printed sheet showing the supposed distribution of the sale proceeds.
The total amount was $315,000.
According to the document, $110,000 would be allocated to mortgage settlement and outstanding expenses.
$150,000 would go into an account designated for Madison.
The remaining $55,000 would be listed as Vanessa's personal settlement payment.
My name appeared beside a line confirming that I had agreed to the distribution.
I felt dizzy.
“Did you create this?””
Vanessa looked at Patricia.
“Why are you showing him private documents?””
“Because you told me he signed them!””
Robert closed his folder.
“Ms. Carter, I strongly advise you not to make further statements until you have legal counsel.””
Vanessa laughed.
“Are you threatening me in my own house?””
I looked at her.
“It's my house.””
Her expression changed.
She seemed to remember that detail.
Patricia sat down.
“I need my money back.””
Vanessa looked at her.
“I don't have seventy-five thousand dollars sitting around.””
“Then where is it?””
“It's invested.””
“Where?””
Vanessa looked away.
I could see Patricia beginning to understand that she might have been deceived as thoroughly as I had.
Robert spoke quietly.
“We'll need a full accounting of the deposit and the documents supporting the transaction.””
Vanessa pointed at him.
“You have no authority to demand my financial records.””
“I'm representing the person who transferred you seventy-five thousand dollars under a proposed purchase agreement.””
He closed his folder.
“That's more than enough reason to request an accounting through the appropriate legal process.””
After they left, Vanessa followed me into the kitchen.
“You enjoyed that, didn't you?””
I turned.
“What?””
“Watching Patricia humiliate me.””
“You lied to her.””
“I was trying to help everyone.””
“By taking her money?””
“It's not stolen!””
“Then return it.””
She threw her purse onto the counter.
“I can't.””
The answer came too quickly.
I stared at her.
“Where is the money?””
She rubbed her forehead.
“I had to move some of it.””
“Move it where?””
“Daniel, please.””
“Where?””
She finally whispered:
“Some went toward Madison's tuition. Some paid off debts. And some went into savings.””
“How much is left?””
She didn't answer.
I opened my laptop and searched through the bank records Michael had asked me to collect.
There was a transfer of $31,000 from Vanessa's personal account to another financial institution.
The recipient account ended in four digits I didn't recognize.
I showed her the transaction.
“Is this the account?””
She glanced at it.
Then looked away.
I knew she recognized it.
“Vanessa, what is that account?””
She sat down.
“It's a trust account.””
“Whose trust?””
“Mine and Madison's.””
“Where did the money come from?””
She looked up.
“Some of it was from the deposit.””
I felt my hands go cold.
“You put Patricia's money into a private trust?””
“It was temporary.””
I shook my head.
“You keep using that word.””
She started crying.
“I was going to fix everything.””
“How?””
“I thought the sale would go through. I would repay Patricia, clear the loans, and leave enough money for Madison.””
“And where was Ethan in this plan?””
Vanessa's eyes hardened.
“Why do you keep bringing him into everything?””
“Because you've been taking his paycheck.””
“He's eighteen!””
“And Madison is twenty. Yet you never asked her to pay a dollar.””
“Madison needed help.””
“So did Ethan!””
Vanessa stood and grabbed her purse again.
“I can't do this anymore.””
“Where are you going?””
“To my sister's.””
“Fine.””
She stopped.
“You can't keep the house from me.””
I stared at her.
“Then let the court decide what you're entitled to.””
Her face twisted.
“You think Michael Reynolds is going to save you? You think an attorney can undo eleven years of marriage?””
“No. But an attorney might help me understand why my wife forged my signature.””
She walked out.
That evening, I reviewed the documents again.
The loans.
The trust.
The property sale.
The seventy-five-thousand-dollar deposit.
There were too many transactions, too many accounts, and too many signatures.
I needed to know how far this went.
At 8:15, Michael called.
“Daniel, I received the documents you sent.””
“What do you think?””
“I'm concerned. The trust agreement contains language suggesting your wife may have intended to use the property as collateral for additional borrowing.””
I sat forward.
“Additional borrowing?””
“Yes. There's a reference to a secured credit facility that doesn't appear in the documents you've provided.””
I opened the file again.
Near the bottom, I found a small reference number.
Michael continued.
“I contacted the lender. They confirmed a preliminary application was submitted.””
“Under whose name?””
“Yours and your wife's.””
I closed my eyes.
“I didn't authorize it.””
“I assumed as much. We're requesting the application records.””
He paused.
“There's something else, Daniel. The bank says your wife submitted supporting financial documents showing income and assets that don't match your actual records.””
“What kind of documents?””
“Payroll statements. Tax information. And a declaration of household assets.””
I felt my stomach tighten.
“Did she forge those too?””
“We don't know yet.””
After we ended the call, I went upstairs to check on Ethan.
He was asleep.
His bedroom door was slightly open, and a college brochure lay on his desk.
I picked it up.
The tuition estimate was circled in blue ink.
Beside it, Ethan had written:
I can save enough if I work extra shifts.
I stood there for a long time.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
Daniel, you need to know that Vanessa wasn't working alone.
I stared at the screen.
Another message arrived.
Ask her about the notary.
Then a photograph appeared.
It showed Vanessa standing beside a man outside a bank.
The man was holding a document folder.
I enlarged the photograph.
I recognized him.
He was the notary who had supposedly witnessed my signature on the property transfer.
And he was wearing the same uniform as the security guard at my company's headquarters.
I looked at the timestamp.
The photograph had been taken on a day I was at work.
Which meant the person who had witnessed the forged signature might have known exactly who I was.
I typed a reply.
Who is this?
The response came immediately.
Someone who has been watching Vanessa's transactions for months.
May you like
Then one final message appeared.
And the money she took from Ethan is the smallest part of what she stole.
