And beneath them, several envelopes containing documents with versions of my forged signature.
Douglas shouted, “Rita, stop!”
She recoiled from him.
The officer stepped between them.
Then Rita removed one final envelope.
“Kendall” was written across the front.
She handed it to Martin.
He opened it.
His expression changed.
“Interesting.”
“What?” Carter asked.
Martin pulled out a notarized document.
Then another.
He looked at Kendall.
“Were you aware your father created a limited liability company three months ago?”
Kendall frowned.
“What company?”
Martin read the name.
Whitmore Heritage Holdings LLC.
My last name.
Douglas’s face became completely blank.
Kendall turned toward him.
“You said the company was ours.”
He said nothing.
Martin continued.
“It appears Douglas intended the company to receive the proceeds from the proposed loan.”
Kendall looked confused.
“So?”
“The ownership documents list one member.”
Martin paused.
“Douglas.”
Kendall’s face collapsed.
“What?”
Rita stopped crying.
Carter stared at Douglas.
Martin handed the documents to the officer.
“Kendall was not an owner.”
Douglas snapped, “Those documents are outdated.”
But Martin had already discovered something else.
A wire instruction.
An offshore account.
The destination wasn’t Tucson.
It was Costa Rica.
Rita whispered her husband’s name.
Douglas glanced toward the door.
The officer noticed.
“Sir, don’t.”
He stopped.
Kendall stared at her father as if she were seeing him clearly for the first time.
“You were going to take the money.”
Douglas remained silent.
“You were going to take all of it.”
“Kendall—”
“You told me we were helping each other.”
She moved toward him.
“You told me Carter and I would get two hundred thousand.”
Douglas’s face twisted.
“You should stop talking.”
The officer almost smiled.
“That may be the first smart thing you’ve said.”
Kendall covered her mouth.
And suddenly the woman who had entered my house believing she controlled everyone realized that she had been manipulated by the same man who had taught her how to manipulate others.
Her father.
Douglas had never planned to share the money.
He intended to use Kendall’s access to me, obtain the loan, transfer the proceeds, and disappear.
Rita whispered, “You were leaving me too.”
Douglas said nothing.
That was answer enough.
The officers separated them.
Questions followed.
Statements.
Photographs.
Evidence bags.
The foyer Warren and I had once restored with laughter and music became a crime scene filled with strangers wearing gloves.
Eventually, Douglas was taken outside.
