Chapter 7 - The Signature Came After Claire Died
Noah’s memory of the word signature became the key.
The original trust gave Marcus administrative authority, but certain reimbursements above $10,000 required either Rocco’s approval or an additional family trustee.
Three weeks after Claire died, a supplemental authorization appeared.
It supposedly bore Claire’s signature.
The document increased Marcus’s discretion.
It also gave Victoria broader authority to approve “urgent accessibility expenditures” for Noah.
The date:
Eleven days after Claire’s death.
Rocco stared at it.
“That’s impossible.”
The attorney beside him nodded.
“Yes.”
Claire could not have signed it.
Marcus initially claimed the date was a clerical error.
Then another problem emerged.
The notarization number belonged to a notary whose commission had expired months earlier.
The witness signature belonged to a former Hale office employee who denied ever seeing the document.
It was not a mistaken date.
It was manufactured paperwork.
Someone created an authorization after Claire was already dead—
and made it look as though she had signed while alive.
Now Noah’s remembered words made sense.
Mommy. Signature. Dead. Money.
May you like
He had overheard Victoria and Marcus discussing the forged authorization.
---
