Chapter 19 - Justice Served, Trust Broken
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I drove straight to the San Diego County Records Office the next morning to pull the original paper land deed and trust filings for the La Jolla property, recorded four years prior to Beatrice’s death.
I sat in a quiet reading room, opening the yellowed legal file.
I flipped past Beatrice’s signature and her grandmother’s signature to the bottom page—the notary block and witness signatures.
The first witness signature was Pamela’s—signed under her maiden name, Pamela Croft.
My eyes moved to the second witness signature beside it.
The handwriting was sharp, elegant, and instantly recognizable.
Henrietta Vance.
My heart stopped.
I stared at the name, unable to comprehend what my eyes were seeing.
Henrietta Vance—Beatrice’s mother. My mother-in-law. The woman who had helped me take Matilda to the hospital. The woman who lived in Scottsdale.
I pulled out my phone and dialed Detective Miller immediately.
“Miller,” I gasped, my voice trembling. “I need you to check the financial records for Henrietta Vance’s bank accounts from four years ago.”
“Henrietta?” Miller sounded bewildered. “Beatrice’s mother? Why?”
“Just check it!” I demanded.
Ten minutes later, Miller called me back, his tone dropping into grave, disbelieving shock.
“Gregory...” Miller whispered. “Four years ago, Henrietta Vance took out a secret three-million-dollar mortgage against her Scottsdale home to pay off massive illegal offshore investment debts. And three days after Beatrice’s death, a wire transfer of five hundred thousand dollars was sent from Pamela Croft’s Cayman account to Henrietta Vance’s debt trust.”
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A nauseating horror washed over me, far worse than anything I had felt before.
Henrietta hadn't just been a concerned grandmother. She had been in on it from the very beginning. She had helped Pamela access Beatrice’s medical records and estate papers in exchange for a payoff to cover her crippling debts.
