Chapter 13 - The Remote Notary
The notary was Susan Vale.
Licensed.
Experienced.
My goal was to see whether she knew coercion was planned.
She had notarized two Whitmore transfers before.
One later challenged by elderly client.
Then another.
Pattern.
Susan claimed she relied on video identification.
But appointment notes:
Client may be emotional. Husband will assist.
That violated independence concerns.
Then payment:
$15,000 consulting bonus from Harriet.
Not standard.
Then Susan’s messages:
SUSAN:
If Samantha refuses on camera, I cannot notarize.
HARRIET:
She won’t refuse.
SUSAN:
You said that last time.
Last time?
Another client.
Martha Ellis.
Susan had participated.
Then she took plea deal.
Admitted she ignored coercion indicators.
Did she knowingly forge? Once.
She allowed Harriet to replay a pre-recorded “yes” after connection dropped.
Fraud.
Then her cooperation proved Harriet planned exact steps for me:
Seat Samantha at dining table.
Position Gavin beside her.
Open documents on screen.
If she hesitates, remind her of mother’s estate.
That was psychological pressure.
Then one line:
No visible injuries.
The slap happened too early.
Gavin lost control before scheduled notarization.
Then Harriet improvised confinement to make me comply later.
That explained why sledgehammer existed in storage room? It was maintenance tool. Lucky.
Then Gavin said he locked me because Harriet told him to “give her ten minutes.”
He threatened legs out of rage.
No premeditated maiming.
Still crime.
Then timeline tightened.
1:00 p.m. notary scheduled.
12:34 argument.
12:36 slap and confinement.
12:41 I break door.
12:44 police called.
Plan collapsed nineteen minutes before signing.
Then company board used timing as evidence.
Then Harriet’s trial began.
Prosecution presented:
Contaminated honey.
Audio.
Video.
Forged shares.
Delayed 911.
Remote notary plan.
Financial motive.
Defense argued she never intended Mom’s death.
Possible.
Prosecution pursued reckless manslaughter, not intentional murder.
That was grounded.
Then jury convicted on manslaughter, fraud, coercion, elder exploitation, and conspiracy.
Gavin pleaded guilty to lesser but serious charges.
Richard Prescott convicted financial conspiracy.
Daniel Cross plea.
Susan Vale plea.
Dr. Ames lost license.
Then Carter shares returned to Mom’s estate.
Probate court honored her proxy/trust plan.
I became beneficial owner but independent trustee controlled major decisions for two years.
Good.
No instant throne.
Then Gavin and I divorced.
Prenup invalidated in part due fraudulent concealment.
I received fair property division.
No revenge windfall.
Then Lila Monroe ended involvement.
Not important.
Then Rachel reconnected with Gavin through structured family therapy while he served sentence? Maybe later.
Then one final file surfaced from Susan’s cloud archive.
A notarization request never completed.
Client:
Harriet Whitmore.
Document:
Last Will and Testament.
Beneficiary:
Samantha.
I stared at it.
Why would Harriet leave anything to me?
Draft only.
Never signed.
Then note:
If Evelyn matter surfaces, Samantha gets account 44 in exchange for silence.
Not inheritance.
Bribe.
Account 44.
Offshore.
Investigators had not found it.
Then Rachel said she knew the number.
It was not money.
It was a storage vault.
I thought Harriet’s final secret was another hidden account—but Account 44 contained physical evidence she had preserved as leverage against everyone around her.
May you like
**Harriet had built a private archive of documents proving which family members knew what—and when.**
*The final chapter would resolve most of the conspiracy, but Account 44 contained one letter from my mother that changed what I thought she knew about Gavin before I married him.*
