Chapter 7 - The Witness
The witness was Ruth Calder.
I sat with the document open on my laptop until the letters stopped making sense.
Ruth had just given me the binder that linked Celia Voss's family to the old renovation.
I called Mara before calling Ruth.
“Don't accuse anyone yet,” Mara said.
“A printed name isn't proof they were there.”
Ruth answered from her kitchen and listened while I explained what I had found.
She sounded confused rather than defensive.
“I've never been a witness to Gavin's paperwork,” she said.
“Could your signature have been copied?”
“Claire, I sign birthday cards and church donation checks.”
She agreed to speak with an investigator.
Meanwhile Daniel uncovered a contract between Gavin's company and an entity called Hearthstone Asset Recovery.
Hearthstone had paid Foundation Integrity Services for an assessment of the house.
Its listed director was Philip Voss.
The old contractor had never stopped looking at my property.
I felt an awful satisfaction when the pieces began fitting together.
Gavin had not simply been greedy about a house he didn't own.
Someone had convinced him there might be something hidden inside it.
At Mara's office we laid out the timeline.
The payments began shortly after Gavin discovered my aunt's estate inventory in our storage closet.
A month later Brenda had started asking whether the staircase had ever been repaired.
Three weeks after that, Gavin offered to remodel the house as an anniversary surprise.
I had refused because we could not afford it.
He had called me ungrateful.
Now I understood why he had been furious.
Mara said the forged documents and financial transactions needed separate investigation.
She was careful not to promise a criminal result or a quick repayment.
I asked if I could visit the house to verify my belongings, and she told me we would arrange it lawfully and with support.
That evening I received a call from Ruth.
Her voice trembled.
“Claire, I remembered something about the metal box.”
“What?”
“Your aunt didn't hide money in it.”
She inhaled shakily.
May you like
“She hid the reason Philip Voss was fired.”
