Chapter 14 - A Witness Changes Her Mind
The print shop owner agreed to speak with the investigator after receiving a formal request.
She remembered Caroline ordering several copies of a document with an executive letterhead.
The order had been made months earlier, long before the ransomware attack.
That timing did not connect Caroline to the cyber incident, but it strengthened the separate inquiry into the forged letter.
Mom called Erin in a panic.
"Caroline says Natalie has hired people to ruin her," she claimed.
Erin asked for evidence.
Paula hung up.
Later that afternoon, Caroline's attorney sent a letter denying wrongdoing and requesting that the hospital stop mentioning her publicly.
We had not mentioned her publicly.
Daniel replied through appropriate channels.
I kept my attention on the hospital's staged restoration tests.
The pharmacy interface passed one validation sequence and failed another.
"We do not rush this," Teresa said.
"We absolutely do not," I agreed.
The staff had already learned to be careful with systems that appeared functional but were not yet trustworthy.
That evening my father came to my front door carrying a brown envelope.
He looked older than he had at Christmas.
"I found the agreement Victor gave me," he said.
He had photographed it before signing because the pages seemed strange.
The document wasn't a confidentiality agreement.
It purported to authorize Victor to negotiate on behalf of certain family members about a reputational dispute.
My father had signed his own name under a broad representation clause.
"Paula told me it was normal," he whispered.
I felt anger rise, then settle.
"You need a lawyer who represents you," I told him.
"Not Mom. Not Victor. You."
He nodded.
"I'm moving into Walter's spare room for a while."
I hadn't expected that.
"Are you leaving Mom?"
"I'm leaving the habit of letting her tell me what I saw."
He glanced at my tree and swallowed.
"Your grandfather would have liked that star."
As he walked away, my phone vibrated.
May you like
A message from Erin said Caroline had just arrived at my parents' house carrying the missing scrapbook page.
