THE SIX-SECOND INHERITANCE

The consultant did not offer a dramatic announcement.

She placed laboratory reports side by side and asked us to follow the dates.

Dad had a documented history of cardiac disease and could have died naturally.

But a blood sample collected during his last hospital admission showed a medication concentration that did not fit the prescription history supplied by his usual physician.

That finding alone did not establish poisoning or homicide.

It did justify a more thorough investigation.

I listened as the doctor explained each limitation.

Certainty was still far away.

"Could someone have interfered with his treatment?" I asked.

"It's one possibility that requires careful checking," she said.

Mercer told me the medical examiner was reviewing whether to amend the cause and manner of death after additional evidence was evaluated.

I wanted an answer that could stand in court, not merely in my nightmares.

As we left, an unfamiliar woman approached Martin's office.

She introduced herself as Celia Grant, a compliance officer from the bank.

She had reviewed documents after receiving the preservation request and discovered that somebody had attempted to modify authorized signers on George's business account.

The request had been rejected.

It was submitted fourteen days before his death.

The attached form named Ethan as an additional signer and carried an electronic acknowledgment supposedly completed by me.

I had never signed it.

Celia brought certified records through the bank's counsel.

"There is another issue," she said.

"Several payments were routed through a nonprofit organization."

The nonprofit's title sounded innocent: the George Bennett Community Skills Foundation.

My father had once discussed creating scholarships for apprentices, but he had never mentioned registering a foundation.

The organization had been formed without his authorization, apparently using his identity.

Warren Pike was listed as treasurer.

Ethan was listed as executive director.