Chapter 6 - The Dead Woman's Signature
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
Marianne Vance had never worked in banking.
She had spent most of her adult life supporting educational charities and raising Julian and Nathan while Arthur built his career.
At least that was the version Julian had always believed.
Nathan enlarged the document.
"The trust was created twenty-one years ago."
Arthur shook his head.
"Marianne never mentioned it."
"Maybe she didn't know," Julian said.
Nathan looked at him.
"Her signature is on it."
Arthur moved closer.
His face slowly changed.
"That's not her signature."
Julian stared.
"Are you sure?"
"I signed documents beside your mother for thirty-eight years."
Arthur pointed at the final curve of the surname.
"Marianne always crossed the V backward. This one doesn't."
Forgery.
Again.
Someone had used the Vance family as camouflage.
Nathan opened additional files.
The fake trust had been used to purchase distressed assets after Meridian Trust collapsed.
Properties.
Commercial loans.
Insurance claims.
Even litigation rights.
Victor Vale appeared as an adviser on several transactions.
Then disappeared from public records.
"How did Samuel connect this to Metropolitan Crown?" Julian asked.
Nathan selected another folder.
Because after joining Arthur's bank, Samuel discovered many of the same shell companies becoming customers.
At first they deposited money.
Then they began borrowing.
Large loans were approved against questionable collateral.
When the loans failed, Metropolitan Crown absorbed the losses.
The shell companies walked away with cash.
Someone had been slowly bleeding the institution from within.
"Three years," Arthur said quietly.
Nathan shook his head.
"Longer."
He opened a graph.
The first suspicious transaction occurred eleven years earlier.
Arthur gripped the chair.
Julian understood his reaction.
Eleven years ago was when Serena first joined Metropolitan Crown.
But Serena had started as a junior relationship manager.
She could not have designed the scheme.
She had been recruited into something already established.
Nathan clicked another document.
A list of employees appeared.
Twenty-six names.
Some current.
Some former.
One had died.
Samuel Crawford.
Another was Marcus Hale.
Another was Serena Brooks.
At the bottom was a name Julian did not expect.
Arthur Vance.
Arthur stared.
"I have never seen this."
Nathan opened the associated transaction.
It showed Arthur personally approving a nineteen-million-dollar loan seven years earlier.
The digital signature appeared valid.
Arthur's token.
Arthur's credentials.
Arthur's electronic certificate.
Every technical marker indicated authenticity.
Except Arthur said he had never approved it.
Julian believed him.
Which meant the code theft had begun much earlier than the device under his desk.
"Someone has been impersonating you for years," Julian said.
Arthur's face tightened.
"Then every decision I've made could be questioned."
"That's the point."
Julian finally saw Victor's strategy.
They did not need to steal the bank outright.
They needed to corrupt its records until nobody could tell which transactions were legitimate.
When regulators eventually discovered the fraud, Arthur would look responsible.
The bank's valuation would collapse.
Its board would remove him.
Assets would be sold cheaply.
And Crown Meridian Partners would be waiting.
Nathan scrolled farther.
One file had been locked by Samuel.
Its title was not financial.
VANCE FAMILY TIMELINE.
Julian opened it.
Inside were records of arguments.
Dates.
Locations.
Private disputes.
Julian's resignation from a family foundation.
Nathan's departure from Metropolitan Crown.
Arthur's separation from Marianne for six months seven years earlier.
Details no outside consultant should have possessed.
Nathan stared at the screen.
"They were watching us."
Julian felt sick.
Someone had spent years documenting their family weaknesses.
Samuel had added notes beside several events.
After Julian and Nathan's argument at a Christmas dinner:
VH influence suspected.
After Arthur and Marianne separated:
Contact with M increased.
After Nathan left the bank:
Objective achieved.
Julian looked at the initials.
"VH."
Nathan frowned.
"Victor Hale?"
"Victor Vale."
Arthur corrected him.
Then stopped.
Because Nathan was staring at another file.
Marcus Hale's father was named Thomas.
His grandfather, however...
Was Victor Hale.
A man who had legally changed his surname thirty-one years earlier.
May you like
To Vale.
Marcus Hale was Victor Vale's grandson.
