Chapter 4 - Victor Hart
Victor Hart had always made me uncomfortable.
He was charming when money was involved.
Absent when it wasn’t.
Anna loved him because he was her brother.
She did not trust him.
Six months before she died, she had removed Victor as backup trustee of Lily’s inheritance.
She never fully explained why.
She only said:
“If anything happens to me, don’t let Victor touch Lily’s money.”
I had promised.
Then grief buried the warning beneath a thousand other memories.
Detective Collins found Victor at a private club across town.
Unlike Michael, he did not run.
He demanded an attorney.
That told us almost as much.
The real estate partnership involved Michael and Victor purchasing distressed apartment buildings.
They expected to renovate and resell them quickly.
Instead, interest rates changed.
Permits stalled.
Investors pulled out.
Debt accumulated.
Victor began borrowing from Evelyn.
Michael began borrowing privately.
Then money started leaving Lily’s trust.
The first $40,000 transfer occurred eleven days after Michael moved into my guest room.
I looked at the timeline until anger replaced shock.
He had not moved in because I needed help.
He had moved in because he needed access.
Every school pickup.
Every dinner he cooked.
Every evening he sat with Lily while I worked late.
Was any of it real?
Detective Collins asked me something I did not want to answer.
“Did Michael ever encourage you to change trustees?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“About a year ago.”
“What did he say?”
“He said managing the trust was too much stress after Anna’s death.”
“Who did he suggest?”
I already knew before saying it.
“Himself.”
The detective nodded.
“And when you refused?”
“He never mentioned it again.”
But apparently, he had never stopped thinking about it.
That afternoon, a forensic accountant identified where the stolen $612,000 went.
Most of it funded the failed real estate project.
Nearly $90,000 paid Michael’s private debts.
And $120,000 went somewhere else.
A numbered investment account.
The owner was hidden behind an offshore company.
Detective Collins promised they would trace it.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
Michael stood beside a train platform.
The image had clearly been taken from across the street.
Below it were six words.
YOUR BROTHER IS NOT RUNNING FROM YOU.
A second message arrived.
HE IS RUNNING FROM EVELYN.
I showed Detective Collins.
She immediately requested a trace.
Then the third message came.
ASK WHY ANNA CHANGED HER WILL.
I stared at the screen.
Anna had changed her will three weeks before she died.
May you like
And until that moment, I had believed the changes were routine.
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