a deed.
Marcus called her that afternoon.
“Your alibi might be better documented than anyone’s I’ve ever seen.”
Claire did not laugh.
“Can I get my house back?”
“We’re moving quickly.
The buyer appears innocent, which complicates things, but the title insurer is involved.
I’m filing a challenge to the deed and notifying the buyer’s counsel immediately.
Nobody should take possession until this is resolved.”
“What about the money?”
“That’s where it gets interesting.”
Marcus had traced the closing proceeds.
Instead of flowing to an account bearing Claire’s name, almost all of the net proceeds had been wired directly to Everly & Finch Events, the company coordinating Olivia’s wedding.
Claire recognized the name immediately.
Her mother had mentioned the planner constantly for six months.
The wedding was scheduled at Pinehaven Lodge, an exclusive mountain resort west of Denver.
Olivia had chosen a glass pavilion overlooking the valley, custom floral installations, a live band flown in from Nashville, designer table settings, and a rehearsal dinner that cost more than Claire’s first car.
Originally, Judith and Martin had claimed they were paying for it.
Apparently, they had run out of money long before they ran out of ambition.
Marcus sent a preservation notice to the event company and contacted the title company’s fraud division.
Everly & Finch froze the remaining funds still under its control.
By evening, the wedding machine began coughing.
Vendors expecting transfers did not receive them.
The resort’s accounting office contacted the planner.
The planner called Judith.
Judith called Claire seventeen times.
Claire answered none of them.
The following morning Marcus called again.
“The buyer didn’t know.”
Rebecca Lin, he explained, was a pediatric dentist relocating from Fort Collins after a divorce.
She had found Claire’s townhouse through an ordinary listing and made a cash offer because she needed to move quickly.
Her money had gone into escrow legitimately.
The fraud had happened on the seller’s side.
Claire felt sick imagining another woman pulled into the mess.
“I don’t want her punished for this.”
“Neither do I.
Her attorney understands that.
The transaction is frozen while we unwind what happened.”
Then Marcus gave Claire the first major break.
Denise Calder, the notary listed on the deed, denied ever meeting Claire.
Denise had been horrified when Marcus sent her the document.
Her electronic notary credentials had been used without her knowledge.
At first she refused to speculate how.
Then she admitted a former administrative assistant had once helped prepare electronic packages for her.
The assistant was Kayla Benton.
Claire knew the name.
Kayla had been Olivia’s college roommate and was still one of her bridesmaids.
Suddenly the scheme looked very different.
Claire had assumed her parents had acted alone, perhaps paying some dishonest stranger to rush paperwork through.
But if Olivia’s bridesmaid was connected to the false notarization, the wedding itself might not merely be the destination of the stolen money.
It might be part of the planning.
Olivia called that afternoon.
“Why are you freezing my wedding account?”
Claire was sitting in a chair while Tanya changed a dressing near her incision.
“How was my surgery, Olivia?”
“What?”
“You haven’t asked.”
Olivia inhaled impatiently.
“Obviously I hope you’re fine.
But right now the planner says payments aren’t clearing and Mom is hysterical.”
“Did you know Dad sold my townhouse?”
