"Page seven, Lorraine," I said, and turned to my mother-in-law. "I'm sorry. This is the part I didn't want to show you."
Lorraine was sitting very straight, both hands flat on the folder. Her lips were white.
She turned to page seven.
It was a scanned copy of a document from the Summit County Fiscal Office. Open-end mortgage. Lender: Great Lakes Home Credit. Principal: $138,000.
At the bottom was her signature. Beneath it was a notary stamp. September 5th.
"What is this?" said Lorraine.
"It's a home equity loan," I said gently. "Against your condominium. It was signed on the fifth of September."
"I never signed anything like this."
"I know."
"The fifth of September?" It was Aunt Patrice, staring across the table. Her tears had stopped. "That was Labor Day weekend. Lorraine, you were with me. You were in Erie the whole weekend. We went to the pier. I have pictures."
"I know," said Lorraine faintly.
"Then who signed—"
"Derek."
The word fell into the room like a plate dropping on tile.
Lorraine was looking at her son.
"Derek," she said again, very quietly. "You told me the condo was safe. You said Nora was helping. You said there was some kind of family trust, and it was just paperwork—"
"Mom, don't."
"You forged my name?"
"Mom, please."
"He did," I said. I hadn't raised my voice. I didn't have to. "And then he spent it. One hundred and eighty-seven thousand, four hundred dollars on sports betting since March. Thirty-nine payments to a company called ProLine, every one of them just under five thousand, so the bank wouldn't ask questions. I kept the books. I saw every one."
Derek was staring at me as if he'd never seen me before.
"You knew?"