Martin didn't touch it immediately.
"Before I show you this, I need to explain something."
Adrian leaned forward.
"Just show me."
"I will."
Martin removed his glasses.
"But you need to understand that I failed your mother."
Adrian's expression hardened.
"How?"
"Because I trusted documents that I should have verified more carefully."
He opened the folder.
Inside were copies of bank statements, legal forms, letters, and notarized records.
Martin pushed the first document toward Adrian.
It was dated six years earlier.
At the top were the words:
HARRINGTON FAMILY CHILDREN'S TRUST.
Adrian stared.
The beneficiaries were listed beneath it.
Noah James Bennett.
Mia Rose Bennett.
His breathing stopped.
"She knew their names."
"Yes."
Adrian looked up.
"My mother knew both of them?"
Martin nodded.
"Apparently from birth."
Adrian looked down again.
The trust had been funded with two million dollars.
He read the number twice.
Then a third time.
"This can't be right."
"It is."
"My mother put two million dollars into an account for them?"
"Originally."
"Originally?"
Martin opened another document.
"Three months after the trust was established, an amendment was submitted."
Adrian read it.
The beneficiaries had been removed.
In their place was another trust controlled by a family management company.
Adrian recognized the company immediately.
Victoria's father owned it.
For several seconds, Adrian couldn't speak.
"What is this?"
Martin's face was pale.
"That's what I've been trying to determine."
Adrian turned the page.
There was his mother's signature.
Except something was wrong.
He had seen her signature thousands of times.
Birthday cards.
Letters.
Contracts.
Documents.
This one looked similar.
But not right.
"She didn't sign this."
Martin nodded slowly.
"That is my concern."
Adrian looked at him.
"You think someone forged her signature?"
"I've already sent copies to a forensic document examiner."
"Who submitted the amendment?"
Martin didn't answer.
Adrian's voice sharpened.
"Who?"
Martin turned another page around.
At the bottom was the name of the representative who had delivered the paperwork.
Victoria Langford.
Adrian leaned back.
He felt nothing at first.