A Signature Eleanor Never Made
Chapter 03 - A Signature Eleanor Never Made
The wedding ceremony was postponed.
No announcement was made.
No music played.
Guests remained scattered around the lawn while Daniel, Madison, Richard, Victoria, and Eleanor moved into the mansion's library.
Eleanor refused the towel Victoria offered her.
She accepted one from the housekeeper instead.
Daniel stood beside the fireplace.
"Start from the beginning."
So Eleanor did.
Three months earlier, she had received a county tax notice for the mansion.
The notice said ownership records had recently changed.
At first she assumed it was an administrative error.
Then her attorney discovered a quitclaim deed transferring the house from Eleanor Whitmore to a trust controlled by Daniel and Madison.
The signature looked like Eleanor's.
It wasn't.
"I never signed it."
Daniel stared at the copy.
Madison looked at her mother.
Victoria remained strangely calm.
"This is ridiculous."
Richard took the document.
"Where did this come from?"
"The county recorder."
Victoria scoffed.
"Eleanor forgets things."
Eleanor's expression changed.
Those words had followed her for months.
Eleanor forgets things.
Eleanor gets confused.
Eleanor doesn't remember what she signed.
Suddenly, she understood.
"You've been telling people I'm losing my memory."
Victoria smiled faintly.
"Because you are."
Daniel said nothing.
Eleanor looked at him.
"You believe her?"
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
"Mom, there have been incidents."
"What incidents?"
"The bank."
Eleanor froze.
Daniel continued.
"You called three times asking about the same transfer."
"I called because money disappeared from my account."
Victoria interrupted.
"Which was later found."
"No," Eleanor said.
"It was returned."
Richard looked from one woman to the other.
"Returned by whom?"
No one answered.
Then Richard's phone rang.
He glanced at the screen.
His face tightened.
It was the family attorney.
Richard answered.
He listened for less than thirty seconds.
Then he looked at Victoria.
"The lawyer says you called his office six months ago."
Victoria's face changed.
May you like
Richard continued.
"You asked how to have someone declared mentally incompetent."
