Victor's Arrest
Chapter 08 - Victor's Arrest
Victor's financial crimes, once Teresa's formal filing opened the door to a full investigation of the estate's accounts, unraveled considerably faster than Claire had anticipated.
Detective Wren Castillo, assigned to the case once the forged authorization documents surfaced during the probate court's review, moved through the evidence with the specific, methodical thoroughness of an investigator who understood exactly how significant this particular case was likely to become.
"The forged documents alone constitute multiple counts of fraud," Castillo told Claire and Teresa, during an early briefing. "Combined with the unauthorized leveraging of the mansion's value, the suppressed will provision, and the coercive attempt to obtain Margaret's signature at the wedding, we're looking at a case that touches fraud, elder abuse, and conspiracy."
Gerald Finch, confronted with the state bar's own investigation into his suppression of the sealed provision, provided a detailed, cooperative statement in exchange for a reduced professional sanction, his account confirming that Victor had specifically instructed him to bury the provision after Edward's death, understanding that a second heir would permanently prevent him from consolidating full control over the estate.
"Victor told me the provision was legally defective," Gerald admitted, during his recorded statement. "I knew it wasn't. I chose to accept his characterization rather than investigate it independently, because his continued business was worth considerably more to my practice than my obligation to a deceased client's final wishes."
Victor's arrest, when it finally came, unfolded in the same ballroom where he'd once tried to force his mother's signature, officers arriving during what should have been a quiet Tuesday, the grand space empty now except for the specific, echoing irony of a man being led out of a room he'd once believed he controlled completely.
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Margaret watched from the doorway, feelings she'd spent decades carefully managing finally, fully surfacing, grief for the son she'd raised alongside considerable relief that the specific, sustained threat he'd posed to her safety and her home was finally, formally contained.
"I keep wanting to feel sorry for him," she told Claire, once the officers had left. "He's my son. Some part of me will always love him, regardless of what he's done. I just don't think love requires me to protect him from the consequences of his own choices anymore."
