The Notary's Account
Chapter 07 - The Notary's Account
Elaine Bellamy's deposition took place in a windowless conference room with gray carpet and a pitcher of water no one touched.
Diane's attorney, Charles Mercer, arranged his pens parallel to the edge of his legal pad.
Natalie sat behind Sterling with her hands folded.
Across the table, Diane wore navy and pearls. Rebecca sat beside her, clicking a retractable pen until Mercer gave her a look.
Elaine raised her right hand.
Her voice shook only once during the oath.
Mercer began gently.
"Ms. Bellamy, you had notarized documents for Mr. and Mrs. Whitfield before, correct?"
"Yes."
"You considered them competent adults?"
"Yes."
"And Mr. Whitfield recognized you on the day in question?"
"He did."
Mercer nodded as if the case were already over.
"He knew his name, the date, his home address, and the nature of the document?"
"He knew it involved power of attorney."
"Thank you."
Sterling wrote nothing.
Natalie watched Diane.
Her face remained composed, but one finger pressed repeatedly against the pearl pin at her collar.
Mercer leaned back.
"Now, you claim Mrs. Whitfield coached her husband."
"I said she answered for him."
"Couples do finish each other's sentences."
"This wasn't that."
"What was it?"
Elaine looked toward Natalie, then back to Mercer.
"Mr. Whitfield asked whether the document gave Diane access to company funds. She told him it didn't, except in an emergency."
Mercer tapped his pen.
"Did you personally review every page?"
"No."
"So you can't testify that her answer was false."
"I can testify that pages were removed before he signed."
Diane shifted.
Mercer paused.
"Removed by whom?"
"Mrs. Whitfield."
"Because Mr. Whitfield was tired?"
"That's what she said."
"Was he tired?"
"Yes."
"Confused?"
Elaine took a breath.
"He was confused about why the document had changed."
Mercer's pen stopped.
"Changed from what?"
"The version he thought he'd reviewed."
"Thought?"
"He said, 'This isn't the same.'"
Diane whispered something to her lawyer.
Mercer ignored her.
"Did Mr. Whitfield refuse to sign?"
"No."
"Did he ask you to leave?"
"No."
"Did he state that he trusted his wife?"
"Yes."
Mercer spread his hands.
"Then despite all the language you've used today, he voluntarily signed."
Elaine looked down at the water pitcher.
"He signed because she told him the paper said something it didn't."
Diane's chair scraped.
Mercer turned.
"Please."
She settled back.
Natalie's thumb moved over the edge of Sterling's folder.
Elaine continued.
"When I asked if he understood, Diane touched his shoulder and said, 'Tell her you understand.' He looked at me for several seconds before he answered."
"What did he say?"
"He said, 'I understand what my wife told me.'"
The court reporter's keys clicked rapidly.
Mercer's face tightened.
Sterling finally wrote one line.
Exact words matter.
---
During the lunch break, Rebecca stood alone near the vending machines.
She bought a bottle of water and failed to catch it when it dropped. It rolled beneath a plastic chair.
Natalie picked it up.
Rebecca looked at her.
"Thanks."
Natalie handed it over.
"You clicked your pen ninety-three times."
Rebecca blinked.
"You counted?"
"No. I estimated."
A reluctant smile touched Rebecca's mouth, then vanished.
Behind the conference room door, Diane's voice rose and fell as she argued with Mercer.
Rebecca twisted the bottle cap.
"My mother thinks Elaine is lying."
"What do you think?"
"I think people remember things differently."
"That's not an answer."
Rebecca looked toward the closed door.
"You always do that."
"Do what?"
"Make a sentence sound like a building inspection."
Natalie rested her thumb against the folder edge.
"Buildings don't care whether you hurt their feelings."
"No. They just collapse."
The remark surprised them both.
Rebecca drank some water.
"When did you decide we were stealing from Harold?"
"When the records showed money leaving his accounts."
"You don't know what he promised my mother."
"No."
Natalie held her gaze.
"Do you?"
Rebecca's jaw moved.
"She took care of him."
"Then the care should survive an audit."
The conference room door opened.
Diane appeared.
"Rebecca."
One word.
A summons.
Rebecca walked back without looking at Natalie.
---
That evening, Natalie returned to the estate to review phone records.
Rain had stopped, leaving the stone walkway black and glossy. The house felt colder than the day before.
Sterling worked at the dining table.
David sat beside a portable scanner, feeding in old account statements one page at a time.
Natalie removed her coat.
"Elaine held up."
"Better than held up," Sterling said. "Mercer helped her."
"How?"
"He made her repeat the exact wording."
David lifted a bank statement.
"We found another company."
The name was Alder Family Services.
Natalie sat.
"Connected to whom?"
"Registered through Rebecca's former college roommate."
"Payments?"
"One hundred eighty thousand."
"For?"
"Care coordination."
Natalie looked toward the stairs.
“How many companies did Diane need to care for one man?”
David's scanner hummed.
"Enough to make the transfers look ordinary."
Sterling closed the deposition transcript.
"We'll subpoena the roommate."
A clock ticked in the hall.
Natalie opened the day's mail. Most envelopes were legal notices, sympathy cards, and two requests from reporters.
One card had no return address.
Inside, someone had written, Ask why Rebecca kept the red folders.
Natalie showed Sterling.
"Do you recognize the handwriting?" he asked.
"No."
David leaned over.
"Red folders?"
He thought for a moment.
"Diane used red folders for personal account reconciliations. She kept them outside the company system."
"Where?"
"Sometimes Rebecca carried them."
Natalie read the note again.
"Who would know that?"
"Anyone in executive accounting."
Sterling placed the card in an evidence sleeve.
"We don't contact Rebecca directly."
Natalie looked at him.
"I spoke to her today."
His eyebrows rose.
"You did what?"
"At the vending machines."
"That is still directly."
"She dropped water."
Sterling removed his glasses.
"Natalie."
"I didn't interrogate her."
"What did you ask?"
"Whether she knew what Harold promised Diane."
David stopped scanning.
"And?"
"She didn't answer."
Sterling rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"Do not meet her alone."
"I didn't plan to."
Natalie's phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
She opened the message.
I need to talk without our lawyers.
A second message followed.
My mother told me to destroy the red folders.
Natalie turned the phone toward Sterling.
He read it twice.
"Do not answer yet."
David lowered the scanner lid.
"Is it Rebecca?"
Natalie nodded.
Sterling began listing conditions for any contact.
Public place. Documented time. No promises. No discussion of settlement.
Natalie barely heard him.
She pictured Rebecca in the deposition room, watching Diane rehearse outrage as if the truth depended on posture.
"What did she say?" David asked.
Natalie read the message again.
The hesitation was no longer abstract.
May you like
Rebecca had put it in writing.
"She says Diane told her to destroy evidence."
