Chapter 4 - THE DEAD MAN’S ACCOUNT
Detective Bennett met us in a private conference room after Frederick was released.
My son was asleep in his stroller.
Amy sat beside him.
I sat across from Bennett with my father’s name still echoing through my head.
“How can a dead man have an active account?”
“He shouldn’t.”
“Then how does he?”
“That’s what we’re investigating.”
She showed me records indicating the account had been opened four years after my father died.
The identifying information matched him.
Birth date.
Social Security number.
Previous address.
Even his old employer.
But the mailing address was a post office box in Nashville.
“Who had access to his documents after he died?”
Bennett asked.
“My mother.”
“Anyone else?”
“Maybe Betsy.”
My aunt had helped Teresa clear out my father’s office.
I remembered boxes of tax files disappearing into Teresa’s garage.
At the time, I had been grateful.
I was twenty-four and grieving.
I wanted nothing to do with paperwork.
Now I realized grief had made me careless.
Bennett slid another document across the table.
“This account received twelve deposits during the last eighteen months.”
“From where?”
“Several sources.”
She tapped one line.
“Your home lien was one.”
Another.
“A personal loan obtained under your aunt’s husband’s name.”
Another.
“Credit opened using your father’s identity.”
Amy leaned forward.
“This didn’t start with us.”
“No.”
Bennett looked directly at me.
“We believe your mother may have been operating a long-term financial fraud involving multiple relatives.”
I sat back.
Suddenly the birthday party made more sense.
Twenty relatives.
People drinking.
People celebrating Teresa.
People repeating that she controlled the family.
Maybe some of them were not just guests.
Maybe they were clients.
Partners.
Or victims.
“Why my house?”
“Equity.”
Bennett answered immediately.
“You have significant value in the property.”
“And my income.”
“Yes.”
“And Amy?”
Bennett glanced toward her.
“That authorization form she signed may have been intended to create the appearance that both spouses consented.”
Amy’s face drained.
“What did I sign?”
“We’re trying to recover copies.”
Amy hugged herself.
I reached for her hand.
This time she did not hesitate.
Then Bennett asked a question that seemed unrelated.
“Did your mother ever discuss Frederick’s college fund?”
Amy and I exchanged a look.
“Yes.”
I said.
“Last month.”
“What did she say?”
“She said we should open one early.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
Bennett placed a photograph on the table.
It showed a document recovered from Teresa’s purse.
At the top were the words.
FREDERICK BRADLEY FAMILY EDUCATION TRUST.
The beneficiary was our one-year-old son.
The trustee was Teresa.
May you like
And beside Frederick’s name was a handwritten number.
$620,000.
