Part 5

“I was there in April, Dad.”

“Think about your brother’s name. Think about mine. I paid for your school. When you joined up, I stood behind you. I’ve held this family together for thirty years.”

“You told everyone I’d come home and join the company. You weren’t holding this family together, Dad.”

“Grandpa already left me what I’m worth. The answer is no.”

“You’re going to throw away two million dollars over a—”

“Thank you for your time.”

“Sir, can I ask you something? The colonel chewed out the whole staff this morning, and you didn’t even blink. How do you never lose it?”

“Sort what you know from what you’re feeling, then act on the first pile.”

“The independent review has started. Every record is locked down. So far, it backs up everything the bank showed you.”

“And my father?”

“Just that one reply.”

[A sigh.]

“Last night they offered me two million to sign. I didn’t.”

“Good. Don’t sign anything.”

“It took a week to get Brightwater’s closing file. This is the paper Preston showed them to say the land was still the company’s. The handwriting expert calls the signature questionable. But that alone won’t prove forgery.”

“April fourteenth. I took leave that whole week. I sat by his bed at hospice and fed him soup, one spoonful at a time. He couldn’t hold a spoon that week, Judith. Pull his chart.”

“This is Judith Crane, counsel for the Kendrick estate. I need the nursing notes for August Kendrick, April twelfth through eighteenth. I’ll hold.”