Chapter 4
Rebecca obtained the application from Graydon House directly after Alaric proved parental authority.
The school had received a preliminary inquiry.
Not a completed enrollment.
Not a final contract.
But enough to disturb him.
The application described Elowen as:
Frequently defiant.
Prone to deceptive conduct.
Emotionally manipulative toward father.
Unable to accept step-parent authority.
Increasingly unsafe within conventional family environment.
Alaric read the last line twice.
“Unsafe?”
Rebecca turned the page.
The application referenced “stair-related risk-taking.”
His eyes narrowed.
“When was this submitted?”
“Three weeks ago.”
The staircase shove had happened yesterday.
So that line referred to something else.
Alaric called Marjorie.
“Has Elowen ever done anything dangerous on the stairs?”
Marjorie immediately said:
“No.”
“Nothing?”
“She once slid down three steps sitting on a blanket when she was five.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
Rebecca looked back at the form.
Someone had created a danger narrative before the actual staircase incident occurred.
Then came the signature page.
Alaric’s name.
His signature.
Convincing.
He knew instantly it was not his.
Rebecca did not rely on his opinion.
A document examiner compared it with authenticated signatures.
Likely reproduction.
Possibly scanned from another document.
“What document?”
They traced the shape.
The signature matched one Alaric had used on a pediatric medical authorization six months earlier.
Same slight break in the final stroke.
Same spacing.
Same pressure pattern reproduced digitally.
Alaric looked at Rebecca.
“She copied it.”
“That is where the evidence points.”
The application also requested financial preauthorization.
Elowen had a trust created by Mara before her death.
The trust covered education, healthcare, therapy, enrichment, and other expenses for Elowen’s benefit.
A professional trust company controlled the assets.
Alaric served as parent adviser.
Seraphine had no direct authority.
The Graydon tuition estimate was extraordinary.
More than two hundred thousand dollars annually.
Rebecca looked at the attached funding request.
“They were asking whether Elowen’s trust could pay.”
Alaric’s face hardened.
“Did the trustee approve?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“They requested supporting clinical records.”
“Which Seraphine didn’t have.”
“Correct.”
That was the second clue.
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The forged signature was not only about getting Elowen into a school.
Someone had already tried to make her trust pay for it.
