Grace Found an Old Place Card at the Family Table — Then Grandma Margaret Said, “You Told Me You Got Rid of Everything
Chapter 6 — Grace Finds the Blue File
Victoria called police.
Then she checked every door and window.
Grace watched from the staircase.
“Mom?”
Victoria looked up.
“Go back to your room, please.”
Grace hesitated.
“Is this about Evelyn?”
Victoria sighed.
“Yes.”
Grace disappeared upstairs.
Ten minutes later, she came back carrying something.
A thin blue folder.
Victoria nearly dropped her phone.
“Where did you get that?”
Grace pointed toward the formal dining room.
“Behind the drawer.”
There was a small serving cabinet near Evelyn’s old seat.
Grace had opened it earlier while looking for her ribbon.
One drawer wouldn’t close properly.
She reached behind it.
The blue folder had been wedged against the back panel.
Margaret stared at Victoria.
“Evelyn said to look inside the blue file.”
Victoria opened it carefully.
Inside were photocopies of property deeds.
Letters.
A list of elderly homeowners.
And one handwritten statement.
Evelyn’s signature appeared at the bottom.
The first paragraph read:
If I disappear after confronting Dad, do not assume I left willingly.
Victoria had to sit down.
Margaret covered her mouth.
The statement described what Evelyn believed she had discovered.
Charles Harper was not acting alone.
Someone inside the company was preparing documents that transferred properties without owners fully understanding what they signed.
Evelyn had identified the employee.
His name appeared in the next paragraph.
ROBERT LANE.
Margaret whispered:
“Your father’s partner.”
Robert Lane was still alive.
And he was still chairman of Harper & Lane.
