Chapter 10 - The Claim
Marcus claimed Walter Briggs had invested money in the bakery.
He produced copies of old agreements.
Samuel denied signing them.
Marcus remained calm.
“Then we can settle it in court.”
Grace reviewed the documents.
Some signatures looked real.
Others did not.
One document contained Daniel Carter’s name as a witness.
Noah stared at it.
“My dad signed this?”
Grace examined the date.
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because your father was in the hospital that day.”
Marcus’s smile vanished.
Samuel looked at him.
“You knew the paperwork was forged.”
“I know nothing of the kind.”
Grace held up the page.
“You just brought us evidence.”
Marcus closed the folder.
“You’re living upstairs because this man is supporting you.”
Grace stiffened.
“That does not concern you.”
“It concerns credibility.”
Samuel stepped between them.
“Leave.”
Marcus buttoned his jacket.
“You have thirty days.”
“Then what?”
“Then I file.”
Marcus moved toward the door.
He stopped beside Noah.
“You should tell your mother to find another place.”
Noah looked directly at him.
“This bread already has a home.”
Marcus frowned.
Noah continued.
“So do we.”
Samuel almost smiled.
Marcus did not.
After he left, Samuel contacted an attorney.
The attorney explained that fraudulent documents could be challenged.
But old records would matter.
So would Daniel’s missing ledger.
The search became urgent.
Grace remembered Daniel’s habit of hiding important items inside ordinary things.
“He never trusted banks.”
Noah smiled faintly.
“He didn’t trust anybody.”
Grace looked at the bakery.
“He trusted this place once.”
They searched the apartment.
The storage room.
The basement.
The flour bins.
The old office.
Nothing.
Then Lily asked a simple question.
“Where did Daddy sleep?”
Samuel stopped.
“When he worked here?”
“In the upstairs room.”
“That’s our room.”
Samuel nodded.
Lily climbed onto the bed.
She pressed her hands against the old wooden headboard.
One panel moved.
Noah rushed over.
Behind it was an empty cavity.
At first, they thought they had found nothing.
Then Noah reached deeper.
His fingers touched cloth.
He pulled out a small red canvas notebook.
Samuel’s face turned white.
Grace whispered.
“Oh my God.”
Noah opened it.
The first page contained Walter Briggs’s handwriting.
The second contained payments.
The third contained property values.
The fourth contained names.
May you like
Near the bottom of the fifth page was one sentence written by Daniel Carter.
IF YOU FIND THIS, WALTER KNOWS I KNOW.
