Chapter 2 - The Quitclaim DeedThe county courthouse was only ten minutes from closing when we arrived. Grandma moved more quickly than I expected. At the clerk's window, she requested copies of every document recorded against her property within the previous ninety days.
The clerk searched using the address. Then her expression shifted. "There's a quitclaim deed recorded twelve days ago."
Grandma tightened her grip on the counter. "To whom?"
The clerk angled the monitor toward us. My father's name appeared there: Warren Alden.
I felt my face grow warm. Grandma showed no immediate reaction. She simply requested a certified copy.
In the parking lot, she read every line. Her signature appeared at the bottom.
"That isn't my signature," she said.
I examined it more closely. It looked similar to hers, but the final letters were different. Too smooth. Too deliberate.
"Can Dad transfer your house using power of attorney?"
"Not by signing my name without permission."
We headed to her bank next. A branch manager named Priya Ahluwalia brought us into a private office. Grandma presented identification, removed my father's access, changed every account password, and requested complete transaction records.
Priya appeared uneasy as the statements began printing. There were more transfers than Grandma had originally discovered. Not fifty-five thousand dollars. Eighty-three thousand. Most had gone into an account belonging to Alden Renovations LLC, my father's struggling contracting business. Another twenty thousand had been wired to a title company.
Grandma pointed at that transaction. "That's connected to the house."
Priya nodded cautiously. "I can't tell you what the title company ultimately used it for, but this transfer was initiated through online banking with authorized credentials."
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"His credentials," Grandma said.
The manager remained silent.
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