Chapter 4 - The Bank on Fifth Street
The rain had turned into a steady, freezing drizzle by the time Lena and Agent Vance arrived at the Mercantile Bank on Fifth Street. The massive granite building stood like an old fortress in the heart of the financial district.
Inside, the grand lobby was quiet, decorated with polished brass and marble columns. The bank manager, a nervous man in a tight suit named Mr. Sterling, escorted them down a spiral staircase into the underground vault area.
"We received the federal court order thirty minutes ago, Agent Cole," Sterling said, his key ring jingling as his hands shook. "Box 408 is registered jointly to Daniel Voss and the late Maya Brooks-Voss. No one has accessed it since... well, since four months ago."
Sterling inserted the master key into the heavy metallic wall, followed by the search warrant key provided by Vance. With a heavy metallic click, the long steel box slid out from the wall.
Vance carried the box over to a small examination table under a bright overhead fluorescent light. He snapped on a pair of nitrile gloves and carefully opened the lid.
Inside lay three items: a velvet pouch containing raw, unmounted diamonds; a encrypted hardware cryptocurrency wallet; and a thick, blue-bound legal document labeled General Power of Attorney and Asset Transfer.
Lena stepped closer, her heart hammering against her ribs. She watched as Vance carefully opened the blue cover page.
On the final page, above the printed line Maya Brooks-Voss, was a signature in dark blue ink. Beside it was a notary stamp and the signature of a notary public named Evelyn Reed.
"It looks like her signature, Lena," Vance noted quietly, examining the sweeping loops of the letters with a magnifying glass. "The slant, the pressure points... if this goes to a jury, an expert witness could argue it’s genuine."
Lena reached into her pocket and pulled out a small pocket notebook—one that Maya had kept by her bedside during her hospital stays, filled with hand-written recipes, baby names, and daily thoughts.
"Look at the letter 'M'," Lena instructed, pointing with a gloved finger. "Maya broke her right wrist when she was twelve years old. Ever since then, whenever she writes a capital 'M', she makes a double-loop at the top stem because her bone healed slightly offset. She couldn't physically draw a straight vertical line on a capital 'M' without pain."
Vance adjusted his magnifying glass, zooming in on the signature on the legal document.
The 'M' on the power of attorney was a sharp, perfect, straight line.
"It’s a master forgery," Vance murmured. "Executed by someone who traced a digital template rather than studying her physical habits."
"Evelyn Reed," Lena read the notary stamp name aloud. "Find out who Evelyn Reed is, Vance."
Vance pulled up his mobile database tablet, typing in the notary commission number stamped on the gold foil seal. Within ten seconds, a profile appeared on the screen.
"Evelyn Reed," Vance read. "Former executive assistant at Voss Capital Holdings. Fired six months ago... currently living in an upscale condo in Clayton."
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Lena’s eyes narrowed into sharp, lethal focus. "She wasn't fired. She was paid off to sign fraudulent documents and then hidden away in a luxury condo."
"We go now," Vance said, closing the steel box and locking it. "Before Pendelton realizes we beat him to the vault."
