Chapter 5 - The Bank Statements
Nathan broke the seal.
He pulled out a thick stack of papers.
The porch was completely silent, save for the rustling of the documents.
Halfway through reading the first page, Nathan's professional, composed expression completely changed.
He frowned, reading the same paragraph twice.
Then he looked up and turned to Philip. The dynamic between them had suddenly shifted.
“Philip,” Nathan said, his tone dangerously flat. “Did you ever have authority over your mother’s bank accounts?”
Philip frowned, shifting uncomfortably on his feet. “What does that have to do with Helen?”
“Please answer the question, Philip,” Nathan demanded.
Reluctantly, Philip cleared his throat. “She temporarily gave me financial access... power of attorney... after she underwent hip surgery in 2020. I was just managing things for her while she recovered.”
Nathan looked back at the paper.
“According to this sworn affidavit, that authority was legally revoked in August 2021 after your mother discovered unauthorized transfers.”
Philip’s jaw clenched so hard I thought his teeth might crack.
Nathan removed several official bank statements from the envelope and laid them out on the patio table in front of us.
He pointed to several highlighted lines.
“The highlighted transfers total eighteen thousand, six hundred dollars. They were wire-transferred from Mrs. Holloway's primary savings account.”
Nathan paused, staring daggers at his own client.
“They went to an LLC called Northline Renovations. A company registered to you.”
Philip took a step back. He looked like a trapped animal. “They were loans! The business hit a rough patch during the pandemic.”
“Where are the loan agreements?” Nathan asked.
“She was my mother! We didn’t put everything on paper like a corporate transaction!”
Nathan held his gaze, completely unamused. “Did she explicitly approve each transfer before you made it?”
Philip looked away. He stared out at the street.
“I planned to pay her back,” he mumbled.
“Did you?” I asked.
Silence. Total, absolute silence.
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He had arrived at my home, armed with a lawyer, accusing me of manipulating and exploiting his mother over a twenty-nine-dollar water bill.
Meanwhile, Ada had spent the last years of her life carefully documenting how her own son had siphoned thousands of dollars from her life savings to fund his business.
