Chapter 3 - The Knock on the Door
The front door chimed.
The heavy, resonant ring of the brass doorbell echoed through the foyer, cutting through Brenda’s mounting hysterics.
Christopher flinched as if struck. “Who is that?”
“Your reality check,” I said calmly.
I reached out with one hand and turned the heavy brass knob. Standing on the porch, framed by the grey morning mist, was Rachel Cooper, dressed in a sharp charcoal overcoat and carrying a leather briefcase. Beside her stood two uniformed deputies from the Dauphin County Sheriff’s Office, their hands resting routinely on their utility belts.
“Good morning, Nora,” Rachel said, stepping inside without waiting for an invitation. Her sharp gaze swept over Christopher and Brenda like a cold wind. “I trust the delivery went smoothly?”
“Harper is doing wonderful, Rachel,” I replied, stepping back to let them into the entryway. “My recovery is going well, too. Although my husband just handed me two hundred dollars and instructed me to find a boarding room in Scranton.”
One of the deputies, a burly officer with silver hair and a badge that read *Deputy Miller*, looked from the envelope on the console table to Christopher. His eyes narrowed.
“What is the meaning of this?” Brenda snapped, attempting to deploy the haughty tone that had intimidated socialites for decades. “This is a private marital discussion. Officers, remove these people from our home immediately!”
“Ma’am,” Deputy Miller said, his voice flat and unyielding, “I suggest you lower your voice. We aren't here on a civil call. We are here to accompany Attorney Cooper for the execution of a formal notice of trespass and to stand by while the lawful owner takes possession.”
“I am the owner!” Christopher shouted, his voice cracking into a ragged falsetto. “I just sold this place yesterday morning to Gallo Holdings LLC! I have the closing documents! I have the wire transfer!”
“Christopher,” Rachel spoke with the terrifying precision of a seasoned litigator, “you cannot sell what you do not own. Dauphin County Deed Book 412, Page 89 clearly lists Vance Capital Properties as the sole fee-simple owner of this parcel as of November sixteenth. That deed was recorded with clear title insurance and full verification.”
She opened her briefcase, retrieved a certified, blue-ribbon stamped document, and held it up.
“What you executed yesterday with Richard Gallo was an invalid conveyance based on forged instruments. You represented yourself as having power of attorney over Nora Sterling’s assets. Nora revoked all prior powers of attorney three weeks ago and filed the revocation with the county registry.”
Christopher slumped back against the mahogany grandfather clock. The wood groaned under his weight. “No… no, Gallo checked the title… his guy said…”
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“Gallo’s closing agent is an unlicensed notary working out of an unlicensed strip-mall office,” Rachel said coldly. “Gallo thought he was getting a three-million-dollar riverfront estate for nine hundred thousand dollars in cash. He was so blinded by greed he skipped the standard three-week title insurance underwrite. But that doesn’t absolve you, Christopher. It makes you a co-conspirator to fraud.”
***
