Chapter 3 - THE HOUSE ON LARCHWOOD DRIVE
Margaret’s injuries were documented at St. Agnes Medical Center.
Bruising to both forearms.
Sprained left wrist.
Contusion to the cheek.
Dehydration.
No serious head injury.
No evidence of intoxication.
The doctor asked privately whether anyone at home frightened her.
Margaret looked at Casey.
Then at the doctor.
“Yes.”
That answer broke something in Colton’s future before he even knew she had said it.
Casey stayed outside the room for the rest of the screening.
She had learned enough law to understand that love can contaminate evidence when it tries too hard to help.
Margaret needed her own voice.
Later, she told Casey the story.
Colton and Dana had moved into the Larchwood house eight months earlier after their rental lease ended.
Temporary, they said.
Three months became six.
Then Dana began talking about “future planning.”
Margaret’s estate.
The house.
Taxes.
Maintenance.
Colton said the property should be placed in a family LLC.
Dana said it would “simplify everything.”
Margaret refused.
Then documents started appearing.
First a power of attorney.
Then a deed.
Then a home-equity application.
Casey stared.
“You don’t have a mortgage.”
“I know.”
“Did you sign anything?”
Margaret cried.
“One paper.”
“What paper?”
“I thought it was permission for Colton to talk to the insurance company.”
Casey’s stomach turned.
The next morning, she and independent elder-law attorney Maya Feldman pulled the county records.
A quitclaim deed had been filed six weeks earlier.
Grantor:
Margaret Peterson.
Grantee:
Larchwood Family Holdings LLC.
Managing members:
Colton Peterson.
Dana Peterson.
The signature looked like Margaret’s.
The notary stamp belonged to a man named Victor Shaw.
Casey stared at the filing.
“Mom?”
Margaret looked.
Her face went white.
“I didn’t sign that.”
Maya asked:
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever sign a document in front of Victor Shaw?”
“I don’t know who that is.”
The house had been transferred.
Then leveraged.
A $310,000 line of credit had been opened against the property fourteen days later.
Current balance:
$247,000.
Casey sat back.
“What did they buy?”
The answer came through bank subpoenas later.
But the first clue appeared immediately.
One outgoing transfer:
$75,000 to Peterson Renovation Group.
Colton’s company.
Another:
$52,000 to DP Lifestyle LLC.
Dana’s.
Another:
$18,500 to Pine Ridge Civic Foundation.
Casey frowned.
May you like
She knew that name.
Chief Enzo chaired the foundation.
