“Daniel wanted you to have it.”

That evening, I called Charles Benton.

“I heard you requested Daniel Keane’s old employee file.”

“Interesting coincidence,” he finally said.

“I’m beginning to dislike that word.”

“I imagine you have questions.”

“Did my grandmother fund the Family Reconciliation Trust?”

“Where did you hear that name?”

“Adrian, this is an old and complicated estate issue.”

“It involved decisions made by your father.”

“The trust received four million dollars.”

My grip tightened around the phone.

“You told Evelyn it had never been funded.”

“I told her there were questions concerning whether the funding had been legally completed.”

Sitting somewhere for five years.

“Because your father challenged the trust.”

“He believed your grandmother lacked full capacity when she amended certain estate documents.”

“Not according to her doctors.”

“Then what was the actual problem?”

“Your father believed Daniel had influenced her.”

“I never found evidence that he did.”

“Then why wasn’t the money released?”

“Because Daniel refused to make a beneficiary claim.”

“I think you should read the complete trust documents before we discuss this.”

“The one your grandmother signed two weeks before her death.”

“It named the primary beneficiary.”

“Adrian, I would rather show you the original document.”

“Because you will have questions about the signature attached to it.”

I felt the floor shift beneath the conversation.

I stared across my dark office.

“Why would Daniel sign my grandmother’s trust?”

“He signed as witness to her statement of intent.”

Charles hesitated one final time.