Chapter 5 - Winter House Was Not Forgotten
Henry knew the property.
Everyone in the old Vale circle did.
Winter House had been sold fifteen years earlier.
For $12.4 million.
The sale helped fund Richard’s first major real-estate expansion.
Sarah stared at him.
Richard looked defensive.
“I didn’t know anything about your mother.”
Henry asked:
“Did you know the title history was disputed?”
Richard said nothing.
That silence mattered.
Sarah’s attorney was contacted before anyone touched the rest of the
documents.
Inside the music box were photocopies of old bank transfers.
Trust statements.
A preliminary purchase contract.
One page carried Evelyn Carter’s father’s name.
Another carried Richard’s late father’s signature.
The records did not automatically prove Sarah owned Winter House.
But they were enough to raise serious questions.
Especially because Margaret’s letter said the original documents had
once been hidden in the box.
Victoria finally spoke.
“My mother was confused near the end.”
Henry answered:
May you like
“She wrote that letter twenty-two years before she died.”
Victoria stopped talking.
