Chapter 20 - WHEN TRAVIS STOPPED SMILING.
Travis agreed to a police interview about the SUV.
His lawyers called it voluntary cooperation.
Emily called it overdue.
Blake called it none of his business until investigators finished.
He was learning.
Slowly.
Travis admitted he had access to the fleet vehicle.
Denied driving it that night.
Said he remained home after Megan left.
Phone records showed his device connected to home Wi-Fi throughout the relevant period.
Useful.
Not conclusive.
A person could leave a phone.
Home security showed no clear image of him outside.
No witness confirmed his presence after 9:17.
No witness confirmed his absence.
Investigators examined the garage footage again.
Height estimate had a wide range.
Gait comparison was suggestive, not identifying.
No case.
Not yet.
Travis’s position in the land litigation became worse.
The church email contradicted him.
Megan testified he knew Ruth’s audio had missing context.
Charles confirmed Travis had access to C-17 credentials.
Daniel confirmed repeated file warnings.
The notary process looked unreliable.
Then the Quinn family entered fully.
Parcel Seventeen.
Dorothy Quinn’s niece, Rebecca, flew in from Colorado.
She had not challenged the transfer because she believed her aunt had sold.
Why?
Because Mercer mailed Dorothy a check.
$320,000.
The check was deposited.
That looked legitimate.
Then Rebecca explained.
Dorothy had dementia.
Not severe at first.
Worsening.
Rebecca handled some finances under power of attorney.
She had never seen the check.
Bank records showed it had been deposited into a joint account Dorothy held with a caretaker.
The caretaker withdrew most of the money over six months.
That opened an entirely different issue.
Naomi refused to turn it into a Mercer conspiracy.
Could Mercer have paid a legitimate seller whose finances were later abused?
Yes.
Could Dorothy have agreed to sell?
Possibly.
Medical records showed cognitive decline around the transaction date.
Not automatic incapacity.
The signature witnesses mattered.
One was Daniel.
He said he witnessed paperwork being assembled.
Not Dorothy signing.
The document described him as transaction witness.
Ambiguous.
The second was Colin.
Dead.
The notary was Susan Kell.
Again.
Pattern.
The court appointed an independent title examiner.
That changed momentum.
Independent review identified defects in four of the six disputed transactions.
Not every one.
That mattered too.
Dana’s easement claim turned out partly valid.
An old easement genuinely existed.
Mercer had not invented it.
Dana hated hearing that.
Then the examiner found Mercer had claimed the easement was wider than the original grant allowed.
So Dana was both wrong and right.
Life was uncooperative that way.
Leon’s tax lien had been lawfully purchased.
But payoff notices included fees not authorized by the lien agreement.
Ruth’s deed remained deeply questionable.
Parcel Seventeen involved potential incapacity and defective witnessing.
The church sale appeared legally valid, though possible misrepresentation about the road remained a separate issue.
Emily read the report.
“So Travis wasn’t stealing every property.”
“No,” Naomi said.
Emily looked ashamed.
“I said he was.”
“You said Travis was stealing land.”
“I made it sound like all of it.”
“You were describing what you believed.”
“Still.”
Naomi leaned back.
“This is where people get in trouble. They think admitting nuance weakens them.”
“Doesn’t it?”
“It makes you credible.”
Emily released a breath.
She issued a public statement through Naomi.
Some transactions were legitimate.
Some problems were different than she first believed.
The evidence did not establish that every disputed parcel had been stolen.
But significant irregularities existed and deserved review.
Travis’s public-relations team seized on the first half.
CARTER WALKS BACK CLAIMS.
Emily read the headline.
“They made honesty look like defeat.”
Naomi shrugged.
“Welcome to litigation.”
Then the second half of the independent report hit local news.
COURT EXAMINER FINDS MULTIPLE DEFECTS IN MERCER-RELATED LAND DEALS.
Public sentiment shifted again.
Blake stopped reading comments.
Mostly.
Emily caught him once.
“You’re bad at this.”
“I’m improving.”
“You’re on page six.”
“Research.”
“Go make coffee.”
He did.
The cleanest breakthrough came from money.
The $46,000 “critical corridor completion” bonus paid to Colin had been approved by Travis.
No surprise.
The supporting bonus summary listed four properties.
Holloway.
Quinn.
Bates.
Ruiz.
All four resolved within the same quarter.
But Ruth’s property should not have been considered resolved if she disputed the deed.
Daniel’s warnings were already in the system.
Travis approved the bonus anyway.
Naomi asked him about it in a second deposition.
His demeanor had changed.
No smile.
No charm.
Exhaustion.
“Did you review each file?”
“No.”
“Then why approve the bonus?”
“Performance metrics.”
“Who certified completion?”
“Colin’s department.”
“Colin himself?”
“Yes.”
“So Colin certified work that increased his own bonus.”
“That was the structure.”
“Did you consider that a control problem?”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
“Obviously.”
“And then?”
“No.”
Travis looked toward Emily.
For once he did not avoid her.
Naomi asked, “Did you know Ruth Holloway disputed the deed when you approved Colin’s bonus?”
Travis paused.
“Yes.”
The room went still.
“When did you learn?”
“Before approval.”
“Then why count the acquisition as completed?”
Travis rubbed his forehead.
“Because legal said recorded title was defensible.”
Naomi asked, “Did you ask whether Ruth had actually signed?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
He looked angry.
Not defensive.
Angry at himself, perhaps.
“Because I didn’t want another delay.”
Emily’s eyes closed.
There it was.
Not “I ordered a forgery.”
Something more believable.
He did not want a delay.
Naomi continued.
“Did you tell anyone to fabricate Ruth’s deed?”
“No.”
“Edit her recording?”
“No.”
“Notarize without her?”
“No.”
“Run Emily Carter off the road?”
Travis’s head snapped up.
“No.”
First strong emotion.
“No.”
“Did you drive the Mercer SUV that night?”
“No.”
“Do you know who did?”
Travis stared at Naomi.
Then his eyes moved to Emily.
“Yes.”
Blake, watching later on recorded deposition video, felt his entire body tense.
Naomi’s voice stayed flat.
“Who?”
May you like
Travis swallowed.
“My father.”
