Page 23 of Key West Homecoming

“Who signed the letter?”

“A name he didn't recognize. There was a phone number, but he never called it.”

“Did he show you the letter?”

“Not yet. I didn't ask to see it. He told me what was in the letter.”

“Did Samantha Larson's office send that letter?”

“No. She told me on the phone this morning that it didn't come from her and it didn't come from the buyer. The buyer is a short-term rental LLC that wouldn't keep a long-term tenant on.”

Maeve wrote for a while without saying anything.

“That letter matters. If Arthur signed it or had somebody sign it for him, it's a written communication in furtherance of a fraudulent sale. Depending on exactly what it says and whose name is on it, it’s documentary evidence. Probate contest and possibly a criminal referral.”

Emma was shocked.

“Did your grandmother ever tell you that she wanted you to have the cottage?”

Emma nodded.” She did, although I have no way of proving that.”

“I want to see that letter today. Can you get it from Jake?”

“I can ask.”

“Do it.”

“He doesn't know the full picture yet. Only that I'm the granddaughter and that something is off.”

Maeve set the pen down and looked at Emma across the table. “How did you leave it with him?”

“I told him I needed to think about a few things and asked if I could come back today. He agreed. As I was leaving, I told him to hold on to the letter. And not to call the number on it.”

Maeve took that in without saying anything. Then she nodded. In what might have been small approval.

“Lucky instinct.”

“I don't know why I said it.”

“You said it because you already knew what that letter was, even if you couldn't have named it.” She picked the pen back up. “Instinct isn't evidence though. Get me the letter. Better still, ask if you can borrow it for an hour to copy it and give him the original back. You keep his trust that way and I get what I need.”

“I can do that.”

“All right. Let me tell you where we are.”

Maeve turned a fresh page and drew a small vertical line down the middle of it, a habit Emma recognized from every case mapping session she'd ever seen a consultant run. Two columns, one for what you knew, one for what you needed.

“What you have going for you,” Maeve said. “You have a real estate broker who is on your side. You have a copy of a later will and the Monroe County records, which is useful. Unusual but useful.”

Emma interrupted her. “I don't have a copy of the will.”

Maeve nodded. “You're going to need to get a copy of that will. Your lawyer, assuming we get you one asap, will be able to get that for you. We’ll get a copy that will hold up in court.”

“You think we’ll go to court on this?”

“You need to prepare for seeing this through to whatever end will accomplish justice. I can’t tell you exactly what’s going to happen, but I do believe you have a case against your uncle. You have a tenant who has been paying rent in good faith and can testify to it. You have a title company that is on notice, and by tomorrow at the latest, a written communication that appears to be fraudulent. You have ten days, which is not much, but it’s enough.”

“And what I don’t have?”