David escorted Maya to the living room and handed her a glass of water to help her calm down.
His mind raced as he thought about the missing legal papers from his locked home office desk drawers.
He walked back into the bright hallway and pulled the framed artwork away from the hidden safe wall panel.
The safe key code was known only to him and his late wife who had passed away two years ago.
He slowly entered the six-digit combination into the digital keypad mounted on the solid steel safe door.
The electronic lock beeped twice, releasing the heavy metal bolt with a firm mechanical thud against the frame.
David pulled the safe door open, expecting to see only his standard backup home deed and vehicle titles.
Instead, a thick brown Manila envelope sat directly on top of his official family inheritance records.
He reached inside and pulled the heavy envelope out into the bright light of the hallway corridor.
The envelope had no name written on the outside, but it was sealed tightly with heavy clear tape.
He carefully tore open the top flap and pulled out a stack of printed financial bank statements inside.
The account numbers belonged to his family estate trust fund that was established for Maya's future college fund.
David felt his chest tighten as he noticed recent unauthorized wire transfers listed on the monthly statements.
Thousands of dollars had been moved out of the primary account over the last six consecutive months.
Attached to the back of the statement was a copy of a fake power of attorney document with his signature.
The forged signature looked almost identical to his real handwriting on his official state driver's license.
He sat down on the wooden hallway bench, trying to process how Elena could have staged such a fraud.
A small business card dropped out from inside the envelope, landing face up on the white floor tile.
The card belonged to a local corporate lawyer named Arthur Vance, known for handling high-profile probate cases.
David: Why would Elena have documents involving my corporate legal counsel hidden inside my personal safe?
He grabbed his smartphone from his coat pocket and quickly dialed the phone number listed on the card.
The call went straight to a generic recorded voicemail system after ringing four long times without an answer.
David realized that this was not a simple case of domestic theft by an untrustworthy household employee.
Someone else was working closely with Elena to gain total control over his family's private financial assets.
He stood up quickly, knowing he needed to contact his private investigator before the bank opened tomorrow.