Rebecca Hayes listened without interrupting as Ethan explained how an ordinary dinner shift had ended with his dismissal and the discovery of a possible thirty-year property fraud.
The attorney was forty-three, with dark hair, practical glasses, and a reputation for handling complicated estate and real estate disputes throughout Pennsylvania.
She had been recommended by a legal assistance organization after Ethan explained that his grandmother might have been deprived of property rights.
Rebecca examined the photograph, Henry's letter, and the old brass key.
Then she reviewed the documents Rose brought from the settlement following her husband's death.
"Mrs. Walker, did Henry ever sign his name using only a middle initial?"
Rose shook her head.
"Not unless he was filling out something that required it."
Rebecca placed two signatures side by side.
One appeared on Henry's original letter. The other was on a document supposedly releasing his interest in the café.
The handwriting looked different, but Rebecca refused to draw a conclusion without professional examination.
"People's signatures vary," she said. "We need more than visual suspicion."
Ethan appreciated her caution, even though he wished she would declare the document false immediately.
Margaret explained the loans Richard claimed she had authorized and the pressure he placed on her after her husband's illness.
Rebecca requested permission to obtain historical property records, corporate filings, and available bank documentation.
She warned them that claims involving events from decades earlier could face serious procedural obstacles.
"Some legal deadlines may have passed. Others may be affected by evidence of concealment. We need to understand exactly what happened before promising an outcome."
Ethan nodded.
"I don't need a promise. I need someone to look."
Rebecca smiled faintly.
"That's something I can do."
Two days later, she discovered an unusual inconsistency.
The county records showed an initial partnership agreement signed by Margaret, Henry, and Richard. It described Richard as financial administrator but restricted his authority to sell or mortgage the property without approval from the others.
A later filing apparently dissolved that partnership and transferred the entire café to a corporation controlled by Richard.
The signatures and dates were questionable.
Most troubling was a supporting document filed shortly before Henry's death.
It purported to show Henry consenting to a transaction Margaret said she never approved.
Rebecca contacted the county archives for the original filings.
That afternoon, she called Ethan.
"I found a second deed."
"Is that good?"
"It could be important."
"Why?"
"Because one witness listed on the deed couldn't possibly have signed it on that date."
Ethan sat upright.
"What do you mean?"
Rebecca paused.
"The document names a man who had died six months earlier."