Chapter 5 - LUCINDA’S REPORT
The old paternity report my mother gave me looked real enough at a glance.
Laboratory logo.
Case number.
Percentages.
Signatures.
Five years earlier, I had looked at the conclusion and stopped.
Now Elise contacted the laboratory directly.
They had no record of the case number.
The physician signature belonged to a pathologist who had retired eight years earlier.
The logo design was outdated.
The phone number on the document went to a disconnected line.
Forgery.
Probably.
But who created it?
Not proven yet.
Then the attorney letter supposedly representing Adeline.
The law firm existed.
The named lawyer existed.
He had represented Adeline for one consultation during separation.
He denied sending the letter.
His office had no copy.
Signature looked scanned.
Again.
False document.
Then metadata?
Only paper originals survived.
No original digital files yet.
My mother denied creating either.
Her lawyer said:
“Lucinda received them from an intermediary.”
Who?
She would not say.
That irritated me.
It did not prove guilt.
Then Claire produced Adeline’s real correspondence from that lawyer.
It said:
Ms. Cross wishes to establish paternity promptly and requests direct counsel-to-counsel communication.
Exactly opposite.
Who had received it?
My old family-office counsel.
Now retired.
We found him.
He remembered.
“I forwarded it to Lucinda because she handled personal family matters.”
“Did you send it to me?”
“I assumed she did.”
There.
Another system built around assumed matriarch authority.
Then:
“Did Lucinda tell you paternity had been resolved?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“She sent the report.”
No independent verification.
The professional had failed too.
Not criminally necessarily.
Procedurally.
Then my former personal attorney.
He had seen the fake report and closed the paternity issue without calling the lab.
Why?
“Your mother said you didn’t want litigation.”
I had never said that.
No one asked me directly.
A network of professionals let one powerful woman become the voice of several adults.
No secret conspiracy.
Habit.
Deference.
May you like
Convenience.
Dangerous enough.
