Megan stepped forward holding an envelope so tightly her hands shook. Two days earlier, she’d discovered loan documents hidden inside Kyle’s gym bag, along with a bank statement showing a $60,000 loan secured against my cabin. She’d tried calling me twice that morning, but my phone was unreachable in the car. Now, with the deputy standing there and Kyle insisting everything was a misunderstanding, Megan handed over every page. “I made copies,” she said. “He did all of it.”

Kyle’s excuses stopped when the deputy asked one simple question: Who notarized the deed? The stamp belonged to Ms. Pruitt, a woman who operated a tax office in town. The deputy called her immediately. After several uncomfortable questions, she admitted Kyle had paid her cash to notarize paperwork without anyone else present—and to backdate it by six months. But that wasn’t all. When investigators looked more closely at the signature on the deed, they discovered exactly where Kyle had gotten it.

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