Joanne explained that Garrett had deposited the check into his own account two weeks after the funeral. Herbert had arranged months before he died for the bank to alert her if anything unusual touched my accounts. The bank’s fraud department sent her the copy in November. I pressed my hand against my mouth. My son had forged my name while I was still sleeping on Herbert’s side of the bed.

“There’s more,” Joanne said gently. She slid a second document across the desk. It was a petition filed in county court, requesting that Garrett be appointed my legal guardian. It claimed I had become forgetful and confused since my husband’s death. As evidence, it listed a $17,500 check I supposedly wrote and later couldn’t remember. The hearing was scheduled for January ninth.