Emily squinted, tracing the signature with her finger. She remembered watching her father sign her school forms and checks. His signature always flowed smoothly, with a distinct upward tilt at the end of his last name. But here, the signature was different. It was almost identical, but the tilt was missing. Her heart raced as she realized what it meant—someone had forged her father’s signature.
She snapped her head up, feeling a surge of hope. This was the first crack in the case against her father, a tangible piece of evidence that could prove his innocence. But she knew she needed more. Just one discrepancy might not be enough to convince the court.
Emily spent the next few hours poring over every document in the folder, her focus unwavering. As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting the room into shadow, she found something else—a series of emails printed out and tucked at the back of the folder. They were between her father and someone named “T. Johnson” at Dalton Industries. Emily’s fingers trembled as she read through them.
