Chapter 8 - THE FINANCIAL TRAIL
Andrés did not stop with the security cameras,
knowing the motive lay elsewhere.
He navigated through the network,
accessing the shared mail server in the house.
He found a hidden folder in Renata’s email account,
protected by a simple password he easily guessed.
Inside,
he discovered his mother’s official bank statements,
sent over the last three months.
Mrs. Teresa was a wealthy woman,
inheriting prime real estate from her late husband.
The statements showed a sudden and drastic change,
beginning right after Andrés deployed.
There was a formal request for a bank address change,
moving the correspondence away from the house.
Even more shocking was a pending transfer request,
stamped by a local notary.
The document authorized a transfer of nine hundred and fifty thousand pesos,
moving funds to an offshore account.
The account belonged to a shell corporation,
one that Renata had quietly registered under a false name.
At the bottom of the page was his mother’s signature,
but it was completely wrong.
The lines were shaky,
the ink uneven,
suggesting a hand that had been forced or traced.
Teresa would never sign such a document willingly,
as she valued her independence above all.
Andrés remembered a technique from his days at the Prosecutor’s Office,
examining the pixels of the digital scan.
It was a clumsy forgery,
likely done in a hurry before his return.
He also discovered that at age twelve,
he had learned to be observant,
recording family discussions under the dining table out of habit.
That old instinct for gathering evidence had never truly left him,
serving him well tonight.
He quickly changed the master password to the bank account,
locking Renata out completely.
He activated immediate bank alerts,
routing all notifications directly to his personal cell phone.
He downloaded the entire backup onto an encrypted flash drive,
slipping it into his pocket.
Finally,
May you like
he drafted an urgent email to his military superior,
requesting immediate family leave due to an emergency.
