Chapter 4 - THE DEED THAT SHOULD NOT EXIST
Eleanor Shaw arrived at Harrington Hall the next morning.
She was sixty-two, silver-haired, brisk, and had been the Harrington family’s solicitor for nearly three decades.
She read Malcolm’s deed twice.
Then she removed her glasses.
“This is problematic.”
“Fraudulent?”
“I said problematic.”
“Eleanor.”
She sighed.
“The signature resembles your father’s. The witnessing clause is technically valid. But I have never seen this deed.”
“You handled his property work.”
“Nearly all of it.”
“Who witnessed it?”
She turned the page.
Malcolm Fenwick.
Oliver laughed without humour.
Eleanor did not.
“The bigger issue is registration,” she said. “This instrument appears to have been lodged only after Sir Edward’s death.”
“Why wait seventeen years?”
“Exactly.”
HM Land Registry had raised requisitions over boundary descriptions, historical trust restrictions and the status of East Lodge.
That was why Malcolm needed Oliver.
A new confirmation deed from the estate’s current personal representative could cure weaknesses in the old paperwork.
“If I sign?”
“You may give legal weight to something presently vulnerable.”
“And if I refuse?”
“Fenwick Land Management has a problem.”
Oliver sat back.
“So Malcolm isn’t asking me to transfer land.”
“No.”
Eleanor’s expression became colder.
“He’s asking you to legitimise a transfer he claims already happened.”
They filed an immediate objection to any further registration activity and requested the complete historical title file.
Then Oliver told Eleanor about Hannah.
About Marianne Vale.
About Ruth.
About the old settlement payments.
About Catherine Harrington giving Ruth the rusted key.
For the first time, Eleanor lost professional composure.
“Your mother did what?”
“You didn’t know?”
“No.”
That frightened Oliver more than Malcolm’s deed.
Catherine Harrington had trusted Eleanor with nearly everything.
Why hide this?
Eleanor spent the afternoon searching archived files.
Just before five, she found a reference in an old ledger.
Private Settlement — E.H./M.V. — documents removed to estate archive under Sir Edward’s instruction.
E.H.
Edward Harrington.
M.V.
Marianne Vale.
The archive referenced was not Eleanor’s office.
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It was inside Harrington Hall.
Malcolm controlled the keys.
