Chapter 6 - The Deposition
Three weeks later, in a sterile glass-walled deposition room on the twelfth floor of the State Department of Justice, Elena sat face-to-face with Richard Sterling, the corrupt notary who had validated Julian’s fraudulent estate documents.
Sitting beside him was his court-appointed attorney, who looked deeply uncomfortable.
“Mr. Sterling,” Elena began, adjusting the microphone in the center of the table. “I’m going to make this very simple for you. You are currently facing four felony counts of notary fraud, two counts of filing false public records, and one count of criminal conspiracy to commit grand larceny. Each count carries a mandatory minimum of five years in state prison.”
Richard Sterling, a pale, middle-aged man with sweat glistening on his forehead, swallowed hard. “I… I was just executing documents presented to me by a client. I assumed everything was legitimate—”
“Do not lie to me,” Elena interrupted, her eyes piercing through him. “We have your cell phone records. On May 14th, at 11:42 PM, you received a text message from Julian Vance that read: ‘I need the property transfer stamped tonight. The old woman won’t be there, but I’ll pay double your usual fee.’ You replied two minutes later: ‘Bring ten thousand in cash, and it’s done.’”
Richard’s lawyer winced, placing a hand over his face.
“We also have security footage from your office parking lot showing Julian handing you an envelope of cash,” Elena continued calmly. “So here is your choice, Mr. Sterling. You can take the fall for Julian and Chloe and spend the next twenty years in a maximum-security facility. Or you can sign a full confession, detail every document you forged for them, and testify as the State’s key witness at trial.”
Richard looked at his lawyer, his hands shaking so violently he couldn’t hold his glass of water.
“If I testify…” Richard squeaked, “will I get immunity?”
“No immunity,” Elena said sharply. “You will plead guilty to one count of fraud, lose your notary license permanently, and serve probation with full restitution. You have five seconds to decide before I walk out of this room and add racketeering charges.”
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Richard slammed his hands on the table. “I’ll testify! I’ll tell you everything! Julian told me he was going to bleed his mother dry before she died so there’d be nothing left for you! He planned the whole thing!”
Elena signaled to the court reporter to stop the tape, then stood up. “Get it all down in writing,” she told the detective beside her. “We just crushed their entire defense.”
