She lives off our parents, my brother Anthony said to his inner circle in the back room of the port tavern.
The chill that ran through me wasn’t from the air conditioning. Geno Kroll’s panicked face confirmed it. The notary seal on the forged documents belonged to a dead woman.
I left the port office immediately, the image of that seal burning in my mind. Salerno’s men made no move to stop me. Perhaps they thought I was defeated, running away. They didn’t understand.
I drove straight to the city archives in downtown Philadelphia. The building smelled of old paper and dust, a stark contrast to the salty air of the docks. I knew the drill. Twelve years ago, I’d spent weeks sifting through public records for very different reasons.
The clerk, a woman with a perpetually tired expression, gave me a form. I filled it out, requesting a certified copy of Eleanor Kroll’s death certificate and her notary public commission registry. It took an hour, the longest hour of my life, as I watched the clock tick down.
Finally, she returned with two documents, crisp and official. Eleanor Kroll, born 1958, deceased March 14, 2018. Cause of death: cardiac arrest. The notary commission registry confirmed her active status until her death. No renewal, no transfer.
I held the documents, a surge of grim satisfaction washing over me. Kroll hadn’t just forged a signature; he’d used a dead woman’s identity. This wasn’t merely a corporate dispute; it was fraud, a felony, and a direct violation of every underworld arbitration code regarding legitimate claims.
Under the mob commission’s rules, any debt claim made with falsified documents was null and void. A serious offense. Salerno’s entire leverage against DeLuca Transport, based on these papers, evaporated. Not only that, but Kroll’s actions put Salerno in a precarious position with the senior boss, Frank Moretti.
This was more than just a legal technicality. It was a weapon. If I could prove these forgeries were central to Salerno’s claim, not only would his entire scheme collapse, but he would also incur the wrath of the very people he sought to impress.
I folded the papers carefully, a plan beginning to form in my mind. This wasn’t about saving DeLuca Transport anymore. It was about exposing Salerno, Anthony, and Kroll for the criminals they were, and making sure they paid for every lie.
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