The Doppelgänger’s Funeral: How a Small-Town Land Appraiser Uncovered His Own Staged Death and Business Partner’s $4.2 Million Scheme
👉 Previous Decision: You chose to slip into the narrow door leading down into the church furnace basement.
The air in the furnace basement was thick with humidity and the metallic scent of old machinery. I moved cautiously past the hulking, dormant boiler, my eyes adjusting to the dim light filtering from a small grimy window.
Stacked against a far wall were cardboard storage boxes. They bore familiar markings: “Pendelton & Croft Client Files” and, chillingly, “Project Terminated.”
My hands shook as I pulled open the nearest box. Inside, carefully organized, were thick legal folders.
I picked one up, flipping it open. My blood ran cold.
These were property deeds. Not just any deeds, but those for my family’s ancestral 120-acre timberland estate. Each document had been meticulously forged, transferring ownership to an offshore shell corporation.
A name on the signature line of the final transfer document jumped out at me: “D. Croft.”
Derrick. He wasn’t just planning to erase me; he was stealing everything I owned, everything my family had held for generations. My supposed “death” was merely a means to claim his inheritance from my own life.
I heard the distant clang of a metal door above. He was still searching.
➡️ Read CHAPTER 8 to continue the story.
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