Ryan frowned.
“Fraud?”
Vanessa immediately jumped in.
“This is ridiculous,” she said. “She gave us the card. Now she regrets it and wants to make us look like criminals.”
Laura calmly placed another document on the table.
“Charges at specific locations,” she said. “Specific dates. And several withdrawals using the account PIN.”
Ryan turned to me slowly.
“Mom… did you give Vanessa the PIN?”
“No,” I said firmly.
Never.
Vanessa forced a laugh.
“Well… maybe someone guessed it. Patricia writes everything down in little notebooks.”
Then Detective Parker spoke.
“There’s another issue,” he said quietly. “A financing request was made under Mrs. Morales’ name at an electronics store.”
The room fell silent.
“Financing?” Ryan asked.
Laura turned the document so we could see it.
Under “authorized buyer” was a name.
Vanessa Grant.
And underneath… her phone number.
The silence thickened.
“That doesn’t prove anything,” Vanessa said quickly. “It could be a mistake.”
“No,” I said. “The confirmation email came directly to my account. And that’s your number.”
Ryan stood abruptly.
“Vanessa… tell me that’s not yours.”