Another compared signatures on my mother’s bond documents and confirmed material differences.

Investigators treated the evidence as a basis for further proceedings, not as a substitute for proving every element of a criminal offense.

Megan Cole, Brandon’s executive assistant, retained a lawyer of her own.

Her account was complicated.

She said Brandon had pressured her to notarize documents she had not witnessed being signed.

She admitted that she complied because she feared losing her job.

That explanation did not absolve her, but it clarified how a forged document could move through an office where nobody wanted to challenge the boss.