Chapter 9 - The Housekeeper's Confession|
Rosa's hands trembled as she sat across from Mara Chen.
Matteo remained standing near the fireplace.
I pulled a chair beside Rosa because she looked as though she might faint.
She had worked in the Russo household for twenty-two years.
She knew where Evelyn kept her favorite tea.
She remembered which flowers Matteo's father loved.
And she still baked a birthday cake for every employee, even when the celebration amounted to five people standing around the kitchen counter.
Seeing her frightened made me angry in a way I couldn't explain.
"Rosa," Mara said gently, "tell us what happened."
Rosa wiped her eyes.
"Scarlett came to me on Thursday."
"Where?"
"In the laundry room."
"What did she want?"
"She said Mrs. Russo's health was deteriorating."
Rosa looked at Matteo.
"I told her that wasn't true."
He nodded.
"Go on."
"Then she offered me fifteen thousand dollars."
I stared at her.
Rosa's voice broke.
"She said all I needed to do was sign a statement saying Mrs. Russo had become forgetful."
Mara leaned forward.
"Did you sign?"
"No."
"Are you certain?"
"Yes."
She pointed at the paper.
"That's my name, but it isn't my signature."
Matteo walked toward her.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Rosa looked ashamed.
"Scarlett said I'd lose my pension if I caused trouble."
Matteo stopped.
"Your pension?"
She nodded.
"She said the household would be reorganized after the wedding."
I suddenly understood how carefully Scarlett had chosen her weapons.
She hadn't needed to threaten anyone with violence.
She had threatened the things ordinary people couldn't afford to lose.
My mother's care.
Rosa's retirement.
Evelyn's home.
And Luca's daughter.
Different fears.
The same cruelty.
Mara asked Rosa whether Scarlett had given her any written instructions.
Rosa hesitated.
Then she reached into her handbag.
She removed a small envelope.
Inside was a business card.
On the back, someone had written an address.
"Scarlett told me to go there on Friday to collect the money."
Mara examined it.
"Did you?"
Rosa shook her head.
"I went to church instead."
Her eyes filled.
"I prayed somebody would stop all of this."
Matteo sat beside her.
"You should never have been put in that position."
Rosa looked at him.
"I'm sorry I stayed silent."
He shook his head.
"You're telling us now."
Mara photographed the card and placed it in an evidence envelope.
Then she asked whether Rosa was willing to give a formal statement.
Rosa looked at me.
I squeezed her hand.
"Yes," she whispered.
"I am."
That afternoon, something unexpected happened.
Celeste Whitmore returned to the mansion.
She arrived without an invitation.
Her expensive coat was damp from the rain.
And she looked nothing like the polished businesswoman who had sat beside Scarlett's father the previous evening.
Victor escorted her into the study.
Matteo stood.
"Why are you here?"
Celeste removed a folder from her handbag.
"Because I made a terrible mistake."
He didn't offer her a chair.
She seemed to understand.
"I knew Mrs. Russo lived here."
Matteo's expression hardened.
"Then you knew what you were doing."
"I believed she had agreed to move."
"You told her she would never be allowed back."
Celeste looked down.
"Yes."
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then she continued.
"I was told the property would be delivered vacant under a valid agreement."
"And you didn't ask whether she wanted to leave?"
Celeste swallowed.
"No."
Matteo stared at her.
"Then you're not an innocent person in this."
"I know."
She placed the folder on the desk.
"But I can tell you why they needed the house so badly."
Mara stepped closer.
Celeste opened a map showing the mansion and several adjoining properties.
The Russo estate occupied nearly six acres of valuable land near Chicago's lakefront.
I had always known it was expensive.
I hadn't understood quite how much.
Celeste pointed at the map.
"Bellwether intended to acquire this property for eighteen million dollars."
Matteo frowned.
"The last independent appraisal was considerably higher."
"Because the offer wasn't the real transaction."
She slid another document forward.
"Hayes Development had already negotiated to acquire the assembled site for forty-eight million after rezoning approval."
I stared at the numbers.
Thirty million dollars separated the two proposed transactions.
Matteo looked at Celeste.
"So Elliot used your company to buy below market value."
"Yes."
"And Scarlett helped clear the house."
Celeste lowered her eyes.
"That's what the documents suggest."
Mara studied the folder carefully.
"Why are you bringing us this now?"
Celeste took a breath.
"Because I saw an eighty-one-year-old woman crying at dinner while everyone else pretended not to notice."
Her voice shook.
"And because my own mother died in a care facility where nobody bothered to visit her."
I wanted to feel sorry for Celeste.
But compassion didn't erase what she had done.
Matteo seemed to feel the same.
"Then help us stop the sale."
Celeste nodded.
"I've instructed counsel to suspend Bellwether's participation pending investigation."
She passed Mara another document.
"And I will cooperate with any lawful inquiry."
Mara examined the pages.
Then she stopped at a payment schedule.
"Matteo, look at this."
He leaned over her shoulder.
The schedule listed an advance transfer of more than six million dollars.
The funds had been routed through a consulting company associated with Luca.
Matteo's face changed.
"Six million?"
Celeste nodded.
"It was described as a transaction facilitation payment."
Mara looked up.
"Who authorized it?"
Celeste pointed to the final page.
There was a signature.
Luca Russo.
And beneath his name was another.
Elliot Hayes.
Matteo stared at the paper.
Then his phone rang.
It was Nadia.
"Uncle Matteo?"
He answered immediately.
"What's wrong?"
Her voice was trembling.
"Dad called me."
"Where is he?"
"I don't know."
She began crying.
"He told me he was sorry."
Matteo closed his eyes.
"Did he say anything else?"
Nadia sobbed.
"He said the money wasn't worth what he'd done to Grandma, and then he hung up."
Matteo called Luca.
May you like
The phone went directly to voicemail.
And by the time the police began looking for him, his car had already been found abandoned near the Chicago River.
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