Chapter 8 - The Father-in-Law Who Thought Everyone Had a Price|
Victor Bellini entered the mansion as though he owned it.
He wore an expensive navy suit, a silk tie, and the same gold lion ring I had noticed in the security footage.
Two attorneys followed him through the marble entrance hall.
Vanessa hurried toward her father.
"Dad, thank God you're here."
He kissed her forehead.
Then he looked at Luca.
"My boy, I hear you've had a difficult evening."
Luca stood beside Ruth Alvarez.
"Don't call me your boy."
Victor's smile faltered.
"Now, Luca, there's no reason to be hostile."
"Then explain why you were outside my mother's blue room nine nights ago."
Vanessa went pale.
Victor remained remarkably calm.
"I visited my daughter."
"At midnight?"
"Family business."
Luca stepped closer.
"Why did you remove my mother's financial records?"
Victor spread his hands.
"What records?"
Ruth placed a photograph from the security footage on the table.
"These records."
Victor glanced at the image.
His expression didn't change.
"An old metal case."
He laughed softly.
"Surely you're not accusing me of theft because I helped my daughter move a box."
Margaret appeared in the doorway.
"That box belonged to Maria."
Victor turned.
For the first time, I saw his confidence slip.
"Margaret Whitmore."
She stood straighter.
"Hello, Victor."
He looked her over with undisguised irritation.
"I heard you had been unwell."
"I've been perfectly well enough to remember what you did."
Victor smiled.
"Memory can become unreliable with age."
I felt Margaret stiffen beside me.
Luca noticed.
"Don't speak to her that way."
Victor's smile vanished.
"You're letting a housekeeper and an elderly widow turn you against your own family."
"Margaret was family to my mother."
Victor looked at me.
"And what about this girl?"
I met his gaze.
"My name is Claire Bennett."
"I didn't ask."
Luca's voice cut through the room.
"She answered you anyway."
Victor stared at him.
Something unpleasant flickered in his eyes.
"Maria always encouraged that sentimental nonsense."
Margaret stepped forward.
"Maria believed people deserved respect."
Victor laughed.
"And where did that get her?"
The silence was immediate.
Luca's expression changed.
"What did you say?"
Victor recognized his mistake.
"I meant she was too trusting."
"No."
Luca moved closer.
"You meant something else."
Ruth intervened before the confrontation escalated.
She informed Victor that the foundation's financial arrangements were being reviewed.
Until that process was complete, Luca would not approve further discretionary transfers associated with the disputed authorization.
Victor's attorneys began objecting.
Ruth calmly asked them to communicate their legal positions in writing.
Victor watched her with growing frustration.
Then he turned to Luca.
"You're making a terrible business decision."
Luca shook his head.
"I'm correcting one."
For several seconds, neither man moved.
Then Victor smiled again.
"Very well."
He adjusted his cufflinks.
"But understand something."
His eyes drifted toward Margaret.
"Old people depend on stability."
I felt her hand tighten around my arm.
"Mrs. Whitmore lives in one of the South Side properties my company manages."
Victor spoke casually.
"Rent increases can be very difficult for someone surviving on a fixed income."
Margaret's face drained of color.
Luca stepped forward.
"Are you threatening her home?"
Victor raised both hands.
"Of course not."
He smiled coldly.
"I'm explaining how unfortunate circumstances can affect innocent people."
I wanted to scream.
Instead, I reached for Margaret's hand.
"She won't face this alone."
Victor turned toward me.
"Sweetheart, your loyalty is touching."
He removed a business card from his pocket.
"If you're smart, you'll remember that loyalty doesn't pay the bills."
He placed the card on the table.
"I reward people who know when to keep quiet."
I stared at it.
Then I picked it up.
Victor smiled.
"There we are."
I walked to the fireplace.
Without looking away from him, I tore the card in half.
"You can't buy everyone."
The room became silent.
Victor's eyes narrowed.
For an instant, I understood why so many people feared him.
But Luca stepped beside me.
"You're finished here."
Victor looked toward Vanessa.
"Come along, darling."
She hesitated.
"Luca?"
He didn't answer.
Victor's expression hardened.
"Don't make this worse."
Vanessa slowly followed him toward the entrance.
But before leaving, she turned back.
She looked directly at Margaret.
There was something almost pleading in her eyes.
Then her father seized her arm and guided her outside.
After they left, Margaret sank into a chair.
"He's going to punish us."
Luca crouched beside her.
"Not if I can prevent it."
Ruth immediately began arranging legal protection against any retaliatory eviction.
She also contacted a forensic accountant named Denise Park.
Denise had spent years investigating financial misconduct involving charities and private trusts.
By late afternoon, she had identified a troubling pattern.
Over several years, millions of dollars had moved through questionable vendors connected to Victor Bellini's companies.
Some transactions were recent.
Others traced back to the period before Maria's death.
Denise opened a spreadsheet on her laptop.
"Maria was following the right trail."
Luca studied the screen.
"What are we looking at?"
"Payments for services that may never have been provided."
She pointed toward a group of transactions.
"These companies share addresses, directors, and financial intermediaries."
I leaned closer.
One company name appeared repeatedly.
Ashcroft Development Holdings.
I remembered seeing it on an envelope in Vanessa's private sitting room.
Denise continued.
"If these payments were fraudulent, Maria may have uncovered the beginning of a scheme that continued long after her death."
Luca leaned back.
"Can we recover the money?"
"We can try."
She paused.
"But we need the original records."
Margaret looked toward the blue room.
"The notebook."
Denise nodded.
"That notebook could be extremely important."
Suddenly, Luca's phone vibrated.
The caller identification displayed Victor Bellini's name.
Luca answered on speaker.
"Yes?"
Victor's voice sounded almost cheerful.
"I think we started on the wrong foot."
"What do you want?"
"To save us all some embarrassment."
"Speak plainly."
Victor chuckled.
"Give me Maria's recordings, and I'll make certain Margaret keeps her apartment."
Luca's face darkened.
Victor continued.
"Otherwise, this little investigation might end with more than one old woman suffering."
The call ended.
Margaret began shaking.
But Ruth looked at Luca with new urgency.
"He just revealed something significant."
"What?"
"He knows your mother left recordings."
Luca stared at the silent phone.
I thought about the cassette hidden beneath the piano.
Then another possibility struck me.
May you like
Maria had kept a recording of her suspicions.
What if someone had recorded the night she died?
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