Chapter 5 - THE MECHANIC WHO WAS AFRAID TO SPEAK
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By sunrise, the Moretti mansion no longer felt like a home.
Police officers guarded the entrances.
Detectives moved through the hallways carrying evidence bags.
And the beautiful ballroom where Luca had exchanged wedding vows was sealed behind yellow police tape.
I sat in the kitchen wearing the same black maid's dress I'd worn the night before.
There was a small cut across my wrist from the broken glass.
I hadn't noticed it until Sofia brought me a bandage.
“You saved my life,” she whispered.
I shook my head.
“I just threw a glass.”
“You knew he was aiming at me.”
I looked down.
“Yes.”
Sofia sat beside me.
For several moments, neither of us spoke.
Then she took my hand.
“Matteo used to say you were the bravest person in this house.”
Tears filled my eyes.
“He was being kind.”
“No,” she whispered.
“He was being honest.”
At eight that morning, Detective Reyes returned.
She looked exhausted.
But there was something different in her expression.
“We found Eddie Salazar.”
Luca appeared in the kitchen doorway.
“Where?”
“He's been staying with relatives outside Chicago.”
“Why did he disappear?”
Reyes folded her arms.
“Because someone threatened to kill him if he talked about Matteo's car.”
The room went silent.
Sofia slowly stood.
“Will he speak now?”
“He says he'll talk if we can protect him.”
Luca reached for his jacket.
“I'm coming.”
Reyes shook her head.
“Not to the interview.”
“That's my brother we're talking about.”
“And this is a murder investigation.”
Her voice remained calm.
“You can give us information, Mr. Moretti, but you don't get to run it.”
For a moment, I thought Luca might argue.
Instead, he nodded.
“Then find whoever killed him.”
Reyes looked at me.
“Claire, I'd like you to answer a few more questions about the garage record.”
I agreed.
That afternoon, she interviewed me at the police station.
Eddie was there in a separate room.
I caught a glimpse of him through an open doorway.
He looked nothing like the cheerful mechanic I remembered.
His hair had gone almost completely gray.
He walked with a slight limp.
And when Detective Reyes mentioned Dario's name, he began shaking.
I couldn't hear his entire interview.
But afterward, Reyes asked whether I would be willing to confirm what I had seen.
With Eddie's permission, she brought us into the same room.
The old mechanic looked at me.
“Claire Bennett.”
I managed a small smile.
“Hello, Eddie.”
He lowered his head.
“I should've spoken up.”
I didn't know what to say.
He rubbed his trembling hands together.
“Dario brought Matteo's car in that afternoon.”
Reyes switched on the recording device.
“Tell us what happened.”
“Patrick Kline was waiting in the garage.”
“What did Patrick do?”
Eddie swallowed.
“He lifted the car.”
“Why?”
“Dario said there was a problem with the brakes.”
I felt cold all over.
Eddie continued.
“I told him I could inspect it myself.”
“What did Dario say?”
“He told me to take my break.”
Reyes leaned forward.
“Did you leave?”
“Not immediately.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“I heard them arguing.”
“Who?”
“Dario and Patrick.”
Eddie stared at the table.
“Patrick said damaging the brake line was too dangerous.”
My heart began pounding.
“And Dario told him?”
Eddie closed his eyes.
“He said the car wouldn't make it to the city if Patrick did the job correctly.”
I covered my mouth.
Eleven months.
For eleven months, Sofia had believed her husband died because he lost control of his car on a wet highway.
For eleven months, Luca had blamed the weather.
And for eleven months, a man who knew the truth had been too frightened to tell anyone.
Reyes's voice remained steady.
“Did you see Patrick damage the brake line?”
“I saw him working beneath the car after Dario ordered me away.”
Eddie shook his head.
“I didn't see exactly what he did.”
“Did you preserve anything from that day?”
Eddie reached inside his coat.
He removed a folded service receipt.
“I kept this.”
Reyes took it carefully.
Across the bottom was a handwritten authorization for an unscheduled mechanical adjustment.
The signature wasn't Dario's.
It wasn't Patrick's.
It belonged to the woman I'd seen in the passenger seat.
Vanessa E. Vale.
I stared at the letters.
The handwriting matched the beautiful looping script Vanessa had used on every wedding invitation.
Reyes placed the receipt into an evidence sleeve.
“Why did you keep this?”
Eddie's voice broke.
“Because the next morning, I heard Matteo had died.”
He looked directly at me.
“And I knew that car shouldn't have left the garage.”
I wanted to scream.
I wanted to ask why he hadn't gone straight to the police.
But then I remembered the photograph someone had sent me.
Someone had watched me from outside the kitchen window.
Someone had known I was there.
Eddie had lived with the same fear.
“Did anyone threaten you?” Reyes asked.
He nodded.
“Graham Beck came to my house three days after the funeral.”
My stomach dropped.
“What did he say?”
Eddie's eyes filled.
“He told me accidents happened to people who confused loyalty with honesty.”
Detective Reyes turned toward the door.
She immediately instructed an officer to locate Graham.
Then Eddie grabbed her sleeve.
“There's something else.”
“What?”
“The woman didn't just sign the repair authorization.”
He hesitated.
“She came back inside the garage after Patrick lowered the car.”
My heart hammered.
“What did she do?”
Eddie looked at me.
“She asked whether the damage would be noticed before the crash.”
I felt the room tilt beneath my feet.
“And Dario told her not to worry.”
Eddie began crying.
“He told her that by the time anybody examined the wreckage, Luca Moretti would be burying his brother.”
Detective Reyes slowly stood.
Then she said the words Sofia had waited eleven months to hear.
“We have enough to seek a warrant for Vanessa's arrest.”
But before she could leave, an officer appeared in the doorway.
“Detective, Patrick Kline just regained consciousness.”
Reyes turned.
“Can he talk?”
The officer nodded.
“Yes, ma'am.”
“Did he identify Dario?”
The officer swallowed.
“He identified someone.”
“Who?”
The answer made my blood run cold.
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“Patrick says Dario wasn't the person who ordered Matteo's murder.”
“He says the order came from the bride.”
