Chapter 6 - THE BRIDE WHO ORDERED A DEATH
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Vanessa Moretti was arrested before sunset.
The woman who had worn a diamond tiara beneath the chandeliers now stood in a police station wearing the plain clothes officers had allowed her to change into.
Her mascara had disappeared.
Her expensive perfume couldn't hide the fear in her eyes.
And for the first time since I'd met her, she wasn't giving orders.
Detective Reyes had spent hours comparing Eddie's statement with Patrick Kline's account.
Patrick admitted that Dario had paid him to interfere with Matteo's brake system.
He also admitted that Vanessa had approved the work.
He was facing serious charges himself, and Reyes made it clear that cooperating wouldn't erase what he'd done.
But his account was supported by the garage receipt, financial transfers, and messages investigators had recovered from one of Dario's phones.
Vanessa could no longer pretend the accusation came from a grieving widow imagining enemies.
Luca sat beside me outside the interview rooms.
He had removed his wedding ring.
It rested inside a small evidence envelope.
Only the night before, he'd placed that ring on Vanessa's finger and promised to love her for the rest of his life.
Now he couldn't bear to look at it.
“Claire,” he said quietly.
“Did you ever think something was wrong with her?”
I hesitated.
“I thought she was cruel, sir.”
His eyes lowered.
“But I didn't think cruelty was the same thing as murder.”
Luca nodded slowly.
“Neither did I.”
Across the hall, Sofia stood beside a vending machine.
She was staring at a photograph on her phone.
I knew what it was.
Matteo on their wedding day.
He had been laughing, his arm wrapped around her waist.
She had shown me that photograph dozens of times.
Every time, she smiled before she cried.
Now she wasn't smiling.
She looked toward the interview room.
“I want to speak to her.”
Luca stood.
“Sofia, you don't have to.”
“Yes,” she answered.
“I do.”
Vanessa eventually agreed to a brief conversation with Sofia in the presence of her attorney and Detective Reyes.
I remained outside with Luca.
Through the glass, I watched Sofia sit across from the woman who had humiliated her at the wedding.
Vanessa wouldn't meet her eyes.
Sofia spoke first.
“Did Matteo know?”
Vanessa said nothing.
“Did he know you were trying to kill him?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I never wanted him dead.”
Sofia's face tightened.
“Then why did you authorize the work on his brakes?”
“Dario said he only needed to frighten him.”
“On a highway?”
Vanessa began crying.
“He told me Matteo would lose control, stop the car, and realize he couldn't fight us.”
Sofia stared at her.
“You expected my husband to lose control of a moving car.”
Vanessa looked away.
“You don't understand what Dario was threatening.”
“Then explain it.”
Vanessa pressed a tissue against her mouth.
“We had already moved money through Vale Holdings.”
“Matteo discovered it.”
“He was going to tell Luca everything.”
Sofia's voice remained strangely calm.
“So you decided his life was worth less than your money.”
Vanessa shook her head violently.
“No.”
But she couldn't explain how deliberately damaging a man's brakes was anything other than a willingness to risk his life.
Sofia leaned forward.
“For eleven months, you watched me cry.”
Vanessa's shoulders trembled.
“You told me grief was embarrassing.”
“Please, Sofia.”
“You told me Luca was tired of hearing about his brother.”
Vanessa started sobbing.
“And yesterday, you told me nobody wanted to hear Matteo's name at your wedding.”
Sofia stood.
“You weren't afraid of my grief.”
Her voice broke.
“You were afraid of what my husband had left behind.”
Vanessa lowered her head.
For the first time, she had no cruel response.
When Sofia emerged, her face was pale.
But she was standing straighter.
Luca approached her.
“What happened?”
“She admitted helping Dario hide the stolen money.”
“And Matteo?”
Sofia swallowed.
“She still wants us to believe she didn't know he would die.”
Luca looked through the glass.
Vanessa was crying into her attorney's shoulder.
I had once believed tears meant someone was sorry.
Now I understood they could also mean someone was frightened of consequences.
That evening, Detective Reyes brought us new information.
Investigators had searched the office Graham Beck used at the Moretti estate.
Inside a locked cabinet, they discovered copies of forged company documents and several security access cards.
But Graham himself was gone.
He had disappeared shortly after learning Eddie Salazar was cooperating.
Worse, a backup recording system had been removed from the mansion.
Someone had taken security footage from the week before Matteo's death.
Luca slammed his palm against the table.
“Graham worked for my family for eight years.”
Reyes looked at him.
“And somebody paid him enough to betray it.”
Sofia stepped forward.
“Does that mean the footage is gone?”
“We're trying to recover it.”
She lowered her eyes.
Then she whispered something that made me turn.
“Matteo always said Graham watched people too closely.”
Luca frowned.
“What?”
“Three days before the crash, Matteo told me to stop using the family drivers.”
“Why?”
Sofia looked frightened.
“He said he wanted to make sure nobody knew where we were going.”
Detective Reyes reached for her notebook.
“Did he say anything else?”
Sofia nodded.
“He gave me his father's old watch.”
Luca went completely still.
“Our father's watch?”
“Yes.”
Sofia pressed a hand against her chest.
“He told me that if he ever needed me to remember something important, I should remember the watch.”
I watched Luca's expression change.
“Where is it?”
“At home.”
Sofia looked between us.
“Why?”
Luca swallowed.
“Because Matteo used to hide things inside that watch when we were boys.”
Reyes leaned forward.
“What kind of things?”
“Notes.”
May you like
Luca's voice became a whisper.
“And keys.”
