Chapter 7 - THE KEY INSIDE THE BROKEN WATCH
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Sofia hadn't opened Matteo's watch since the day he died.
It rested inside a small wooden box in the bedroom they'd once shared.
Eleven months had passed, but she still couldn't bring herself to move his clothes from the closet.
His favorite gray sweater remained folded on the chair.
His books were stacked beside the bed.
And the old silver watch sat exactly where she'd placed it after the funeral.
I accompanied Sofia to the house with Detective Reyes and two officers.
Luca remained at his attorney's office, where Evelyn was preparing an emergency application to stop the disputed company transfers.
Sofia opened the bedroom door slowly.
For several moments, she didn't move.
Then she whispered, “It still smells like him.”
I stayed beside her.
I didn't tell her it was time to move on.
I didn't tell her that eleven months was long enough.
I simply waited.
Finally, she crossed the room and opened the wooden box.
Inside lay a silver pocket watch with a scratched cover.
On the back were three engraved words.
To my sons.
Their father had given it to Matteo after Luca refused to accept it.
Sofia held it against her chest.
“Matteo said Luca deserved it because he was the oldest.”
She smiled sadly.
“But their father insisted the watch belonged to whichever son understood the value of time.”
I looked at her.
“And Matteo understood?”
“He tried to.”
She wiped her eyes.
“He always said there was never enough time for the people we loved.”
Detective Reyes gently asked permission to examine the watch.
Sofia handed it over.
The detective inspected the back.
Then Luca called on speakerphone.
“Turn the crown to the left,” he instructed.
“There should be a small catch beneath it.”
Reyes followed his directions.
A faint clicking sound filled the room.
The back cover lifted.
Inside was a tiny brass key.
Sofia gasped.
Beneath it lay a folded piece of paper.
Reyes carefully removed both.
The paper contained an address on Kinzie Street.
Below it was a number.
42.
And beneath that, in Matteo's handwriting, were five words.
For Sofia, when she's ready.
Sofia began crying.
“Why didn't he tell me?”
Luca's voice came through the phone.
“Because he was trying to keep you safe.”
Later that afternoon, we visited the private storage facility listed on the note.
Detective Reyes arranged for the contents to be documented properly, and Sofia provided identification and proof of her legal authority to access Matteo's records.
I stood beside her as the manager opened compartment forty-two.
Inside was a narrow metal box.
Sofia took a deep breath.
Then she lifted the lid.
There were photographs.
A notebook.
A small digital recorder.
And a sealed envelope bearing her name.
Sofia reached for the envelope first.
The paper trembled between her fingers.
She looked at me.
“Will you stay?”
I nodded.
“Of course.”
She opened it.
The first line made her cry.
“My beautiful Sofia, I hope you never have to read this.”
She covered her mouth.
I moved closer.
Matteo had written about the money he discovered missing from Moretti Freight.
He described suspicious payments to a company called Vale Holdings.
He said Dario had been changing invoices and pressuring employees to approve charges for deliveries that never happened.
But the letter wasn't only about money.
Matteo had written that Sofia was the best thing that ever happened to him.
He apologized for keeping secrets.
He explained that he had been frightened someone might hurt her if she knew too much.
Then came a sentence that made her stop reading.
“If I disappear, don't let Luca convince himself he failed me.”
Sofia stared at the page.
The tears rolled down her cheeks.
“He knew Luca would blame himself.”
I felt my own eyes burning.
Below that, Matteo had written something else.
“I have left copies of everything I found.”
“The notebook explains the payments.”
“The recorder explains why I was afraid.”
Sofia slowly reached into the box.
She picked up the little black recorder.
Detective Reyes asked whether she wanted to listen in the privacy of the station.
But Sofia shook her head.
“I've waited almost a year to hear my husband's voice.”
Her fingers hovered above the play button.
Then she pressed it.
Static crackled through the tiny speaker.
A chair scraped.
And suddenly, Matteo Moretti's voice filled the room.
“If this recording is ever played, my name is Matteo Moretti.”
Sofia closed her eyes.
The voice was clear.
Warm.
Alive.
“I've been investigating unauthorized payments from our family's freight business.”
A pause followed.
“I believe Dario is responsible.”
Detective Reyes leaned closer.
“But I'm no longer certain Dario is acting alone.”
Another pause.
Then Matteo's voice changed.
“I watched someone use our security system to follow Sofia's movements.”
My stomach tightened.
“I thought I could trust him because he's been with us for years.”
Sofia clutched my hand.
“I was wrong.”
A chair moved in the recording.
“Luca, if you're hearing this, I need you to listen carefully.”
The room became completely silent.
“Dario may be stealing our money.”
“Vanessa may be helping him.”
“But neither of them could have done what they're doing without someone inside the house.”
Matteo took a shaky breath.
Then he said the name we'd all feared.
“Graham Beck.”
Sofia's hand tightened around mine.
And Matteo continued.
“If Graham is still working for you, Luca, don't let him anywhere near Sofia.”
The recorder clicked off.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then Detective Reyes's phone rang.
She answered.
Her expression immediately hardened.
“What do you mean he accessed the protected files?”
She listened.
Then she turned toward us.
“Graham Beck just used his security credentials to obtain an internal record of Sofia's scheduled movements.”
Sofia went pale.
Reyes raised her radio.
“We need to move her immediately.”
But before we could leave, Sofia noticed something at the bottom of the metal box.
It was a second envelope.
May you like
Across the front, Matteo had written a different name.
Claire Bennett.
