Chapter 10 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW WHERE THE MONEY WENT|
Nora Hayes wanted to meet in a small diner near the Chicago River.
She refused to come to the Moretti mansion.
She also refused to speak over the phone.
At first, Luca wanted to send Marco alone.
But Nora insisted on meeting me.
"She saw the video," I explained.
"Maybe she'll trust someone who doesn't wear a thousand-dollar suit."
Luca looked down at his jacket.
"It's considerably more than a thousand."
I raised an eyebrow.
For the first time in days, he almost smiled.
"Fair point."
Evelyn arranged the meeting and made sure Nora understood that speaking with us was voluntary.
She also helped Nora contact independent legal counsel.
The following afternoon, I entered the diner with Marco seated several tables away.
Nora was waiting near the window.
She was forty-seven, with short brown hair and a blue sweater that had been washed so many times the cuffs were fading.
Her hands trembled around a paper coffee cup.
"Claire?"
"Yes."
She looked toward Marco.
"Is he with you?"
"He's here to make sure nobody bothers us."
Nora swallowed.
"I don't want trouble."
"Then you can leave whenever you want."
She studied me.
"You really work for Luca Moretti?"
"For five years."
"Is he as frightening as people say?"
I thought about Luca kneeling before his aunt in the wedding ballroom.
Then I thought about the men who lowered their voices whenever he entered a room.
"Sometimes," I admitted.
"But I think he's trying to become someone different."
Nora looked down.
"My daughter is sixteen."
"Her name is Sophie."
"She's the reason I stayed quiet so long."
I waited.
Nora took a folder from her handbag.
"I was the accounting manager for Bellini Renewal Group."
"For four years, I processed invoices, payroll, and property-related payments."
"At first, I thought we were buying old buildings to renovate."
Then her voice broke.
"But I started noticing that some homeowners received relocation payments before they had supposedly agreed to move."
"What do you mean?"
"Money was sent to accounts that didn't belong to them."
"Then the company reported that the homeowners had accepted compensation."
I felt sick.
"Did you question it?"
"Yes."
"Dominic told me the arrangements were handled through authorized representatives."
"Then I found Gianna Moretti's file."
She opened the folder.
Inside was a spreadsheet showing payments connected to Gianna's property.
There were charges for legal preparation, a medical evaluation, a notary, and an expedited property transfer.
Next to the medical evaluation was a familiar name.
Dr. Harold Pike.
And beside another payment was Celia Finch.
Vanessa's wedding coordinator.
I stared at it.
"Celia was paid by the property company?"
Nora nodded.
"She wasn't only planning a wedding."
"She handled private tasks for Vanessa."
I remembered the diamond bracelet in my locker.
The disconnected camera.
The way Vanessa had smiled when Marco found the jewelry.
"There's more," Nora whispered.
She turned the page.
A payment authorization had been approved for a company called Finch Event Services.
Its description read Special personal assistance.
The date was the morning Vanessa accused me of stealing her bracelet.
I looked up.
"Do you know what this payment was for?"
"No."
"But I know Vanessa requested it directly."
"And I know Celia usually received these payments after doing something that couldn't be listed honestly in the accounts."
I photographed the records with Nora's permission.
Then I called Evelyn.
She arrived with another attorney and began reviewing the documents.
Nora explained that she'd kept copies because she was terrified of being blamed for transactions she hadn't approved.
She'd resigned after Dominic ordered her to destroy an internal payment register.
"I should have spoken sooner," she whispered.
I reached across the table.
"You're speaking now."
She began crying.
"I kept telling myself I was protecting Sophie."
"But every time I saw another elderly person forced out of a home, I wondered what would happen if somebody did that to my mother."
Evelyn helped arrange for Nora to provide the records to investigators through her own attorney.
Before she left, Nora pointed to the final page.
"There's one transaction you should understand."
It was a transfer of four million seven hundred thousand dollars.
The funds had entered a development investment account connected to Bellini Renewal Group.
The source was Moretti Capital Partners.
Luca's company.
I stared at the name.
"Are you saying Luca paid for this?"
"I don't know what he knew."
"But that's where the money came from."
That evening, Evelyn examined the investment agreement.
Luca sat opposite her in his office.
I stood nearby with the documents Nora had given us.
"Did you authorize this investment?" Evelyn asked.
Luca looked at the agreement.
"Yes."
My stomach dropped.
Vanessa had apparently convinced him that the money would support a commercial redevelopment project near the river.
She had never mentioned Gianna's house.
She had never mentioned the other elderly homeowners.
And Luca had trusted the proposal because it came through the family he was preparing to marry into.
He leaned back.
"Four point seven million dollars."
Evelyn nodded.
"Your signature appears to be genuine."
Luca looked toward the window.
"So I helped finance this."
"Possibly without knowing the underlying conduct," Evelyn said.
"We need to determine where the funds went."
Luca covered his face with both hands.
For a moment, he looked older than I had ever seen him.
Then his phone vibrated.
A message appeared from Vanessa.
Come home, darling.
We can still fix everything.
Another message followed.
Tell Claire to stop digging, and nobody needs to get hurt.
Luca showed it to Evelyn.
She immediately preserved a copy.
Then he looked at me.
"Claire, there's something I need to tell you."
I waited.
He spoke slowly.
"I can promise you that I didn't know what Vanessa was doing to my aunt."
"But I can't pretend I was careful enough with the money I gave her family."
He swallowed.
"My father lost everything after trusting Dominic Bellini."
"And I almost helped Dominic finish what he started."
I didn't know what to say.
Then Luca stood.
"Call the investigators."
Evelyn looked at him.
"Are you certain?"
He nodded.
"Give them the investment records."
"All of them."
"Even the ones that make me look bad."
I watched him sign the authorization allowing Evelyn to begin assembling the relevant company records for lawful disclosure.
And for the first time, I understood that courage wasn't always about confronting an enemy.
Sometimes it meant admitting you had helped create the danger.
But just as Luca finished signing, Marco entered the office.
"Sir, we've received an urgent call from Mrs. Alvarez."
Luca looked up.
"What happened?"
Marco's face was grim.
May you like
"Someone set fire to the storage shed behind your aunt's house."
"And the flames have reached the kitchen wall."
