Chapter 13 - THE WOMAN IN RED|
Fourteen months passed before Vanessa Moretti's murder trial began.
By then, the story had become one of the most closely watched criminal cases in Chicago.
Reporters gathered outside the courthouse every morning.
Television commentators argued about the Moretti family's history.
Strangers online dissected photographs of Luca, Vanessa, and Mrs. Elena as though they had personally known all three.
But none of those people had watched Mrs. Elena knead dough with aching hands.
None of them had heard her laugh when Frank complained about too much garlic.
And none of them had seen her save the last piece of bread for somebody who was too embarrassed to ask for more.
I had.
That was why I walked into the courthouse determined to tell the truth, regardless of how frightened I felt.
Vanessa entered wearing a dark crimson suit.
The color reminded me so painfully of the gown she had worn beside the fireplace that I stopped breathing for a moment.
Her hair was perfectly arranged.
Her makeup was flawless.
She walked beside her attorneys with the same arrogant expression she had worn while ordering me to throw away Mrs. Elena's belongings.
But something was different.
Nobody stepped aside because she was Mrs. Luca Moretti.
Nobody hurried to obey her.
For the first time, Vanessa had entered a room where her husband's name could not protect her.
Luca sat two rows behind the prosecution table.
Frank was beside him.
His hair had turned almost completely white during the previous year, and he walked with a cane after his kidnapping.
But he was alive.
And he had insisted on attending.
The prosecution began by presenting the financial conspiracy.
Evelyn Clark described the suspicious payments, false invoices, and unauthorized transfers involving the foundation.
She explained how Bennett Home Services had been created using information taken from my employment records.
The defense attorney suggested that the company might have been established with my knowledge.
Evelyn disagreed.
She identified authorization documents and communications linking the operation to Dominic's office.
Independent banking evidence supported her account.
Then the prosecution introduced correspondence showing that Elena had begun questioning the transfers shortly before her death.
Vanessa watched without expression.
The next witness was Mina Alvarez.
She described Elena's unexplained symptoms and the concerns that had prompted her to recommend further medical evaluation.
The defense challenged her conclusions.
Mina remained calm.
"I cannot tell this court that I diagnosed poisoning at the time," she said.
"But I can explain why her condition warranted additional investigation."
I admired her honesty.
The prosecution wasn't asking the jury to believe a dramatic story simply because it sounded convincing.
It was asking them to examine separate pieces of evidence and decide whether those pieces formed a reliable picture.
The toxicology expert testified about the preserved sample from the blue tin.
He explained what laboratory analysis had identified and what its age and storage conditions prevented him from concluding.
Additional testimony described records of a suspicious purchase made through a company connected to Vanessa, along with communications discussing Elena's worsening condition.
The defense argued that the evidence was circumstantial.
The prosecutor acknowledged that no single item answered every question.
But together, the records, witness accounts, financial motive, and medical evidence supported a far more disturbing explanation than the family had originally been given.
Then Celia Ward testified.
Vanessa's expression changed when she entered the courtroom.
Celia described the appointments she had scheduled, the messages she had preserved, and the visits Vanessa had made to Elena during her final weeks.
She admitted that she had been afraid to speak.
She admitted that she had suspected wrongdoing but had failed to act.
Then she described the conversation she had overheard after Elena's death.
Vanessa's attorney stood.
"Ms. Ward, you're asking this jury to rely on your memory of a conversation that happened years ago?"
"Yes."
"And you expect them to believe you remember the exact words?"
Celia looked directly at the jury.
"I remember the words because I wish I had never heard them."
The courtroom became completely silent.
When it was my turn, I felt as though my knees might give way.
Eleanor squeezed my hand before I entered.
"Just tell them what happened."
I took the witness stand.
I described rescuing the book.
I described Vanessa's words about peasant recipes.
I described Luca finding the letter.
And I described the expression on Vanessa's face when she realized Elena had named her.
During cross-examination, Vanessa's attorney tried to suggest that I had invented parts of the story to protect myself from the financial investigation.
He asked about my income.
My family.
My employment history.
Then he asked a question designed to humiliate me.
"Ms. Bennett, isn't it true that you developed personal feelings for Mr. Moretti while working in his household?"
I felt my cheeks burn.
Luca sat perfectly still.
I looked at the attorney.
"My feelings about Mr. Moretti have nothing to do with what I saw in that kitchen."
"But you care about him?"
"I care about his family."
The attorney smiled.
"And perhaps you wanted to become part of that family?"
I took a breath.
"Mrs. Elena made me feel like I belonged long before her son ever noticed me."
The courtroom fell quiet.
I continued before the attorney could interrupt.
"I had nothing to gain from rescuing that book."
"I burned my hands because I knew how much it meant to someone who was no longer alive."
My voice trembled.
"And I would do it again."
When I stepped down, Frank was crying.
Luca looked at me with an expression I could not read.
It wasn't pity.
It wasn't gratitude alone.
It was something deeper.
Something that had grown slowly through months of fear, grief, and difficult choices.
Near the end of the prosecution's case, Vanessa chose to testify against her attorneys' advice.
She denied poisoning Elena.
She denied directing Dominic to steal money.
She claimed everyone around her had misunderstood her efforts to manage a troubled family.
Then the prosecutor asked about a specific visit to the mansion during Elena's final week.
Vanessa insisted she had arrived only briefly and had never entered Elena's bedroom.
The prosecutor looked at the documents on the table.
"Mrs. Moretti, are you certain?"
"Absolutely."
He lifted a hospital-related appointment record and several supporting communications.
Then he asked whether she recognized the visitor authorization she had arranged for Elena's private medical consultation.
Vanessa's attorney objected.
The judge considered the foundation for the evidence before allowing the questioning to continue.
The prosecutor showed Vanessa the record.
Her face went pale.
"Your own messages place you inside Elena's room that afternoon," he said.
Vanessa looked toward Luca.
For the first time, she seemed to be asking him for help.
May you like
Luca didn't move.
And when the prosecutor asked her to explain the contradiction, the woman who had always possessed an answer finally had none.
