Chapter 10 - THE PAPERS PREPARED BEFORE FRANK COLLAPSED|
I showed the message to Luca immediately.
His face went white.
"Where did this come from?"
"An unknown number."
He studied the photograph.
"Is that Daniel?"
"Yes."
Margaret approached before I could stop her.
She looked at the screen.
For a moment, she didn't react.
Then her hands began shaking so violently that I had to take the phone away.
"They found him."
Her voice was barely audible.
"They're going to take him from me again."
Luca put one hand on her shoulder.
"Not if we can stop them."
Margaret looked up.
"Please don't make promises you can't keep."
He swallowed.
"Then I'll promise you something I can control."
"What?"
"I won't hide the truth to protect my family's reputation."
Those words changed the way I looked at him.
For years, Luca Moretti had ruled through fear.
Now he seemed to understand how much damage fear had already done.
He contacted Michael and asked him to share the threatening message with investigators.
Then he called Rebecca Shaw, an attorney who had handled several legitimate business matters for the family.
She arrived at the hospital carrying a laptop and an expression that suggested she had already heard too much bad news.
"Tell me everything," she said.
Luca explained Daniel's disappearance, the old records, Frank's collapse, and the photograph.
Rebecca listened without interruption.
Then she looked at me.
"Claire, you said Vanessa produced legal documents immediately after Frank became ill?"
"Yes."
"Did you see them?"
"Only the envelope."
Luca nodded.
"She said Victor arranged everything."
Rebecca's expression hardened.
"Then we need to examine those documents before anyone signs them."
An hour later, Vanessa returned to the hospital.
She looked irritated to find Rebecca waiting.
"Why is she here?"
Luca folded his arms.
"To review the papers you brought."
Vanessa gave a strained laugh.
"I already told you they're routine."
"Then you won't mind showing them to her."
For several seconds, Vanessa didn't move.
Finally, she opened her handbag.
Rebecca took the documents and began reading.
I watched her expression grow colder with every page.
"Mrs. Moretti," she said, "when were these prepared?"
"Recently."
"How recently?"
Vanessa shrugged.
"Last week, perhaps."
Rebecca turned the papers toward Luca.
"This document is dated December eighteenth."
Frank had collapsed on December twenty-fifth.
Luca looked at his wife.
"You prepared emergency control papers seven days before my father became ill?"
Vanessa crossed her arms.
"Frank is elderly."
"He's seventy-two."
"Which is exactly why sensible families make plans."
Rebecca continued reading.
"These documents would give Victor Bellini substantial authority over several business accounts if Frank were declared unable to manage his affairs."
Luca stared at her.
"Victor would control the companies?"
"Subject to legal validity, that's what the documents attempt to establish."
Vanessa stepped forward.
"You're making it sound sinister."
Rebecca turned another page.
"There's also a medical evaluation attached."
She frowned.
"It claims Frank was examined by a physician on December nineteenth."
Luca shook his head.
"Father was with me that entire day."
Rebecca looked toward Vanessa.
"Who arranged this evaluation?"
"My father."
Rebecca closed the folder.
"Then I'll be asking the named physician to confirm whether it ever happened."
Vanessa's eyes narrowed.
"You have no right to interrogate me."
Luca spoke quietly.
"She has every right to question paperwork involving my father."
Vanessa grabbed her handbag.
"I'm going home."
"Michael will arrange transportation," Luca said.
She stopped.
"You're treating me like a criminal."
Luca looked at her for a long moment.
"I'm treating these documents as evidence."
Vanessa left without another word.
Later that evening, Michael arrived with another discovery.
He had reviewed the hallway footage from the mansion.
A household employee had entered my guest room while I was at St. Agnes.
The employee was carrying a small jewelry box.
Michael had also recovered a message instructing her to place Vanessa's brooch inside my bag.
The message came from Vanessa's personal phone.
Luca stared at the screen.
Then he turned toward me.
"Claire."
I shook my head.
"You don't need to say anything."
"Yes, I do."
His voice broke slightly.
"You gave Margaret a chair when everyone else was afraid to move."
He paused.
"And when my wife tried to humiliate you, I allowed you to spend even one hour under suspicion."
I looked away.
"Your wife knows how to make people feel powerless."
Luca nodded.
"I've started to understand that."
He took a breath.
"I'm sorry."
It was the first apology I'd ever heard from him.
And somehow, it meant more because he didn't ask me to forgive him.
He simply accepted that he had been wrong.
Then Rebecca's phone rang.
She answered and listened.
Her expression became serious.
When she ended the call, she looked at Luca.
"The investigators have identified the location where that threatening photograph was transmitted."
"Where?"
Rebecca hesitated.
"The old loading facility behind St. Agnes."
My stomach tightened.
"The community kitchen?"
She nodded.
"Someone wants the plate brought there at midnight."
Luca looked at Margaret.
She was sitting beside the window, holding Daniel's wedding photograph.
"I won't let her walk into a trap," he said.
Margaret slowly stood.
"Then don't."
May you like
She took my hand.
"But if those people believe my husband's plate is worth killing for, perhaps it's time we discovered what they are really afraid of."
