Chapter 4 - The Cabinet in Room 314|
The North Halsted Studio stood between an aging brick apartment building and a small neighborhood bakery.
Its windows were covered with faded posters advertising sewing workshops, job-training programs, and free classes for women returning to the workforce.
I remembered when the building had been filled with laughter.
Isabella used to arrive carrying coffee and pastries for the volunteers.
She knew every woman's name.
She remembered their children's birthdays.
And she believed that giving someone a skill was often more valuable than giving them money.
Now the entrance looked abandoned.
A broken chain hung from the side gate.
Luca noticed it immediately.
"Someone came through here."
Marco examined the gate.
"The lock was cut recently."
I glanced at Luca.
"Should we call the police?"
"Yes."
He instructed Marco to report the break-in, then turned toward the building.
"Until they arrive, nobody touches anything."
We waited beside the entrance.
Ten minutes later, an elderly woman appeared from the bakery carrying a paper shopping bag.
She stopped when she recognized Luca.
"Mr. Moretti?"
"Evelyn?"
Evelyn Harper had managed the studio for nearly fifteen years.
Her silver hair was pinned neatly beneath a wool hat.
She looked at the broken gate and sighed.
"I told the police someone was trying to get inside."
Luca frowned.
"When?"
"Last night."
"Did you see them?"
"Two men near the service entrance."
"Did you recognize either one?"
Evelyn shook her head.
"But one of them was wearing a gray coat with a strange gold pin."
I saw Luca's jaw tighten.
"What kind of pin?"
"An eagle with its wings open."
Marco looked toward him.
The Bellini family used a golden eagle as the emblem of its private security company.
Evelyn noticed their expressions.
"Is something wrong?"
Luca held up the silver key.
"Isabella left this."
Evelyn's face changed.
She stepped backward.
"Where did you find it?"
"Inside Sophia's dress."
For a moment, Evelyn seemed unable to breathe.
Then she whispered, "She actually did it."
"Did what?"
Evelyn looked at the street before answering.
"She told me she was hiding something where nobody would think to look."
Luca took a step closer.
"What did she hide?"
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
"Evidence."
The police arrived shortly afterward.
After the officers inspected the damaged entrance, Evelyn explained that her foundation office remained separately secured.
She led us upstairs once the officers had finished documenting the scene.
The hallway smelled of dust and old wood.
Room 314 stood at the end.
Inside were folding tables, sewing machines, fabric cabinets, and a framed photograph of Isabella surrounded by smiling women holding their first handmade dresses.
Sophia would have loved that photograph.
Luca stopped in front of it.
"She never told me how much this place meant to her."
"She tried," Evelyn said gently.
He looked away.
At the back of the room stood a tall wooden cabinet with three locked drawers.
The silver key fit the bottom one.
Luca turned it.
The lock clicked.
Inside lay a blue binder, a small black flash drive, and an envelope addressed to him.
He opened the envelope first.
The note contained just one paragraph.
Luca, the numbers are only the beginning.
If the money was all Vanessa wanted, I would have gone to the police immediately.
But someone has been using the foundation to move payments between people connected to your business.
I believe those payments are connected to the threats against our family.
Please trust the records, even if they lead to someone you have always considered loyal.
Luca went motionless.
I picked up the blue binder and opened it.
Several pages listed charitable donations and withdrawals.
Many payments were ordinary expenses.
Others went to unfamiliar consulting companies.
One name appeared again and again.
Bellini Recovery LLC.
Over eighteen months, the foundation had transferred nearly $640,000 to the company.
Evelyn covered her mouth.
"Those women were being told we didn't have enough money to keep the program open."
Luca turned another page.
Beneath the company name was an authorized signature.
Vanessa Bellini.
Marco leaned over his shoulder.
"Boss, look at the approval column."
Luca studied the page.
Someone within his own organization had countersigned the suspicious payments.
The initials were unmistakable.
V.D.
Vincent DeLuca.
Luca shut the binder.
"Nobody outside this room hears about those initials until we verify them."
Evelyn looked frightened.
"Is Vincent involved?"
"We don't know yet," Luca answered.
But I knew what he was thinking.
Vincent had overseen Isabella's security during the final months of her life.
Vincent had coordinated the investigation after her accident.
And Vincent was the man who had assured Luca that there was nothing suspicious about her death.
Marco took photographs of the documents while the investigating officers completed their report.
Luca arranged for the original binder and flash drive to be delivered directly to an independent attorney.
We were preparing to leave when Evelyn called my name.
"Claire, wait."
She reached into the back of the drawer and removed a folded piece of pink paper.
"Isabella asked me to keep this hidden unless someone came with the silver key."
The paper contained a drawing of three small stars.
Underneath, Isabella had written a single sentence.
Ask Sophia what happened on the day I stopped wearing my wedding ring.
Luca stared at the words.
I remembered that day.
It had been four days before Isabella died.
She had removed her wedding ring while washing paint from Sophia's hands at the studio.
At least, that was what she told everyone.
May you like
But now I remembered something else.
Isabella had been crying when she asked me to help her search for it.
