Chapter 9 - The Papers Hidden in the TrunkThe police recovered Miguel's car from a roadside parking area outside the city.
There was no sign of violence, but a locked metal case had been found beneath the spare tire.
Inside it were original company records, printed emails, and a small notebook filled with handwritten figures.
Javier went to identify the documents the following morning while I remained in the hospital.
A detective named Inspector Valdés met him at the station.
“We haven't located your brother yet,” she explained. “But the records suggest that he was investigating unauthorized financial transfers.”
Javier opened the notebook.
Page after page listed payments made to unfamiliar companies.
Some had received tens of thousands of euros.
Others had received enormous sums for services that appeared never to have been provided.
“Who authorized the payments?” he asked.
“Several transactions were approved using your name.”
“I never saw these invoices.”
The inspector studied him.
“Were you responsible for overseeing project accounts?”
“I supervise construction sites. I don't handle the financial department.”
“Your signature appears on these approval forms.”
“Then someone forged it.”
“That's what we're trying to establish.”
Javier's jaw tightened.
He showed her his messages with Carmen and described the incident at the house.
Inspector Valdés listened without interrupting.
When he finished, she opened the metal case again and removed a folded sheet of paper.
“This was inside the notebook.”
Javier read it.
The document described a proposed arrangement to transfer several properties into a company controlled by an intermediary.
The plan would have left the family holding company with significant debt while its valuable assets passed into separate hands.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Carmen Méndez.
Below it was the name of a second person.
Elena Ruiz.
Javier stared at the page.
“That's the accountant.”
“According to these notes, yes.”
“Does this prove they stole the money?”
“Not by itself. It establishes grounds for a much deeper investigation.”
Javier leaned back.
“My mother knew about the trust. She knew our daughter would inherit voting rights. If those assets moved before the inheritance took effect, she could keep control of the company.”
“Possibly.”
“And if the documents made me look responsible, she could blame the collapse on me.”
Inspector Valdés nodded cautiously.
“We'll need independent verification.”
Javier left the station with copies of the relevant records.
At the hospital, he found me awake and waiting.
“What happened?”
He placed the documents on the bed.
“Mom wasn't merely trying to control the inheritance. She was preparing to move company assets.”
I read the records slowly.
The amounts were staggering.
“Did she know about the camera?”
“We think so.”
“Then why didn't she destroy the footage?”
“Because she doesn't believe we understand the whole situation yet.”
I looked up.
“What do you mean?”
Javier sat down.
“If she could convince a court that you were an unfit mother and convince investigators that I was responsible for the missing money, she could position herself as the only stable member of the family.”
“But she'd still have to explain the trust.”
“That's why she was moving the assets before everything became official.”
I stared at him.
For the first time, the pieces seemed to fit together.
Carmen's cruelty had never been merely about my background.
She had treated me like an intruder because she believed my daughter would eventually take something that belonged to her.
And when she discovered that the child's inheritance was about to become real, she had decided that I was the easiest person to discredit.
Javier took a deep breath.
“There's another thing you need to know.”
I waited.
“The detective found a note in Miguel's handwriting. It said that the documents weren't the worst part.”
“What was?”
Javier looked away.
“He wrote that Mom had been using Dad's death to threaten people for years.”
I felt a chill.
“Did he explain what he meant?”
“No. The note just said that the truth was buried in the old house.”
I stared at him.
The old house.
The house where I had been slapped, soaked, and left bleeding.
The house where Carmen had watched me fall.
I never wanted to return there.
But if the truth was hidden beneath those floors, I knew we couldn't ignore it.
“Javier,” I said, “we have to go back.”
He shook his head.
“You're recovering from surgery.”
“I'm not talking about tomorrow. I'm talking about making sure she can't hurt anyone else.”
He squeezed my hand.
“We'll do it together.”
Then the hospital phone rang.
It was the neonatal unit.
May you like
Sofía's condition had suddenly worsened.
And the doctors needed both of us immediately.
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