Chapter 4 - The Woman in the White CoatThe next morning, Vittorio sat across from Dr. Adrian Cole.
The doctor had treated Lucy several times during the previous year.
Every medical report described anxiety.
Mood instability.
Sleep disturbances.
Behavioral problems.
Vittorio spread the documents across the table.
“Did you examine my daughter?”
“Yes.”
“Did you prescribe her medication?”
The doctor hesitated.
“Yes.”
“For what?”
“Sleep.”
Vittorio stared at him.
“She's eight.”
“I know.”
“You prescribed medication to an eight-year-old without telling me.”
The doctor looked down.
“I was told you were informed.”
“By whom?”
Silence.
Vittorio leaned closer.
“By Bianca?”
The doctor nodded.
It was barely visible.
But it was enough.
“Did you ever diagnose Lucy with a psychological disorder?”
“No.”
“Yet your reports say she was unstable.”
“I never wrote that.”
Vittorio pushed one report toward him.
“Your signature is here.”
The doctor stared at it.
Then his face changed.
“That's not my signature.”
Vittorio felt something cold settle inside him.
“Who wrote these?”
“I don't know.”
“Try again.”
The doctor swallowed.
“There was an office administrator.”
“Name?”
“Nora Vale.”
Vittorio wrote it down.
“Where is she?”
“Dead.”
The room went silent.
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
“How?”
“Car accident.”
Vittorio sat back.
Another accident.
He remembered Elena.
The same pattern.
Every person who could explain something was suddenly gone.
The doctor stood.
“I need to tell you something.”
“What?”
“Bianca came to me after Elena died.”
“What did she want?”
“She wanted Lucy's medical records changed.”
“To say what?”
“That Lucy was afraid of her father.”
Vittorio clenched his fists.
“Why?”
The doctor looked terrified.
“Because she said you had become dangerous.”
Vittorio laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“She was preparing a case.”
“Yes.”
“Against me.”
“Yes.”
“Who else knew?”
The doctor looked toward the door.
“Marcus.”
“Marcus was there?”
“Sometimes.”
“How often?”
“Enough.”
Vittorio leaned forward.
“And there was another man.”
The doctor hesitated.
“Who?”
“I never saw his face clearly.”
“What did he do?”
“He brought money.”
“How much?”
“Cash.”
“How much?”
“Too much for a medical consultation.”
Vittorio stood.
The doctor finally whispered.
“I heard him called Mr. Ferraro.”
Vittorio's blood froze.
Ferraro.
The name from Elena's ledger.
His family attorney.
The man who had handled the trust.
The man who had assured Vittorio that everything was under control.
The man who had told him he was working too much.
Vittorio left the office immediately.
He called Emma.
“Find Lucy's school records.”
“Why?”
“I want to know who has been authorized to pick her up.”
Emma paused.
“There is only you.”
“Check again.”
Twenty minutes later, Emma called back.
“There are two additional names.”
Vittorio stopped walking.
“Who?”
“Bianca.”
“And the second?”
“Ferraro.”
Vittorio closed his eyes.
The pieces were connecting.
Too perfectly.
He drove straight to his attorney's office.
Ferraro stood when he entered.
“Vittorio.”
“Sit down.”
Ferraro frowned.
“What is this about?”
“The trust.”
“Of course.”
“Did Elena ever ask you about the trust?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Several times.”
“What did she suspect?”
Ferraro hesitated.
“Nothing unusual.”
Vittorio placed Elena's ledger on the desk.
Ferraro stopped breathing.
His eyes went directly to the black cover.
“You found it.”
The words slipped out before he could stop them.
Vittorio's voice became very quiet.
“How did you know what it was?”
Ferraro stepped backward.
“I didn't.”
“You just did.”
“No.”
“You just told me.”
Ferraro suddenly reached for his phone.
Vittorio slammed his hand onto the desk.
“Don't.”
Ferraro looked toward the door.
Security blocked it.
Vittorio opened the ledger.
“Why did you take money from Lucy's trust?”
Ferraro went pale.
“I never…”
“Why did you forge my signature?”
Nothing.
“Why did you work with Bianca?”
Still nothing.
Vittorio leaned closer.
“And why was my wife investigating you two before she died?”
Ferraro finally looked at him.
His voice shook.
“Because Elena wasn't supposed to survive long enough to expose us.”
The room fell silent.
Vittorio stared.
“What did you say?”
Ferraro's eyes widened.
He realized his mistake.
Then the office lights went out.
Someone screamed from the hallway.
And when the emergency lights came on, Ferraro was gone.
The window behind his desk was open.
On the floor was a single sheet of paper.
A child's handwriting covered it.
Vittorio recognized it immediately.
Lucy's.
May you like
The paper contained four words.
THEY FOUND MOMMY'S SAFE.
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