Chapter 7 - The Man Who Watched the HouseVittorio stopped sleeping.
For three nights, he reviewed every camera recording from the house.
Most files had been deleted.
Some dates had been altered.
Others had mysterious gaps.
But one camera had never been connected to Bianca's security system.
An old camera in the greenhouse.
Elena had installed it herself.
Vittorio opened the archive.
Hours of useless footage.
Rain.
Gardening.
Empty paths.
Then a recording from three days before Elena's death.
A man entered the greenhouse.
He was wearing a gray coat.
Vittorio paused.
The man's face was unfamiliar.
Then the man turned.
Vittorio recognized him.
It was Dr. Cole.
He was meeting Elena.
The audio was faint.
“You need to leave,” Elena said.
“I can't.”
“You've already taken too much money.”
“I needed to protect my family.”
“Bianca's family?”
The doctor looked away.
“She has something on me.”
“What?”
“My daughter.”
Vittorio leaned toward the screen.
“Go on,” he whispered.
Elena handed him an envelope.
“If you don't help me, I go to the police.”
The doctor took it.
“What is this?”
“Proof.”
“Of what?”
“Elena looked directly at him.
“Proof that Ferraro financed the fake trust transfers.”
The video ended.
Vittorio sat back.
Dr. Cole had been involved.
But perhaps under pressure.
He drove to the doctor's house.
Nobody answered.
The front door was unlocked.
Inside, everything had been overturned.
Drawers open.
Papers scattered.
A broken lamp.
Someone had been there.
Vittorio found Dr. Cole's daughter hiding in a closet.
She was terrified.
“Where's your father?”
She shook her head.
“Did someone hurt him?”
“I don't know.”
“Who came here?”
She whispered.
“A woman.”
“What woman?”
“Blonde.”
Bianca.
“What did she want?”
“She kept asking for a box.”
“What box?”
“I don't know.”
Then the girl pulled a small envelope from her pocket.
“My father told me to give this to Mr. Vittorio.”
Inside was a key.
And a note.
The note contained an address.
An abandoned warehouse outside the city.
Vittorio drove there with two security vehicles.
The warehouse was empty.
Except for a single table.
On it was another black ledger.
Different from Elena's.
This one belonged to Ferraro.
Inside were names of people who had received payments.
Judges.
Accountants.
Doctors.
Private investigators.
And one name that made Vittorio stop breathing.
His own brother.
Luca.
Vittorio had not seen his brother in six years.
Luca had moved overseas after a family dispute.
He had always insisted he wanted nothing to do with the business.
Yet there it was.
A payment.
$2 million.
The date was one week before Elena's death.
Vittorio called him.
Luca answered after several rings.
“Hello?”
“Did you take money from Ferraro?”
Silence.
“Answer me.”
Luca's breathing changed.
“How did you find that?”
Vittorio closed his eyes.
“You knew.”
“I knew enough.”
“You knew what Bianca was doing.”
“I tried to stop it.”
“Then why did you take the money?”
“Because they threatened me.”
“Who?”
“Bianca.”
Vittorio's voice hardened.
“What does she have on you?”
Another silence.
Then Luca said:
“It's not about me.”
“What then?”
“It's about Elena.”
Vittorio gripped the phone.
“Tell me.”
“I can't.”
“You have ten seconds.”
Luca whispered:
“Elena wasn't killed because of the trust.”
“Then why?”
“Because she discovered who was really paying Bianca.”
“Who?”
Luca exhaled shakily.
“Vittorio…”
“What?”
“The man behind all of this is not Ferraro.”
“Who is it?”
Luca disconnected.
Vittorio stared at the phone.
Then he heard footsteps behind him.
He turned.
Marcus stood in the warehouse doorway.
No smile this time.
May you like
Only a gun in his hand.
“Your brother should have kept his mouth shut.”
Related Stories
