Chapter 11 - THE HOUSEKEEPER WHO DISAPPEARED WITH THE EVIDENCE
Maria had been the quietest employee in the Moretti mansion.
She rarely spoke unless someone asked her a question.
She worked long hours.
Sent most of her wages home.
And never complained.
Now she was missing.
And investigators believed she had taken something from the old music room.
Alessia stared at the security photograph.
Maria stood near the service entrance.
A red bundle rested in her arms.
"What is she carrying?"
Marco enlarged the image.
Dante leaned forward.
"It looks like a folder."
Alessia felt cold.
"The red folder?"
Rebecca shook her head.
"We have the original from Locker 317."
"Then what?"
Alessia remembered the music room.
The piano.
The wooden box.
The bracelet.
Then she remembered something else.
A small red cloth bag beneath the piano bench.
She hadn't mentioned it because she assumed it contained old sheet music.
"Wait."
Dante turned.
"What?"
"There was another bag in the music room."
His expression changed.
"Show me."
They returned to the mansion after investigators secured the property.
The music room was untouched.
Alessia opened the piano bench.
The red cloth bag was gone.
But beneath it lay a folded piece of paper.
She picked it up.
It was a handwritten note.
If Alessia finds this, please forgive me.
Alessia's stomach tightened.
Maria.
She continued reading.
Mrs. Conti told me I had to help Bellini or my younger sister would lose her medical care.
Tears filled Alessia's eyes.
Maria had been trapped.
Just like Rosa.
Just like Bianca.
The note continued.
I didn't know what was inside the bag. But I overheard Mr. Bellini say it contained the last evidence against Franco.
Dante read the final line.
I'm going to give it to someone who can help. Please don't let them hurt my sister.
Alessia looked up.
"She isn't betraying us."
Dante nodded slowly.
"She's trying to protect someone."
They contacted Detective Mitchell, who was already investigating the financial crimes.
Using available surveillance and phone records, investigators traced Maria to a small motel outside Chicago.
She was found unharmed.
Her younger sister was with her.
Maria agreed to cooperate.
The red bag contained several original documents and an audio recorder.
When the recording was played, Salvatore Moretti's voice filled the room.
Dante stopped breathing.
His father had been dead for fifteen years.
But his voice was unmistakable.
"If anything happens to me, Franco is responsible."
A second voice answered.
Lorenzo Bellini.
"You're making a mistake, Salvatore."
Then a third voice spoke.
Franco Moretti.
"You had your chance to step aside."
A loud crash followed.
The recording ended.
Dante covered his face.
Alessia gently touched his shoulder.
For the first time, the truth about Salvatore's death was no longer only a suspicion.
It was supported by his own recorded words.
But the final document inside the red bag revealed something even more shocking.
A trust agreement.
Created by Salvatore and Bianca.
May you like
Its beneficiary was not Dante.
It was Alessia Romano.
