Chapter 3 - THE DOCTOR WHO SIGNED TWO DEATH CERTIFICATES

By midnight, two police officers were standing outside my apartment.

My front lock had been damaged.

My bedroom drawers were open.

My mother's photograph lay facedown on the carpet.

And someone had sliced through the lining of her old winter coat.

I stood in the doorway, unable to breathe.

Matteo remained several feet behind me.

He had offered to accompany me, but he'd respected my decision to contact the police first.

For once, the most feared man in New York was letting someone else take charge.

An officer examined the damaged door.

"Miss Carter, do you know who may have entered?"

I nodded.

"His name is Victor Salerno."

The officer wrote it down.

"How do you know?"

I glanced toward Matteo.

Then answered truthfully.

"Mr. Moretti identified him from security photographs."

The officer looked toward Matteo.

His expression changed.

Everyone in New York knew that name.

But he continued taking my statement.

I appreciated that.

The intrusion was documented.

Evidence was collected.

And arrangements were made for me to stay somewhere safe.

Matteo offered a guarded guest apartment.

I refused.

Instead, I called Jenna.

She answered on the third ring.

"Tessa?"

My voice broke.

"Can I stay with you?"

She didn't ask questions.

"Of course."

That nearly made me cry.

An hour later, I sat in Jenna's tiny Queens apartment drinking tea while Matteo's attorney arranged to send me copies of the documents.

Jenna listened carefully.

Then said:

"You're telling me your mother knew the Morettis?"

I nodded.

"And some doctor might have hurt her?"

"I don't know."

"Then we find out."

I looked at her.

She shrugged.

"You're my friend."

For the first time that night, I smiled.

The following morning, Professor Bellini called.

His voice was older than I remembered.

"Tessa."

I closed my eyes.

"Professor."

"Mi dispiace."

I'm sorry.

Tears filled my eyes.

"Why didn't you contact me?"

A long silence followed.

Then he said:

"Because your mother begged me to wait."

"Wait for what?"

"Until Matteo learned the truth."

My stomach tightened.

"What truth?"

"That his grandfather had been betrayed."

I gripped the phone.

"And my mother?"

Bellini hesitated.

"Your mother discovered evidence concerning Dr. Vescari."

"Did he harm her?"

"I don't know, Tessa. But she believed her treatment records had been altered."

Tears streamed down my cheeks.

For three years, I'd blamed cancer.

Fate.

Bad luck.

The cruelty of illness.

Now I wondered whether someone had exploited her condition to hide a crime.

Bellini continued.

"I have something for you."

"What?"

"A notebook."

My heart quickened.

"Where?"

"In Florence."

"Why didn't you send it?"

"Because it contains information that could endanger people if handled carelessly."

I looked down.

My mother had always kept notebooks.

Translations.

Poems.

Old sayings from Sicily.

She taught me that language could reveal what people tried to conceal.

And now one of those notebooks might explain her death.

"Professor, what's inside?"

Bellini took a shaky breath.

"Names. Dates. Translations of conversations your mother overheard."

"Between whom?"

"The Moretti family and several medical executives."

I swallowed.

"Who else knows?"

Bellini hesitated.

Then whispered:

"Someone called me yesterday."

My heart stopped.

"Who?"

"Dr. Vescari."

I sat upright.

"What did he want?"

"He asked whether I had contacted you."

A cold silence filled the room.

Then Bellini continued.

"And he said something strange."

"What?"

"He said your mother was never supposed to survive long enough to send the notebook."

My hands began trembling.

Then my phone displayed another incoming call.

Matteo.

I answered.

His voice sounded different.

"Tessa, don't hang up."

"What happened?"

He took a breath.

"We found the original medical records."

My heart pounded.

"And?"

A pause.

Then Matteo whispered:

"Your mother wasn't Dr. Vescari's only patient."

I closed my eyes.

"What do you mean?"

He answered:

"The same doctor treated six people who were preparing to testify against my uncle."

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