Chapter 6 - THE SIGNATURE THAT STOLE THREE YEARS
Luca didn't sleep that night.
I knew because the light beneath the music-room door remained on long after the rest of the mansion had gone quiet.
At seven the next morning, I found him sitting at Caroline's piano.
The forged authorization lay beside him.
So did the photograph of Patrick Reynolds.
“Mr. Moretti?”
He looked up.
“You should be resting your hand.”
I glanced at my bandaged finger.
“It's much better.”
He nodded, then returned his attention to the paper.
“Emily, what kind of man doesn't recognize that someone has been signing his name for three years?”
I hesitated.
“A man who trusted his family?”
He gave a bitter smile.
“That used to sound like a good thing.”
“It still can be.”
He looked at me.
“But not without paying attention.”
Luca stared at the piano keys.
“Caroline used to tell me I was too quick to solve problems with money or orders. She said sometimes people needed me to sit still and listen.”
He touched one key.
A soft note filled the room.
“I thought I was protecting Nathan by keeping everything familiar after she died.”
I sat in a chair nearby.
“Children don't always need things to stay the same.”
“What do they need?”
“To know someone will listen when something is wrong.”
He lowered his head.
For a long moment, neither of us spoke.
At ten, Patrick Reynolds arrived with his attorney.
Luca met them in his office.
I wasn't part of the conversation, but I was asked to bring coffee and later witnessed the discussion when Luca requested that I remain because of what I'd heard at the engagement dinner.
Patrick looked exhausted.
He placed a binder on the desk.
“Everything I have is here.”
Luca didn't touch it.
“Why didn't you tell me you knew Caroline?”
Patrick swallowed.
“Because she asked me not to.”
“Why?”
“She was afraid Dominic would find out we'd copied certain recordings.”
Luca leaned forward.
“Then why did you accept Vanessa's editing job?”
Patrick looked ashamed.
“I needed the money. My studio was failing. Vanessa offered twenty thousand dollars as a deposit.”
“And another fifty thousand to erase the final recording.”
“Yes.”
“You knew what was on it.”
“Not all of it.”
Patrick opened the binder.
“Caroline came to me because I had helped with recordings for her music students. She asked me to preserve several files.”
“Then explain the destruction receipt.”
Patrick slid a document across the desk.
“My studio received an order authorizing the disposal of one storage drive. It carried your signature.”
“I never signed it.”
“I understand that now.”
Patrick's voice shook.
“I believed Dominic when he said you couldn't bear to hear Caroline's final recordings.”
Luca closed his eyes.
That part was painfully believable.
After Caroline's death, he'd avoided the music room for months.
Dominic had handled nearly everything.
Patrick continued.
“I destroyed an encrypted backup drive because I believed it was your instruction. But Caroline had separately arranged for another copy.”
Luca looked up.
“Where?”
Patrick hesitated.
“She told me to give it to Margaret if anything happened.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
Luca looked toward Daniel.
“Then Margaret may have the originals.”
Patrick nodded.
“But there's a problem.”
He opened a photograph of a metal storage case.
“The device contains recordings made with a small room microphone Caroline used during piano lessons.”
“Why is that a problem?”
“Because it captured conversations that weren't meant to be recorded. Some of them involve Dominic, Anthony, and other people.”
Luca leaned back.
“Then the investigators can determine what's relevant and what can lawfully be used.”
Patrick seemed relieved.
“I hoped you'd say that.”
By afternoon, Margaret's attorney had obtained access to her safe-deposit box.
The original blue ledger was there.
So were bank statements, photocopies of agreements, and several handwritten notes from Caroline.
But the second audio backup was missing.
Margaret insisted she'd placed it inside.
Her attorney documented the discrepancy immediately.
That evening, Luca received a report from the independent accountant.
The missing money wasn't limited to Caroline's music fund.
North Harbor had paid millions to companies linked to Dominic and Anthony.
Some funds appeared to have been used to support legitimate businesses during a financial crisis.
Others had disappeared into personal accounts.
Luca read the findings twice.
Then he looked at Daniel.
“How long?”
“Almost six years.”
“Before Caroline became ill?”
“Yes.”
Luca pressed his palms against the desk.
His father had created the trust to provide stability for employees' families and educational opportunities for children.
Dominic had transformed it into a source of emergency financing.
Then, apparently, personal enrichment.
And Caroline had discovered it.
That evening, Vanessa requested permission to see Nathan.
Luca refused a private visit.
But he agreed to ask Nathan whether he wanted a brief conversation with both his father and me present.
Nathan thought about it.
Then nodded.
“Only if Miss Emily stays.”
Vanessa entered the family sitting room wearing a plain gray sweater.
No jewelry.
No silk gown.
She seemed smaller somehow.
Nathan sat beside me.
Vanessa stopped several feet away.
“Hi, Nathan.”
“Hi.”
She looked at his wrapped hand.
“Does it still hurt?”
“A little.”
Her eyes filled.
“I am very sorry I locked you in that room.”
Nathan watched her carefully.
“You scared me.”
“I know.”
“You said Mommy's voice was gone.”
Vanessa began crying.
“I shouldn't have said that.”
Nathan looked toward Luca.
“Can I ask her something?”
“Of course.”
He faced Vanessa again.
“Did you hate my mommy?”
She shook her head.
“No, sweetheart.”
“Then why did you throw her pictures away?”
Vanessa couldn't answer immediately.
Finally, she whispered, “Because I thought if everything reminded your father of her, he would never love me.”
Nathan frowned.
“But he can love more than one person.”
The room went silent.
Vanessa covered her mouth.
Luca looked down.
I felt tears sting my eyes.
Nathan continued.
“I love Mommy. I love Daddy. I love Miss Emily.”
He paused.
“And I love Grandma Rose.”
He looked confused.
“Why couldn't Daddy remember Mommy and still like you?”
Vanessa lowered her head.
“Because I was selfish.”
Nathan thought about that.
Then he said, “I don't want you to lock me up again.”
“You won't ever have to worry about that.”
Luca spoke firmly.
“She won't be responsible for your care again, buddy.”
Nathan nodded.
The conversation ended there.
It was enough.
Later, while helping Nathan put away his puzzles, I discovered a small envelope beneath his dinosaur book.
It was addressed in Caroline's handwriting.
For Nathan, when he misses me most.
Inside was a photograph of Caroline holding him as a baby.
On the back she'd written:
Love isn't something you run out of, sweetheart. The more you give, the more room your heart makes.
I sat on the edge of the bed, holding the photograph.
Nathan climbed beside me.
“Mommy wrote that?”
“Yes.”
He smiled sadly.
“She was smart.”
“She was.”
He touched the picture.
“Can you read it again?”
I did.
Then he fell asleep with the photograph beneath his pillow.
Downstairs, Luca was examining Margaret's ledger when Daniel approached.
“We've identified the bank employee who accessed the safe-deposit box before Margaret's attorney.”
“Who authorized it?”
Daniel placed a printed access record on the desk.
The name belonged to a former North Harbor financial officer.
A man who had recently died.
Luca frowned.
“That doesn't make sense.”
Daniel pointed to the access date.
“It was entered this morning.”
Someone had used a deceased man's credentials to access Margaret's safe-deposit box.
And the security footage showed a woman carrying the missing storage device.
Luca stared at the still photograph.
The woman wore a dark coat and sunglasses.
But the bracelet on her wrist was unmistakable.
A silver bracelet with three small charms.
One shaped like a piano.
One like a heart.
And one like a star.
Caroline's bracelet.
Luca stood.
“Where did she get that?”
Daniel enlarged the photograph.
Then his face changed.
“Boss, look at her left hand.”
A small scar crossed the woman's thumb.
I had seen that scar every morning for ten months.
On the hand that arranged Nathan's breakfast.
The hand that folded his clothes.
The hand that had handed Vanessa champagne.
May you like
But I had never thought about it until Luca slowly turned the photograph toward me.
“Emily,” he whispered, “why is the woman who stole Caroline's backup wearing your mother's bracelet?”
