Chapter 7 - The Woman They Tried to Silence Again
"The warning was delivered to our foundation office?"
Dante asked the question three times.
The records clerk gave the same answer each time.
"Yes, Mr. Castellani. We have the delivery receipt."
Back at the estate, Dante placed the notice in front of Bosow.
The former security chief had been waiting outside the study.
"Did you know about this?"
Bosow examined the document.
His expression changed.
"I remember the envelope."
"Who received it?"
"One of the administrative staff. I collected the foundation correspondence that afternoon."
"And then?"
"I took it to Mr. Mercer."
Dante stared at him.
"Not to me?"
"Foundation correspondence always went to the executive director."
"This was a warning that people could die."
Bosow lowered his eyes.
"I didn't read the contents."
For a moment, Dante wanted to shout.
Instead, he asked another question.
"Did you ever wonder why Peter Novak was convicted while you knew Argo had been at Harbor House?"
Bosow's silence lasted too long.
"I was told the investigation had everything it needed," he finally said.
"Who told you?"
"Mercer."
Dante looked toward the window.
He was beginning to understand how a disaster had become a convenient story.
One man had controlled the information reaching him.
And everyone else had trusted that man to decide what mattered.
Meanwhile, Elise was discovering the price of asking questions.
At noon, the estate's household manager called her into the linen room.
She handed Elise a printed notice.
"Your employment is being terminated."
Elise stared at the page.
"Why?"
"Failure to disclose a conflict of interest during hiring."
"Because I'm married to Peter?"
"The foundation believes your employment was obtained under misleading circumstances."
Elise understood immediately.
Silas still had influence over the administrative staff.
He couldn't stop Dante from reviewing the records.
So he was trying to remove the person who had started the investigation.
"Does Mr. Castellani know?"
The manager looked uncomfortable.
"The instruction came through the foundation office."
Elise folded the notice.
"I'll speak to him."
"Mrs. Novak, you're required to vacate your room within seventy-two hours."
That evening, Ivy found her mother packing a suitcase.
"Are we going away?"
Elise stopped folding clothes.
"Maybe, sweetheart."
"Can Argo come?"
Elise forced a smile.
"Argo lives here."
Ivy looked down.
"Then he'll be lonely again."
Those words broke something inside Elise.
She sat on the bed and pulled her daughter close.
"I don't know what happens next, baby."
Ivy touched her cheek.
"Can we ask Daddy?"
Elise closed her eyes.
Before she could answer, Dante appeared in the open doorway.
He had come without guards.
"I heard about the termination notice."
Elise stood.
"I won't beg for my job."
"I'm not asking you to."
He held out the paper.
"I've instructed the household manager to withdraw it. Your employment is with this household, not under Silas Mercer's authority."
Elise hesitated.
"That doesn't mean you owe me anything," Dante added. "And you won't lose your home because you helped expose wrongdoing."
Ivy peeked around her mother's skirt.
"Is Argo staying?"
Dante looked down at her.
"Yes."
"Good. He needs his blanket."
Despite herself, Elise smiled.
But the following morning brought a different crisis.
Dr. Sloane had completed the advanced imaging and scheduled Argo's procedure.
The metal was close enough to sensitive tissue that leaving it in place could permanently damage the aging dog's mobility.
Dante authorized the surgery.
Elise accompanied him to the veterinary clinic.
Ivy stayed with the household manager and made Argo a card covered in crooked red hearts.
The procedure lasted nearly two hours.
When Dr. Sloane emerged, she held a small sealed specimen container.
Inside lay a curved brass fragment, barely larger than a fingernail.
One side had a distinctive hooked edge.
The other carried a partial manufacturer's marking.
H4-17.
Dr. Sloane explained that the fragment's shape was consistent with a broken metal latch component.
An independent engineer would need to confirm its origin.
"But it was definitely embedded in his hip," she said. "And the tissue reaction is consistent with a long-standing injury."
Dante looked through the glass at Argo recovering under a warm blanket.
For fourteen months, the dog had carried evidence of a night that had destroyed several lives.
And nobody had listened to him.
When they returned home, Bosow was waiting in the study.
He wore a plain gray sweater instead of his security uniform.
"I found something," he said.
On Dante's desk, he placed an old maintenance folder.
It contained the work requests issued during Harbor House's final construction period.
One page concerned the temporary securing of door H4.
The instructions were straightforward.
Keep the eastern stairwell inaccessible until construction was completed.
Do not occupy the adjacent wing until clearance was issued.
Dante examined the authorization line.
His expression tightened.
Elise leaned closer.
The request had not originated with Silas Mercer.
It had been filed by someone else.
Someone who had insisted Peter was innocent.
At the bottom of the page was a signature.
Marta Bell.
Elise stepped back.
"She told us Silas was responsible."
May you like
Bosow looked at her sadly.
"Mrs. Novak, the person who first requested that door be secured was Marta."
