Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN IN THE RED DRESS
“Vanessa witnessed the signature.”
Luca read the line again.
His voice was so quiet I could barely hear it.
Across the desk, Dr. Weber studied the document.
“Mr. Moretti, we need to determine whether she witnessed the signing or simply certified that the document had been received.”
Luca nodded.
Then he turned toward Daniel.
“Ask Vanessa to come here.”
Daniel left.
I watched Luca place the hospital record beside Elena's gold watch.
He touched the broken glass with one finger.
“I was angry with Elena before she went into the hospital.”
I looked up.
“Why?”
“She accused someone in my family of helping the Bellinis. I told her she was being unfair.”
His voice tightened.
“She said I cared more about keeping peace with my father than protecting people who couldn't protect themselves.”
“What did you say?”
“I told her she didn't understand how complicated the foundation's finances were.”
He laughed bitterly.
“Imagine telling Elena she didn't understand something she'd spent months investigating.”
I stayed quiet.
Sometimes regret needed room.
Then he continued.
“She asked me to look at one particular account. I said I'd do it after my business trip.”
He looked at the watch.
“I never got the chance.”
Vanessa entered a moment later.
Her red gown was wrinkled.
Her makeup had been washed away.
For the first time, she looked less like the elegant woman who'd ruled the mansion and more like someone carrying a weight she could no longer hide.
Luca pointed to the document.
“Why is your name on Elena's canceled hospital transfer?”
Vanessa stopped walking.
“Where did you get that?”
“Answer me.”
She approached the desk.
After reading the first page, she closed her eyes.
“I wondered when you'd find this.”
I felt my stomach tighten.
“You knew it existed?” Luca asked.
“Yes.”
“Did you witness me signing it?”
“No.”
“Then why does it say you did?”
She opened her eyes.
“Because I was the person who delivered it.”
Luca stared.
“Delivered it to whom?”
“The hospital administrator.”
“Who gave it to you?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“My father.”
I stepped forward.
“And you didn't question why Luca's signature was on a document he knew nothing about?”
“I was twenty-nine,” she said. “I worked for the foundation. My father told me the papers had already been approved.”
Luca looked at her.
“Seven years ago you were old enough to understand what a signature meant.”
“I know.”
“Then why did you sign?”
She looked down.
“Because I trusted him.”
Her voice cracked.
“And because I wanted his approval.”
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Luca asked the question that mattered most.
“Did Elena see that document?”
Vanessa nodded.
“Yes.”
He gripped the edge of the desk.
“What did she say?”
“She asked why you'd instructed the hospital not to discuss the investigation with her.”
Luca closed his eyes.
“God.”
“I told her I didn't know.”
“Did you tell her the paperwork came from your father?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“Not until later.”
“How much later?”
Her answer was almost inaudible.
“After she became unconscious.”
I watched Luca absorb those words.
His face didn't twist with rage.
It crumpled.
For years, he'd believed Elena died knowing he loved her.
Now he was facing the possibility that she'd spent her final conscious days believing he had abandoned her.
Vanessa stepped closer.
“Luca, I didn't know the signature was false until your father confronted mine.”
He looked up.
“My father found out?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Three days after Elena was admitted.”
“Then why didn't he tell me?”
Vanessa's hands trembled.
“Because my father threatened to expose something Antonio had done years earlier.”
Dr. Weber frowned.
“What kind of thing?”
Vanessa looked toward Daniel.
Then at Luca.
“An illegal payment made through one of the foundation's accounts.”
Luca remained still.
“My father handled many business payments.”
“This wasn't a business payment.”
She looked directly at me.
“It was money sent to families after their children's medical assistance was denied.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“Antonio discovered that Richard's foundation had been reporting assistance it never delivered. He secretly began reimbursing some families from his own accounts.”
Luca frowned.
“That doesn't sound like something he'd need to hide.”
Vanessa swallowed.
“He didn't pay them directly. He routed the money through businesses he controlled because he was afraid his own records would reveal how long he'd ignored the complaints.”
Daniel spoke quietly.
“Antonio wanted to correct the harm without admitting he'd enabled it.”
Vanessa nodded.
“My father threatened to portray those payments as proof Antonio was laundering money through the charity.”
Luca turned toward the window.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then he said, “So my father was willing to keep quiet about forged hospital papers to protect his reputation.”
Vanessa's eyes filled.
“He told my father the arrangement was over.”
“But he didn't tell me.”
“No.”
Luca looked back.
“And Elena?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“She tried to tell you herself.”
He froze.
“What do you mean?”
“She wrote you a letter.”
I glanced toward the gold watch.
“Where is it?”
Vanessa looked toward the hallway.
“My father took it.”
Luca's voice hardened.
“Where did he put it?”
“I don't know.”
I had reached the limit of what I could listen to without speaking.
“Vanessa, you've known about these things for years. You helped send false documents to a hospital. You entered my mother's home under a different name. You tried to send Sophia to Germany.”
She looked at me.
“What do you want me to say?”
“The truth. Without waiting for someone to show you another piece of evidence.”
Her face reddened.
“You think I don't hate myself for what happened?”
“I don't know what you feel,” I answered. “I only know what you did.”
Vanessa's eyes filled.
For once, she had no reply.
Then she looked toward Luca.
“My father promised me the Munich program would protect Sophia.”
“From what?” he asked.
“From the investigation.”
Luca stared at her.
Vanessa continued.
“He said if she remained here, investigators would question her about Elena's notebooks. About the piano. About things she'd overheard.”
“So you frightened her into agreeing to leave.”
“I believed she'd be safer away from this house.”
Luca shook his head.
“She needed her father.”
“I know that now.”
“You knew it when she cried for three nights.”
Vanessa looked away.
He continued.
“You saw how afraid she was, and you kept going.”
She covered her mouth.
There was nothing left to say.
A few minutes later, Daniel received an update.
The two contractors who had opened Elena's piano had been located.
They were willing to cooperate with the investigation.
They had already handed over their work orders and photographs.
Luca opened the first photograph on Daniel's tablet.
It showed the piano's lower frame.
A black equipment case rested beside it.
The second photograph showed the case open.
Inside were old financial ledgers, several recording tapes, and a small wooden clock.
Luca leaned forward.
“My father's clock.”
Daniel nodded.
“The contractors said Richard instructed them to deliver the contents to his private office.”
“And did they?”
“No. According to the delivery receipt, Vanessa intercepted the case.”
Everyone looked at her.
Vanessa shook her head.
“I never received the whole case.”
Daniel scrolled to the next image.
“Then someone signed your name.”
Vanessa stared at the screen.
Her expression changed.
“That's not my signature.”
Luca looked at Daniel.
“Who accepted the delivery?”
Daniel enlarged the photograph.
The signature was difficult to read.
But beneath it was a printed name.
ARTHUR KEANE.
Luca went completely still.
“The adviser my father fired.”
Daniel nodded.
Then he opened one more photograph.
It showed the inside of the wooden clock.
Taped beneath its base was a cassette.
On its paper label, in Elena's handwriting, were the words:
FOR LUCA — IF ANTONIO CANNOT TELL HIM.
Luca stared at it.
Then Daniel added something that made the entire room fall silent.
“Sir, Arthur Keane told me he destroyed that recording seven years ago.”
May you like
He paused.
“But the contractors photographed it three weeks ago.”
