Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN THEY CALLED A LIAR
"My mother didn't steal your watch."
Emma's voice trembled, but she didn't step backward.
Daniel sat motionless, staring at the silver pocket watch.
"I didn't say she did."
"You looked at me like she was a criminal."
Luke moved closer.
"Emma, you need to understand. That watch disappeared during an investigation that nearly tore this family apart."
Emma swallowed.
"My mother said somebody would come looking for it someday."
Daniel looked up sharply.
"What exactly did she say?"
Emma hesitated.
"She said I should keep it until Daniel Moretti was ready to hear the truth."
The room fell silent.
Luke and Daniel exchanged a glance.
"She knew my name?" Daniel asked.
Emma nodded.
"She used to say it all the time."
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
"Because my mother has dementia, Mr. Moretti."
Her voice cracked.
"Sometimes she thinks I'm twelve years old. Sometimes she forgets my birthday. And sometimes she insists she saw something terrible happen at a hotel."
Daniel's fingers tightened around the watch.
"What hotel?"
"The Halstead."
Luke suddenly looked toward the window.
Daniel noticed.
"Luke."
"Daniel, let's not jump to conclusions."
"The Halstead Hotel?"
Emma nodded.
"She worked there before she got sick. She did wardrobe repairs for banquets and charity events."
Daniel closed his eyes.
Two years earlier, he had attended a private charity auction at the Halstead Hotel.
At 11:42 p.m., a sniper's bullet had struck him near the service entrance.
He had never walked again.
Official reports stated that Daniel had been leaving through the west driveway.
The shooter had supposedly been connected to a rival organization.
The investigation had ended without enough evidence to charge anyone.
But the watch complicated everything.
"Where did your mother say she found it?" Daniel asked.
Emma looked uncomfortable.
"Under an archway."
"Which archway?"
"The east side of the hotel."
Luke whispered something under his breath.
Daniel turned toward him.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Don't lie to me."
Luke exhaled.
"The official report says you were shot outside the west driveway."
Emma frowned.
"But Mom always talked about the east courtyard."
Daniel stared at the watch again.
He remembered leaving the ballroom.
He remembered a cold breeze against his face.
Then a terrible impact.
After that, only darkness.
He had trusted the people around him to explain the missing minutes.
Now he wondered whether they had told him the truth.
"Luke, get the original security report."
"Daniel—"
"Now."
Twenty minutes later, the three of them sat in Daniel's private study.
Emma remained near the door.
She felt horribly out of place among the leather chairs, expensive paintings, and polished walnut furniture.
Luke opened a thick folder on the desk.
He found the incident summary.
"The hotel identified three potential witnesses," he explained. "Two security guards and one temporary employee."
Daniel leaned forward.
"Names."
Luke hesitated.
Then he read.
"Martin Ellis. Paul Reynolds. Rose Carter."
Emma gasped.
"That's my mother."
Daniel looked directly at Luke.
"You never told me about her."
"She wasn't considered reliable."
"By whom?"
"The investigators."
Emma stepped closer.
"Why?"
Luke glanced at the report.
"Apparently, she became confused during questioning. Her statements were inconsistent."
Emma felt anger rise beneath her fear.
"Was she diagnosed with dementia then?"
Luke checked the date.
"No."
"Then why did they call her confused?"
Luke didn't answer.
Emma took another step.
"My mother was the most organized person I ever knew. She wrote shopping lists in alphabetical order. She remembered every customer's measurements without checking her notebook."
Tears gathered in her eyes.
"She started losing her memory later."
Daniel looked at her.
For the first time, he saw something stronger than exhaustion in her face.
He saw a daughter fighting for a mother nobody believed.
"Luke," he said quietly, "who decided her statement shouldn't count?"
Luke flipped through the pages.
He stopped at a handwritten notation.
His expression changed.
"That doesn't make sense."
"What?"
"Rose Carter wasn't just dismissed as unreliable."
Daniel waited.
Luke read the note twice before speaking.
"Someone requested that her testimony be removed from the final internal report."
"Who?"
Luke looked increasingly uncomfortable.
"It's an authorization from the Moretti Family Relief Fund."
Daniel frowned.
That charity had been established by his father years earlier to help injured employees and struggling families.
"Why would a relief fund interfere with a shooting investigation?"
Luke said nothing.
Daniel held out his hand.
"Give me the page."
Luke reluctantly passed it over.
At the bottom was a familiar signature.
Daniel stared at the flowing handwriting.
He had seen it on birthday cards, holiday invitations, and family business agreements for most of his life.
His older sister.
Vivian Moretti.
Daniel looked up.
"Why was Vivian involved?"
Luke finally spoke.
"She told us Rose Carter had approached the family asking for money."
Emma shook her head.
"My mother would never—"
"There's more," Luke interrupted.
He turned another page.
This time, his face drained of color.
Daniel reached for the document.
"What now?"
Luke swallowed.
"The investigators didn't simply reject Rose's statement."
He looked at Emma.
"They listed her as a possible participant."
Emma's knees weakened.
"Participant in what?"
Luke slowly raised his eyes to Daniel.
"In arranging the shooting."
Daniel stared at the young woman standing in his study.
May you like
And Emma understood exactly why her mother had spent two years whispering the same desperate words.
I didn't do it.
