Chapter 6 - The Fire Beneath the Roses

The greenhouse ruins were burning when we returned.

Not the old stone walls.

The ground beneath them.

Flames pushed through the open hatch.

Alessio ran toward it.

Thomas grabbed his coat.

“No.”

“The evidence is down there.”

“The evidence is in the storage unit.”

“Not all of it.”

Clara pointed toward the garden.

“The ledgers.”

Smoke rolled across the lawn.

Staff were already carrying extinguishers.

The estate alarm screamed.

I saw a woman in black walking quickly toward the east gate.

Gray hair.

Tall posture.

Clara saw her too.

“Elena.”

Alessio turned.

Elena Marconi stopped when she heard her name.

For the first time, I saw the two sisters together.

Clara looked softer.

Elena looked carved from stone.

She was fifty-eight.

Perfect coat.

Perfect hair.

No panic.

Even with smoke behind her.

She looked at Clara as if twenty years had been an inconvenience.

“You should have stayed in France.”

Clara answered:

“You should have let me come home.”

Elena’s eyes moved to Alessio.

“So she finally told you her version.”

Alessio stepped closer.

“My father is dead because of you.”

Elena did not flinch.

“That is a serious accusation.”

“So is poisoning my grandfather.”

A tiny pause.

That was all.

But Clara saw it.

“So you still remember,” she said.

Elena looked at her.

“You were always dramatic.”

Clara laughed once.

“You buried me without killing me.”

“I saved the family from scandal.”

“You erased me.”

“I gave your son stability.”

Alessio’s voice hardened.

“You gave me a grave.”

Elena looked toward the burning hatch.

“You found what Giovanni hid.”

Thomas answered:

“Enough of it.”

Elena looked at him.

“You should have retired when my daughter told you.”

Thomas smiled sadly.

“I tried.”

Then he lifted his gardening cap.

Inside the lining was a small memory card.

Marcella stared.

“What is that?”

Thomas looked at Alessio.

“I copied the doctor’s recording last winter.”

Elena’s face finally changed.

Only slightly.

But enough.

“You had it?” Alessio asked.

“I learned from your grandfather.”

Thomas looked toward the smoke.

“Never keep the only truth in one place.”

Elena turned toward the gate.

Two cars blocked it.

Not Alessio’s men.

Police.

Marcella had called them from the chapel.

She stood behind us now.

Elena looked at her daughter.

“You did this?”

Marcella nodded.

“Yes.”

“After everything I gave you?”

“You gave me your name.”

Marcella held up the birth certificate.

“And then you used it like a leash.”

Elena’s expression became cold.

“You have no idea what Anna Vieri was.”

Clara answered:

“She was Marcella’s mother.”

Elena looked at her sister.

“And a thief.”

Marcella whispered:

“What did she steal?”

Elena did not answer.

The fire crews contained the flames before they reached the main house.

The underground room was damaged.

But not destroyed.

Stone walls had protected most of the shelves.

One box was burned at the edges.

Inside was a ledger.

Giovanni Romano’s handwriting.

A list of payments.

Names.

Dates.

Companies.

And beside Elena Marconi’s name, one line was underlined twice.

A.V. FILE REMOVED.

Marcella stared at it.

“A.V.”

Clara looked at her.

“Anna Vieri.”

Thomas turned the page.

A note was written at the bottom.

IF ANNA DISAPPEARS, OPEN THE MARCONI ARCHIVE.

Marcella looked toward the police car where Elena was being questioned.

Then she looked at Alessio.

“My mother didn’t just hide your mother.”

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Her voice broke.

“She hid mine too.”