Chapter 4 - Mila Left a Trail Through the Piano

The envelope contained a second note.

A number.

Locker 39.

Central Station.

Arthur looked at Roman.

“She knew you’d understand clues.”

Roman folded the note.

“I don’t.”

Maria almost smiled.

“She plays like you.”

He looked at her.

“I barely play.”

“You remember more than you think.”

We left the conservatory.

Elena came with us.

Roman did not stop her.

David stayed behind to call his father’s security staff.

Nobody trusted them.

But they knew things.

At Central Station, Locker 39 was empty.

Almost.

Inside was a metronome.

Old wood.

One side cracked.

Arthur picked it up.

“Moretti.”

Roman frowned.

“What?”

“Your mother’s.”

Maria stared.

“I left that in Spain.”

Silence.

Roman opened the back.

A memory card dropped into his hand.

We found a café with a laptop.

The card held one video.

Mila appeared on screen.

Twenty-four.

Dark hair.

Roman’s eyes.

She looked tired.

“If you’re watching this, Grandpa Voss found me.”

Roman froze.

Elena whispered:

“She calls him Grandpa?”

Maria closed her eyes.

Mila continued.

“He paid for my school. I called him that before I knew what he had done.”

Roman looked at Elena.

She said nothing.

Mila continued.

“The four million is not for me. He transferred it into an account he opened using my name.”

Roman stared.

Identity theft.

Mila continued.

“If the account is discovered with the ledgers, it will look like I extorted him.”

Elena covered her mouth.

Roman’s face hardened.

“He’s framing her.”

Maria whispered:

“Yes.”

The video continued.

“I came here because I found something in the old charity records.”

She held up a ledger.

“Roman’s father tried to repay the stolen money.”

Roman froze.

“How much?”

The video answered him.

“Eleven million before he died.”

Maria looked at Arthur.

He looked shocked.

Mila continued.

“He used private accounts. He did not tell Roman.”

Roman’s jaw tightened.

The video changed.

A scanned document.

A confession.

Signed by Roman’s father.

He admitted the transfers.

The charity fraud.

The returned letters.

Then another line:

I KEPT MARIA AWAY AFTER THE THREAT ENDED BECAUSE I WAS ASHAMED TO FACE MY SON WITH WHAT I HAD DONE.

Roman stared at the screen.

No one spoke.

Mila continued.

“He planned to confess publicly.”

Date:

Six years ago.

One week before he died.

Roman’s face changed.

Maria whispered:

“He never told me.”

Mila looked into the camera.

“He died before the confession was released.”

Roman said:

“Heart attack.”

Maria looked at him.

“That’s what we were told.”

Roman turned.

“What?”

David had entered the café.

Nobody had seen him come in.

He looked pale.

“My father just admitted something.”

Elena stood.

“What?”

David looked at Roman.

“Your father did not die of a heart attack.”

Silence.

Roman stared.

“What did he die from?”

David swallowed.

“Poisoning.”

Maria covered her mouth.

Roman did not move.

“How do you know?”

“My father told me.”

“When?”

“Just now.”

“And he waited six years.”

“Yes.”

Roman’s voice dropped.

“Did he do it?”

David shook his head.

“No.”

“Do you believe him?”

“No.”

David took a breath.

“He says someone poisoned Roman’s father to stop the confession.”

Roman looked at Elena.

She went pale.

“Who?”

David answered:

“He says Maria did.”

The café went silent.

Roman turned slowly toward his mother.

Maria stared at David.

“That is a lie.”

Roman looked at her.

“Is it?”

Her eyes filled.

“Yes.”

“Were you there?”

“No.”

David whispered:

“My father says you came back that week.”

Maria froze.

Roman saw it.

“You came back.”

She whispered:

“Yes.”

“When?”

“Six days before your father died.”

Roman stared.

“You saw him?”

“Yes.”

“And never told me.”

“No.”

He looked away.

Then back.

“Did you poison him?”

Maria stepped forward.

“No.”

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Roman’s expression did not change.

“Then tell me what happened.”