Chapter 6 - The Glass Was Poured for Maria

Maria stopped breathing.

Roman looked at her.

“You were the target.”

She shook her head.

“No.”

Mila’s video continued.

“I found a statement from the housekeeper.”

Arthur looked at me.

I understood why.

Housekeepers remembered everything.

The video displayed a scanned page.

The old Moretti housekeeper had written:

MR. MORETTI ASKED ME TO POUR RED WINE FOR MARIA.

BEFORE I SERVED IT, MR. VOSS ENTERED THE DINING ROOM.

HE MOVED THE TWO GLASSES.

Roman stared.

Maria covered her mouth.

David whispered:

“My father moved them.”

Mila continued.

“Roman’s father picked up Maria’s glass.”

Silence.

Roman’s expression changed.

“He drank the poison meant for her.”

Maria began crying.

Elena looked at David.

“Why would Grandfather poison Maria after nineteen years?”

David answered:

“Because she came back with the confession.”

Roman looked at him.

“No.”

“What?”

“If he wanted the confession, killing her would not erase the copy.”

David frowned.

Roman pointed at the screen.

“Mila said the confession was supposed to be public.”

Arthur nodded.

Roman continued.

“So Voss needed something more.”

Maria whispered:

“The ledgers.”

Roman looked at her.

“You had them?”

“Yes.”

“When you came back?”

“Yes.”

“Where?”

“In my bag.”

David stared.

“Did my father know?”

“He asked for them.”

Roman’s face hardened.

“So the poison was for you because you carried the original evidence.”

“Yes.”

Elena closed her eyes.

Arthur asked:

“What happened to Maria’s bag?”

Maria looked at David.

“Your father took it.”

David went pale.

Roman laughed quietly.

“There it is.”

Elena whispered:

“Grandfather has had the original ledgers for six years.”

Maria nodded.

“Or destroyed them.”

Roman looked at the memory card.

“Mila found copies.”

“Yes.”

David shook his head.

“My father has been paying her.”

Roman corrected him.

“Framing her.”

“Yes.”

A phone rang.

Maria’s.

Unknown number.

She answered.

No one spoke.

A young woman’s voice.

“Mom?”

Maria stood.

“Mila.”

Roman froze.

Maria put the phone on speaker.

“Mila, where are you?”

“Safe.”

“Where?”

“I can’t tell you yet.”

Roman stepped closer.

“Mila.”

Silence.

Then:

“Roman?”

“Yes.”

She inhaled.

“You sound like Dad.”

Roman’s face changed.

“Which dad?”

Maria closed her eyes.

Mila answered softly.

“Yours.”

Roman looked away.

Then back.

“Are you hurt?”

“No.”

“Did Voss’s people find you?”

“Yes.”

“What do they want?”

“The copies.”

“Do you have them?”

“Yes.”

“Where?”

Mila laughed once.

“You’re really asking me that on a phone call?”

Roman almost smiled.

“Fair.”

Mila continued.

“I need you to listen.”

“I am.”

“Grandpa Voss is not dying naturally.”

Elena froze.

“What?”

Mila heard her.

“Elena?”

“Yes.”

“Your grandfather is being kept sick.”

Silence.

David stared.

“By whom?”

Mila answered:

“His doctor.”

Roman looked at David.

The same doctor.

Maria whispered:

“Why?”

Mila continued.

“Because a dying man can be blamed for everything.”

Roman’s expression hardened.

“Someone wants him dead before he can talk.”

“Yes.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know.”

David whispered:

“His doctor.”

Mila said:

“No.”

“The doctor is being paid.”

“By whom?”

A pause.

Then:

“Elena’s father.”

Silence.

Elena turned toward David.

He went white.

“No.”

Mila continued.

“I saw the transfers.”

David shook his head.

“I pay the doctor for my father’s care.”

Roman stared at him.

“How much?”

“Twenty thousand a month.”

Mila answered:

“The doctor receives sixty.”

David froze.

“I don’t pay sixty.”

“Someone is using a Bell account.”

Roman’s eyes narrowed.

“Who can authorize it?”

David looked at Elena.

Then at himself.

Then whispered:

“My sister.”

Elena frowned.

“Aunt Clara?”

David closed his eyes.

Roman looked at him.

“Where is she?”

“At the estate.”

“With my father.”

Silence.

Mila said:

“That’s where I was taken.”

Maria nearly dropped the phone.

Roman stepped closer.

“Taken?”

“Yes.”

“You said you were safe.”

“I got out.”

“How?”

Mila laughed once.

“Ask Sophie.”

Everyone looked at me.

I stared.

“Me?”

Mila continued.

“The service tunnels under the Voss estate connect to the wine cellar.”

I blinked.

“How would I know that?”

Mila answered:

“Because you worked there before the Moretti house.”

Silence.

Roman looked at me.

He was right.

I had.

For six months.

Before Elena hired me.

I whispered:

“Yes.”

Roman’s eyes sharpened.

“You know the tunnels?”

“Yes.”

Mila said:

“Good.”

Then the call ended.

Roman looked at me.

“Sophie.”

“Yes?”

“How fast can you get us inside?”

I looked at Elena.

Then David.

Then Maria.

“Without using the front gate?”

“Yes.”

May you like

[COMPLETED] “GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY DRESS! YOU’RE NOTHING BUT AN OLD SEAM...

[COMPLETED] At the Mafia Boss's Engagement Party, I Served His Hungry So...

[COMPLETED] The Mafia Boss’s Fiancée Tried to Dismiss His Father’s Loyal...

I picked up my coat.

“Ten minutes.”