Chapter 5 - The Empty House in Montreal

They flew before midnight.

Luca.

Margaret.

Me.

Dominic.

Vanessa came too.

Luca had said no at first.

Then she showed him the text chain between Vittorio and Antonio from three years earlier.

One line mattered.

KEEP VANESSA CLOSE TO LUCA. SHE IS THE ONLY WAY BELLINI STAYS INSIDE THE ROOM.

Vanessa had never seen it before.

Antonio sent it to her after investigators took his phone.

Luca looked at her.

"You come."

No forgiveness.

No engagement.

Only truth.

Montreal was cold.

The address led to a narrow brick house.

Lights off.

Door unlocked.

Inside:

Coffee still warm.

One chair knocked over.

No blood.

No Marco.

Dominic checked the rooms.

Clear.

Margaret found medication on the kitchen counter.

Heart pills.

Insulin.

Luca stared.

"My father is sick."

Margaret read the labels.

"Diabetes."

"Heart disease."

"Not dying tonight."

Luca almost smiled.

Then I saw a photograph on the refrigerator.

Luca at twenty-five.

A newspaper clipping.

Another at thirty.

A business award.

One from last year.

Marco had been watching.

Luca touched the edge of a clipping.

"He knew everything."

Vanessa whispered:

"Almost."

He looked at her.

She lowered her eyes.

Then Dominic called from upstairs.

"Found something."

A bedroom.

Desk.

Laptop missing.

Drawers empty.

But the wall behind the bed had been opened.

Inside:

A metal case.

Luca used the chapel key.

It fit.

Everyone stared.

Margaret whispered:

"Elena planned this."

Inside was not the ledger.

Only copies.

Bank transfers.

Dr. Samuel Crane.

Vittorio Moretti.

Antonio Bellini.

And one additional name.

FRANCESCA BELLINI.

Vanessa stopped breathing.

"My mother."

Luca looked at her.

Francesca Bellini had died eight years earlier.

Cancer.

Vanessa stared at the payment.

"What did she do?"

Margaret looked at the date.

Then went pale.

"This was the week Elena died."

Vanessa's face collapsed.

"No."

Luca picked up another page.

Hospital visitor log.

Francesca Bellini.

Entered Elena's room at 8:42 p.m.

Left 9:03.

Elena developed cardiac symptoms at 9:17.

Vanessa whispered:

"My mother poisoned her."

Margaret shook her head.

"We do not know that."

Vanessa stared at the payment.

"She was paid."

Luca said nothing.

No accusation.

Not yet.

Dominic found a recorder under the documents.

One file.

Marco's voice.

Recorded recently.

"If Luca finds this and I am gone, Vittorio moved first."

A breath.

"The original ledger is not with me."

Luca frowned.

Marco continued:

"I gave it to Francesca Bellini before she died."

Vanessa covered her mouth.

Luca looked at her.

The recording continued.

"She came to me eight years ago."

"She confessed that Antonio had asked her to speak to Elena the night she died."

"Not poison her."

Margaret closed her eyes.

Marco said:

"Francesca carried a bottle Dr. Crane had given Antonio."

"She believed it was anti-nausea medication."

Vanessa began crying.

Luca stared at the recorder.

"She handed it to Elena."

A pause.

"Elena took it."

Silence.

"Francesca learned later it was digoxin."

Vanessa sat down.

Her entire body shook.

Luca did not move toward her.

Not yet.

Marco continued:

"She blamed herself."

"So did Antonio."

"But neither ordered the poisoning."

Luca's jaw tightened.

"Vittorio did."

Silence.

Margaret whispered:

"Oh God."

Marco continued:

"Dr. Crane changed the bottle."

"Vittorio paid him."

"Antonio paid Crane later to alter records because he believed Francesca would go to prison."

Luca closed his eyes.

There it was.

The difference.

Antonio had not ordered Elena's death.

He had covered it up to protect his wife.

Still a crime.

Still a betrayal.

But not murder.

Vanessa cried into her hands.

Marco's recording continued:

"Francesca gave me the original ledger."

"She told me one thing before she died."

A pause.

"If Vanessa ever loves Luca, do not make her pay for what I did."

Luca looked at Vanessa.

She could not look back.

Then Marco said:

"But do not protect her from the truth either."

The recording ended.

Silence.

Luca picked up the payment sheet.

Vittorio.

Crane.

Francesca.

Antonio.

Every person connected.

Then Dominic's phone rang.

He answered.

Listened.

His face changed.

"Luca."

"What?"

"Chicago police found Dr. Crane."

Margaret stared.

"He's alive?"

Dominic nodded.

"Retirement home."

Luca asked:

"Did they speak to him?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"He says Marco visited him yesterday."

Luca went still.

"Yesterday."

"Yes."

"Where did Marco go after?"

Dominic listened again.

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Then looked at Luca.

"Back to Chicago."