Chapter 4 - Two Fingerprints on Room 614
Alessandro did not speak for several seconds.
Then:
“Richard touched the key.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“The night of the fire.”
Alessandro stared.
“So he was there.”
“Yes.”
Howard looked at Elena.
“You never told me that.”
“I was afraid.”
Alessandro’s voice hardened.
“Of Richard?”
“No.”
“Of what he would do if he knew I remembered.”
Alessandro looked at the key.
“What happened that night?”
Elena took a breath.
“I went to room 614 to get your father’s briefcase.”
“The one with the financial records?”
“Yes.”
“Victor was in the hallway.”
“Alone?”
“No.”
She looked at Alessandro.
“Richard was with him.”
Silence.
Alessandro stepped closer.
“They were together.”
“Yes.”
“What were they doing?”
“Arguing.”
“About?”
“I only heard pieces.”
Elena closed her eyes.
“Victor said the fire would solve everything.”
“Richard told him it had gone too far.”
Alessandro’s jaw tightened.
“So Richard knew a fire was planned.”
“Yes.”
“He tried to stop it?”
“Too late.”
Howard asked:
“Did Richard help lock the door?”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
“Then why is his fingerprint on the key?”
“Because he took it from Victor.”
Alessandro frowned.
“When?”
“After the fire started.”
“Why?”
“To destroy it.”
“But he didn’t.”
“No.”
“I grabbed it from him.”
Alessandro looked at her.
“You took the key from Richard.”
“Yes.”
“Then what?”
“Smoke filled the hallway.”
“Someone hit me.”
“Who?”
“I never saw.”
“I woke in the hospital.”
Alessandro’s eyes narrowed.
“And Richard was there.”
“Yes.”
“With a story ready.”
“Yes.”
Alessandro walked to the window.
Across the street, the engagement estate glowed.
Isabella was still there.
Richard too.
Victor too.
Three people.
One fire.
Sixteen years of silence.
Howard opened another envelope.
“There is more.”
Alessandro turned.
Howard handed him a copy of a private investigator’s report.
Dated seven years earlier.
Subject:
ELENA VESCARI.
Client:
RICHARD CRANE.
Alessandro stared.
“He was tracking her.”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Since she left Canada.”
Elena looked down.
Alessandro read the last page.
A second name appeared repeatedly.
ISABELLA CRANE.
He stopped.
“What is this?”
Elena’s face changed.
Howard said:
“Isabella knew more than five months.”
Silence.
Alessandro stared at the report.
The first date beside Isabella’s name:
Three years earlier.
He looked at Elena.
“She knew for three years.”
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