Chapter 3 - The Death Certificate That Wasn’t True
Damian stared at his mother.
“What do you mean no?”
Lucia opened a small leather bag.
Inside:
One death certificate.
One hospital invoice.
One photograph.
Damian took the certificate first.
His father’s name.
Marco Moretti.
Cause of death:
Cardiac arrest.
Damian knew it.
He had signed funeral papers.
Lucia handed him the hospital invoice.
Different name.
MARTIN ROSS.
Same date.
Same room number.
Same doctor.
Damian frowned.
“What is this?”
Lucia answered:
“Your father was admitted under another name.”
“Why?”
“To keep your grandfather from finding him.”
Damian stared.
“But he died.”
Lucia shook her head.
“No.”
“Then whose funeral did I attend?”
Harold answered.
“No body was shown.”
Damian looked at him.
Harold continued.
“Closed casket.”
Damian remembered.
Rain.
Black umbrellas.
His grandfather beside him.
Isabella’s father attending quietly.
Damian looked back at Lucia.
“My father is alive.”
She looked down.
“He was.”
Damian’s expression changed.
“Was?”
Lucia swallowed.
“I saw him two years ago.”
“Where?”
“In Prague.”
Silence.
Damian took a step back.
“My father was alive two years ago.”
“Yes.”
“Did he know about me?”
Lucia almost laughed through tears.
“He asked about you before anything else.”
“Then why didn’t he come back?”
“Because he believed your grandfather had left evidence tying him to three murders.”
Damian’s face hardened.
“Real evidence?”
“Partly.”
“Meaning?”
“He was present.”
“Did he kill anyone?”
Lucia hesitated.
Damian saw it.
“Did he?”
“No.”
“But he helped cover things up.”
Silence.
Damian looked toward the window.
Below, the old grandfather clock was visible through the landing opening.
He asked:
“Where is my father now?”
Lucia handed him the photograph.
Marco Moretti.
Older.
Thin.
Gray hair.
Standing beside a train station.
Date stamped eight months earlier.
Damian stared.
“This was eight months ago.”
“Yes.”
“Who took it?”
Lucia answered:
“Isabella.”
Damian froze.
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