Chapter 10 - THE PERSON WHO KNEW THE HOUSE|
The accusation cast a shadow over the entire household.
Alessandro ordered no one dismissed or interrogated without proper procedures. He asked the security company to preserve the footage and gave the police unrestricted access to the relevant records.
Elena watched him make the arrangements.
“You're not going to question everyone yourself?”
“No. I have a conflict of interest.”
That answer surprised her.
“You're willing to let someone else investigate your own house?”
“If I want the truth, I can't choose only the methods that make me comfortable.”
The police interviewed the staff individually. Mrs. Bennett cooperated, though she looked deeply ashamed about keeping Elena's mother's key for so long. Marco provided the access logs, and the investigators discovered that a temporary code had been issued to a maintenance contractor three days before the break-in.
The contractor's name was Paul Dwyer.
He had already resigned and disappeared.
But the access log revealed something more troubling. The code had been requested by a member of Alessandro's own financial office.
Richard Sloane.
Richard had managed several of the family's legitimate investments for more than a decade. He was polished, respected, and considered indispensable. He had also been one of the last people to see Thomas Vale before Vale vanished.
Alessandro stared at the report.
“Richard has access to every account connected to the old businesses.”
“Could he have been paying Ryan?” Elena asked.
“It's possible.”
“Why would he need Ryan if he could hire anyone?”
“Because Ryan could approach you without raising suspicion. He knew your routines and your fears.”
Elena felt sick.
The abuse that had once seemed like a private nightmare might have been exploited by people who barely knew her name.
The investigators arranged a formal interview with Richard. He denied authorizing the break-in and claimed his credentials had been copied. He also insisted that Thomas Vale had been dead for years.
The police could not arrest him based on suspicion alone.
That afternoon, Elena found an envelope addressed to her on the desk in the library. Inside was a photocopy of an old bank transfer and a handwritten message.
Your mother didn't die because she knew too much. She died because she trusted the wrong person.
Elena's fingers went numb.
At the bottom of the document was a signature.
Richard Sloane.
She brought it to Alessandro immediately.
He examined the transfer, then called his attorney.
“This goes to the investigators now.”
“Do you believe it?”
“I believe it deserves to be investigated.”
Elena looked at the signature again.
“Do you think Richard killed my mother?”
“I won't accuse him without evidence. But if he used his position to threaten her, he will answer for that.”
She appreciated that he did not promise revenge. She needed justice, not another powerful man deciding what she should feel.
Later, Sophie came downstairs carrying a small box she had brought from their apartment.
“I found something in Mom's old sewing kit,” she said.
Inside was a tiny cassette recorder, its plastic casing cracked with age. A label on the side bore their mother's handwriting.
IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO ME.
Elena stared at it.
“Does it still work?”
“I don't know.”
Alessandro found an old player in the records room. They connected it, and the tape hissed before a woman's voice emerged.
Elena recognized her mother immediately.
“If you're hearing this, then Thomas has found out what I did.”
A pause followed.
May you like
Then her mother spoke again.
“But Thomas isn't the man I'm afraid of.”
