Chapter 12 - THE WOMAN IN WISCONSIN| The care facility sat beside a small lake outside Milwaukee. Its brick walls and wide windows gave it the appearance of a quiet retirement home, but the records revealed that it had once provided confidential care for people connected to the Moretti and Castellano families.
Adriano arrived with his attorney and Marcus.
The director greeted them in a private office.
"We maintain strict confidentiality," she explained. "I can only confirm a patient's identity with proper authorization."
Adriano placed the trust document on the desk.
"This authorizes an independent review."
The director read it carefully.
Then she looked toward a locked cabinet.
"The patient was admitted under the name Maria Cole. She's been here for twenty years. Her medical records state that she is deaf and has limited contact with family members."
"Can we meet her?"
"She is willing to speak with visitors, but she may not recognize the Moretti name."
They were led to a small sitting room overlooking the lake.
An older woman sat beside the window, reading a book. Her gray hair was tied back, and a silver bracelet rested on her wrist.
When she saw Adriano, her eyes widened.
She placed the book down and lifted her hands.
You took your time.
Adriano recognized the signs from the few lessons his mother had given him as a child, though Marcus had to help interpret some of the more complex sentences.
"Do you know who I am?" he asked.
The woman nodded.
You're Anthony's son.
"Who are you?"
She hesitated.
Then she signed her name.
Patricia Moretti.
Adriano felt as though the room had tilted.
His missing aunt was alive.
Patricia explained that she had discovered the medical center's identity-transfer scheme decades earlier. When she tried to expose it, Anthony arranged for her to be moved to a private facility under a different name.
She had been told that her sister Eleanor had died.
She had never believed it.
"Why didn't you contact anyone?" Adriano asked.
Patricia signed slowly.
I tried. My letters were intercepted. Every time I asked to leave, they told me I was confused and unsafe.
Adriano's anger became cold.
"Who arranged this?"
Patricia looked toward the doorway.
Then she signed a name.
Bruno Falco.
Marcus immediately checked the old financial records.
Bruno had authorized the payments to the facility for years. The money had continued even after Anthony's death.
Patricia explained that Bruno visited periodically, sometimes bringing documents and sometimes asking about the blue ledger.
"He wanted to know whether I remembered where it was hidden," Adriano translated with the help of the interpreter.
"Why would he think you knew?"
Patricia signed.
Because I helped create it.
The ledger had been assembled by Patricia and Eleanor to document payments made through the family's medical center. It included evidence of altered identities, false medical reports, and transfers involving people declared dead.
"What happened to the original?" Adriano asked.
Patricia looked directly at him.
Your mother has it.
Adriano frowned.
"Then why did we find only part of it?"
Patricia signed a final sentence.
Because the ledger has two halves. The first proves the money was stolen. The second proves who ordered the crimes.
Marcus looked toward Adriano.
May you like
The second half had been missing for decades.
And someone was still paying to make sure it stayed lost.
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