Chapter 16 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW THE DOOR CODE| The investigators found no evidence of forced entry.
The office lock had not been damaged, and the windows were secured from the inside. The access system recorded no authorized entry between the time the glass was removed and the moment Nina discovered it on the desk.
Someone had bypassed the security system.
Or someone had never needed to.
Adriano stood in the office with Marcus and the forensic team, watching them photograph the tumbler.
"This is the second glass?" the lead investigator asked.
"That's what my employee's daughter reported."
Nina pointed to the scratch.
"The first one had the mark facing the chair. This one faces the window."
The investigator examined the surface.
"Can we determine whether the residue matches the first sample?"
"Yes, but we need to handle it as potential evidence."
The glass was secured and transported to an independent laboratory. Meanwhile, Marcus reviewed the estate's master keys.
Only six people had access to the private office without triggering an alarm: Adriano, Marcus, Simone, Valentina, the estate manager, and Rosa, who had been authorized to clean the room under supervision.
Rosa had not entered the office since the investigation began.
The estate manager had been abroad.
Marcus had been with Adriano.
Valentina was under investigation.
Simone had disappeared.
That left one person who had access to the physical keys but did not appear on the digital record.
The estate's former housekeeper, Martha Vale.
She had retired four years earlier but still visited occasionally to deliver family documents. She had worked for Anthony Castellano for nearly thirty years.
Adriano called her.
"Martha, I need to speak with you."
There was a long silence.
"I was wondering when you would ask."
His stomach tightened.
"Ask what?"
"Whether your father was really dead."
Adriano looked at Marcus.
"Where are you?"
"At home."
"Stay there. I'm sending someone to collect you."
"No," she replied. "I will come to the estate myself."
The call ended.
Martha arrived two hours later carrying a leather handbag and a small wooden box. She was a woman in her seventies, with silver hair and eyes that seemed to understand more than she ever said.
She placed the box on the table.
"Your father gave me this before he disappeared."
Adriano stared at her.
"Before he died?"
Martha shook her head.
"He told me to say he had died. He said it was the only way to keep the family safe."
The room became silent.
"Where is he?" Adriano demanded.
Martha lowered her eyes.
"I don't know. The last time I saw him, he was preparing to leave the country."
"Why would he drug me?"
"I don't know that he did."
Adriano opened the wooden box.
Inside was a second gold-banded tumbler.
It was identical to the one on his desk.
The scratch beneath the rim faced the chair.
Martha looked at Nina.
"You noticed the difference."
Nina nodded.
Martha sighed.
"Then the person who returned the glass wanted you to find the box."
Adriano stared at her.
"Who?"
May you like
Martha looked toward the locked office door.
"The person who has been protecting your father all along."
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