Chapter 6: The Man Behind the Camera
I turned toward him.
“Explain.”
Rocco locked the study door.
“I recorded it six weeks ago.”
“You knew?”
“I knew Vivien was paying Owen Price at the bank.
I didn’t know about Isabella’s medicine or what she was doing to Elena.”
“You watched her frame an innocent woman.”
“I was building a case.”
“Elena was living in fear while you built it.”
His jaw tightened.
“If I had shown you one suspicious conversation, would you have ended your engagement?”
I didn’t answer.
“That silence is why I waited,” he said.
Mrs.
Keane led Mia from the room.
I faced Rocco.
“Who sent the scheduled message?”
“Daniel, Vivien’s former driver.
He copied my recording from the car system.”
“Where is he?”
A knock sounded.
Inspector Mercer entered with Elena and a thin man in a worn coat.
“Mommy!”
Mia ran down the corridor, and Elena dropped to her knees to catch her.
Mercer placed the velvet box on my desk.
“Elena is no longer a suspect.”
Mrs.
Keane handed over her phone.
“I saw Vivien plant it.”
Mercer watched the photograph appear.
“You’ll give a formal statement.”
“I’ll give two if that helps.”
Daniel stood near the door twisting his cap.
Vivien’s voice came from the hall.
“So this is where all the servants have gathered.”
Elena rose with Mia in her arms.
“You don’t get to speak about us that way anymore.”
Vivien glanced at Mercer.
“Am I being detained?”
“Not yet,” Mercer replied.
“Then I’m packing.”
I blocked the doorway.
“First you’ll hear what Daniel has to say.”
Daniel lifted his eyes.
“She paid me to collect the blue tablets.
She said Isabella needed them.”
“Liar,” Vivien said.
“You made me sign V.
Moretti on the receipt.”
“You wanted extra money.”
“You threatened to tell my wife I was stealing fuel.”
Vivien laughed.
“Your wife already knows you’re dishonest.”
Daniel took a small recorder from his pocket.
“She doesn’t know this voice.”
He pressed play.
Vivien’s recorded words filled the room.
“Copy Elena’s signature.
Owen will process the transfers.
When I marry Lorenzo, I’ll control the trust before anyone asks questions.”
Vivien rushed toward him, but Mercer stepped between them.
“That recording is illegally obtained,” Vivien said.
“Perhaps,” Mercer replied.
“The bank records won’t be.”
Vivien turned to me.
“You think these people care about you?
They care about your money.”
“Elena refused your money.”
“Rocco lied to you for six weeks.”
“He’ll answer for that.”
“And Isabella hid the truth because she fears you.”
My mother appeared at the end of the corridor.
“No,” Isabella said.
“I feared what he would become if he learned what you had done.”
Vivien looked from one face to another.
“Saturday,” I said.
“You wanted a wedding.
You’ll get a gathering.”
Rocco understood first.
“We invite Owen Price,” he said.
Vivien’s eyes narrowed.
“You expect me to walk into a trap?”
“I expect you to believe you can still win.”
She smiled slowly.
“Perhaps I can.”
Mercer agreed to let her pack while an officer waited outside her room.
We moved Isabella and Mia to the library with Elena.
Ten minutes later, the lights went out.
“Elena?” Isabella called.
“I’m here.”
A door slammed in the corridor.
Rocco switched on his flashlight and ran upstairs.
The officer outside Vivien’s room was coughing beside an open window.
“She used the service stairs,” he said.
I hurried to the library.
The room was empty.
On Isabella’s chair lay Mia’s red ribbon and a note in Vivien’s handwriting.
May you like
BRING THE ORIGINAL TRUST LETTER TO THE CHAPEL.
COME ALONE.
