Chapter 2 - Chiara Named Someone at Our Family Table—But Before I Could Identify the Voice, the Tape Was Deliberately CutI replayed the tape three times.
Each time, the same static interrupted the most important sentence.
The name was distorted.
But one thing was clear.
Chiara had been afraid of someone inside my family.
I looked at the cassette.
There was no reason she should have recorded something like this unless she believed she was in danger.
And if she had believed she was in danger, why had she never told me?
Why had she left the recording hidden beneath the piano?
Why had someone accessed that hiding place three months earlier?
And why had Valentina reacted the way she did?
I called Marco.
"Find out who was near Chiara in the last month before her death."
"We've already looked at the old records."
"Look again."
"Boss."
"Everyone."
He hesitated.
"Even family?"
"Especially family."
The next morning, Giulia arrived with Mia.
I waited for her in the kitchen.
She looked nervous.
"Mia found something yesterday."
Giulia lowered her eyes.
"She told me."
"What did you know?"
"Nothing."
"Did Chiara ever speak to you?"
"Yes."
"When?"
"Before she died."
"About what?"
Giulia swallowed.
"She asked me to do something."
"What?"
"To watch you."
I stared.
"Why?"
"She thought someone was lying to you."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
She looked at me.
"I didn't know at the time."
"Do you know now?"
She hesitated.
Then nodded.
"Your sister."
My blood went cold.
"Valentina?"
Giulia looked toward the doorway.
"Chiara didn't trust her."
"Why?"
"Because Valentina wanted something."
"What?"
"The shipping company."
That didn't make sense.
Valentina already had access to the family businesses.
"She wanted control?"
Giulia nodded.
"Chiara said Valentina had been moving money."
"Where?"
"Through accounts nobody could trace."
"Did Chiara have proof?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
Giulia looked at Mia.
The little girl was sitting at the table, coloring.
"She hid it."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
Then Mia spoke.
"Mommy knows."
Giulia turned pale.
"Mia."
Mia looked at her.
"You said the lady told you."
Silence.
I crouched beside the child.
"What lady?"
"The lady in the piano room."
My heartbeat changed.
"What lady?"
Mia pointed toward the ballroom.
"She talks to the piano."
I stared at Giulia.
"What is she talking about?"
Giulia was crying.
"I didn't know Mia had seen her."
"Who?"
She whispered:
"Valentina."
I stood.
"Why was Valentina in the ballroom three months ago?"
Giulia shook her head.
"I don't know."
Marco entered.
"Boss."
"What?"
"We found something."
He handed me a folder.
Inside were financial records.
Payments from one of my shipping companies to a shell corporation.
The money eventually went to a private medical facility.
The facility was owned by a company registered to Valentina.
I stared.
"How much?"
"Forty-two million dollars."
I looked at Giulia.
"Did Chiara know?"
"Yes."
"That's why she was killed?"
Giulia shook her head.
"No."
"What then?"
"Because Chiara discovered where the money was going."
"Where?"
Giulia hesitated.
"Children."
The room went silent.
My stomach tightened.
"What do you mean?"
"Valentina wasn't stealing for herself."
"What was she doing?"
"Funding a private facility."
"For what?"
Giulia looked terrified.
"To keep children who didn't officially exist."
I stared.
That sounded impossible.
Then the cassette player began ringing.
The old device on the counter had somehow turned on by itself.
Static.
Chiara's voice.
"Don't trust the children list."
A pause.
"One of the names is yours."
The recording ended.
I looked at Marco.
"What did she mean?"
He shook his head.
Then my phone rang.
A private number.
A man's voice said:
"Ask yourself why Chiara would hide evidence in a place only a child could reach."
The call ended.
I stared at Mia.
May you like
The four-year-old had found the cassette.
Maybe that wasn't an accident.
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