Chapter 6 - The Tin Box
Cora reached her apartment before midnight.
The front door stood open.
She stopped.
Masimo pulled her behind him.
"Stay here."
He entered first.
The apartment had been searched.
Drawers emptied.
Cushions cut open.
Cabinet doors hanging loose.
The tin box was gone.
Cora's face fell.
"They took it."
Masimo looked around.
"No."
"What?"
"If they found the box, they would have destroyed the apartment."
He pointed to the table.
"Someone wanted you to see this."
A photograph lay there.
Thomas Halliday standing beside Enzo Orsini.
Both men were alive.
Cora picked it up.
On the back:
You have his answers. I have your brother.
Her blood froze.
"Milo."
Masimo looked at the clock.
"We left him at the estate."
They rushed back.
The estate was under lockdown.
Giani met them at the gate.
"Boss."
"Where is Milo?"
"Upstairs."
Relief flooded Cora.
She ran inside.
Milo was asleep.
Safe.
Cora fell beside him.
Masimo remained in the doorway.
Someone had lied.
The kidnapping threat was meant to frighten them.
The real target was the evidence.
A sound came from the hall.
Masimo turned.
Richard Kane stood there.
"I can explain."
Masimo walked toward him.
"Start."
Richard looked at Cora.
"I never betrayed you."
"You opened the gates."
"Because your father ordered me to."
Masimo froze.
Richard took out a key.
"I've been working for Enzo since before you took over."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I was afraid."
"Of him?"
"Yes."
Masimo grabbed his collar.
"You let me believe my father was dead."
"He threatened to kill everyone you loved."
Richard looked at Cora.
"That includes her."
Masimo released him.
"Where is he?"
"Not here."
"Where?"
"Tomorrow night."
Richard looked at the grandfather clock.
"Eight o'clock."
"Where?"
"The harbor."
"What happens then?"
Richard swallowed.
"He wants the ledger."
Cora stepped forward.
"I don't have it."
Richard smiled faintly.
"You do."
She stared.
He pointed at her handbag.
"Your mother didn't keep the evidence in the sewing box."
Cora opened the bag.
Inside was the tin box.
She stared.
"But—"
Richard shook his head.
"Your father gave it to you before he died."
"I was five."
"He knew you wouldn't understand then."
Cora opened the lid.
Under the cash was a photograph.
Then a key.
And beneath the key, a folded note.
She opened it.
Sweetheart,
If you are reading this, I failed to protect you.
But I did not fail to protect the truth.
The key opens the archive beneath Federal Street.
Trust the man who knows what guilt feels like.
Cora looked up.
Masimo.
He stared at the note.
"Your father knew me?"
"No."
"He wrote that?"
"Yes."
Masimo was silent.
The next morning, he took Cora back to Federal Street.
The key opened the archive.
Inside were boxes filled with company records.
Shipment manifests.
Bank transfers.
Medical studies.
Photographs.
Then Cora found the final file.
Arbor Street.
Five years earlier.
Inside was a video recording.
Thomas Halliday appeared on screen.
He looked tired.
He was holding a folder.
"To whoever finds this..."
He looked toward the camera.
"Enzo Orsini didn't start this."
Masimo leaned closer.
"It was his brother."
Matteo.
Thomas continued.
"Matteo built the network. Enzo helped him because he believed the money would save the company."
Cora looked at Masimo.
"And then?"
Thomas's face hardened.
"Then they discovered something."
He held up a medical report.
"The chemical isn't meant to treat disease."
"It causes it."
Cora's breathing stopped.
"They planned to introduce controlled exposure into neighborhoods near the harbor, then profit from the treatment contracts."
Masimo whispered,
"Jesus."
Thomas continued.
"I found proof."
The screen flickered.
Then he said one final sentence.
"The man paying for this is not Matteo."
The recording ended.
A second file opened automatically.
A photograph.
Richard Kane.
Sitting beside a man Cora had never seen.
Masimo did.
His father's oldest business partner.
Vincent Bell.
He had been dead for fifteen years.
Except he wasn't.
Masimo stared.
"That's impossible."
Cora looked at him.
"Another dead man?"
Masimo nodded.
Then his phone rang.
A distorted voice spoke.
"You've reached the end of your little investigation."
Masimo said nothing.
"You have twelve hours."
"What do you want?"
"The ledger."
"And Cora?"
A laugh.
"I don't want the secretary."
Masimo's expression hardened.
"I want the woman behind her."
The line went dead.
Cora frowned.
"Who?"
Masimo looked at the photograph.
Then at her.
May you like
"I think your father wasn't investigating the company."
"He was investigating my mother."
