Chapter 11 - The Woman with the Garment Bag
Nora asked Camille to send the original image file, not a screenshot stripped of its details. She also asked us not to publish it. If a Northline employee had entered Luca's office and my locker, the photograph could matter to an investigation. It could also be misunderstood without context.
The name on the contractor badge was Margo Stein. According to the event roster, she was supposed to deliver floral arrangements at six. She had stayed until after nine. The staff footage showed her carrying a garment bag into the service corridor during the exact window my badge was used at Luca's office.
"That proves opportunity," Nora said. "Not whose idea it was."
Luca watched the footage once, then shut the laptop. "And I trusted someone who gave her a way in."
"Don't skip steps," I said. "That was my mistake when I thought I could stop the glass without anyone getting hurt."
"You stopped Michael drinking," he replied. "That's different from proving who planned it."
We found Margo's company through ordinary vendor records. Its listed address was the same suite as Northline's accounting office. The rent on that suite had been paid by a company called Crescent Pier Holdings.
"Crescent Pier appears on the invoices," Michael said.
"It's Carlo's investment company," Luca replied. "He claimed he'd sold it."
I thought of Vanessa's hand closing over her phone. She might have wanted Michael to drink, but the effort to frame me was more expensive and organized than one angry fiancée could arrange alone.
An email arrived for Nora from Camille. Attached was a signed vendor agreement. Beneath Margo's name stood the approving signature: VANESSA BELLINI, EVENT DIRECTOR.
May you like
On the last page, a handwritten note instructed staff to send any changes to the finance committee chairman.
Carlo Moretti had known every step.
