Chapter 12 - What Vittorio Gave Away
The falcon necklace was old family jewelry.
That mattered less than the timing.
The morning after Elena died, Vittorio had come to Carmela’s house before sunrise.
He gave her the necklace and said:
“Keep this safe.”
Carmela thought it was grief.
The clasp was unusually thick.
Inside was a tiny storage chip.
Vittorio had hidden digital files in plain sight.
“I wore this to the funeral.”
“You wore his evidence to Elena’s funeral.”
The chip contained Harbor Meridian payment lists.
Messages between Vittorio and Paul.
No explicit order saying kill Elena.
But one exchange chilled the room.
Paul:
SHE KNOWS I CHANGED THE ROUTE.
Vittorio:
THEN DO NOT LET HER REACH RICO WITH THE BOOK.
Paul:
HOW FAR?
Vittorio:
MAKE SURE SHE DOESN’T.
Clara did not need details.
Another message came after the attack.
Paul:
IT WENT WRONG.
Vittorio:
DISAPPEAR.
Dante immediately contacted detectives working Elena’s murder.
For six months, the case had been treated as an attack connected to Rico’s enemies.
“I spent six months looking outside.”
Clara said:
“You were supposed to.”
“What?”
“Someone designed it that way.”
“You keep refusing to let me hate myself.”
“No.”
“I’m refusing to let you use self-hatred instead of doing something useful.”
That almost made him angry.
Paul Gallo had been arrested at a bus terminal in Maryland.
Paul agreed to talk after counsel arrived.
His first statement changed everything.
The attack had not been planned as a public shooting.
The original plan was to scare Elena into giving up the ledger.
She told Paul she had copies.
Then Paul claimed Vittorio changed the instruction.
“To what?”
“Stop her from reaching home.”
Then Paul added one more fact.
Vittorio had not disappeared alone.
He had taken something from the Moretti house before leaving.
A child’s drawing.
Leo’s drawing.
May you like
The one Clara had never seen.
And Paul said Vittorio was terrified of what was on it.
