Chapter 11 - MIA SAW HIS FACE
Mia had seen the chapel intruder.
She had not said anything because she thought adults were already scared enough.
Dr. Claire Bennett, a child interviewer brought in by police, spoke with her gently.
Mia described “the man from the picture in Mama’s drawer.”
Elena froze.
She kept an old photograph from Marco’s funeral.
Paul Vescari had attended.
He stood in the background beside Vittorio.
Mia had seen that photograph for years.
She recognized him.
Paul denied everything until police showed him Marco’s records. Two hours later, he asked about a deal.
He admitted installing a remote access device in the Bellandi chapel years earlier.
He admitted helping Vittorio hide financial records.
Then he admitted servicing Marco’s car the day before the crash.
Elena stopped breathing when Rachel told her.
“Did he sabotage it?”
Rachel chose her words carefully.
“He says Vittorio told him to create a mechanical problem that would frighten Marco into backing off.”
“Not kill him?”
“That is what Paul claims.”
Elena laughed through tears.
“A man is dead.”
“I know.”
“What difference does intention make to Mia?”
None.
But legally, it mattered.
Emotionally, it did not.
Paul said Marco was supposed to lose control at low speed.
Instead, heavy rain turned the failure into a fatal crash.
Vittorio had spent six years pretending it was bad luck.
Sofia found him there.
“You were young.”
“I was thirty.”
“You did not know.”
“I didn’t ask.”
She sat beside him.
“You cannot notice every hidden crime.”
“No.”
He looked toward the altar.
“But I noticed status. I noticed titles. I noticed who belonged in which room.”
Sofia said nothing.
Matteo continued.
“Bianca called Elena replaceable. I think half this house treated her that way without ever saying it.”
His phone buzzed.
Board meeting in ten minutes.
Vittorio had arrived.
Smiling.
May you like
Wearing a charcoal suit.
And carrying a silver cane.
