Isabella folded her hands.
"Of course."
"How long have you known him?"
"Several years."
"Before or after Elena died?"
"Before."
"How did you meet?"
"Through business."
"What business?"
She looked at him.
"Why are you interrogating me?"
"Because my son told me you killed his mother."
Isabella's eyes widened.
Then she laughed.
It was a beautiful laugh.
Almost convincing.
"That's what this is about?"
Lorenzo did not respond.
She leaned forward.
"Daniel is confused. You know that. He's been struggling with Elena's death since the beginning."
"Did you threaten him?"
"No."
"Did you tell him his mother was a bad woman?"
"I may have explained that his parents had problems."
"Did you tell him that I would send him away if he spoke about Elena?"
Her expression changed.
"That's absurd."
Lorenzo turned to Rosa.
"Show her."
The older woman opened her handbag and removed a folded piece of paper.
It was a copy of the note Daniel had written beneath the office door.
Isabella stared at it.
Lorenzo spoke quietly.
"You destroyed the original."
She said nothing.
"How did you know he had written it?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Rosa found the pieces in the fireplace."
Isabella looked toward the housekeeper.
"You searched my private room?"
"No," Rosa said. "I cleaned it."
Lorenzo pushed another document across the desk.
It was an old payment record.
A transfer from a private account to Adrian Voss.
The date was two days before Elena's accident.
Isabella glanced at it.
Then she looked away.
"That's not evidence of anything."
"Correct."
Lorenzo placed another document beside it.
A second payment.
This one had been made three days after Elena died.
Then a third.
The amounts were smaller.
But the destination was the same.
Adrian Voss.
"Tell me why you paid him."
"I didn't."
"Your signature is on the authorization."
"Anyone could have copied it."
"That's possible."
He leaned back.
"That's why I called the forensic accountant."
Isabella's expression tightened.
"Who?"
"Someone who doesn't work for me."
For the first time, she seemed genuinely uncertain.
Lorenzo watched her.
"Do you know what I find interesting?"
She remained silent.
"Three years ago, I thought the worst thing that could happen to me was losing Elena."
He paused.
"I was wrong."
His eyes moved toward the photograph of Daniel.
"The worst thing was allowing someone else to teach my son that the truth was dangerous."
Isabella's face hardened.
"You want the truth?"
Lorenzo did not move.
"Yes."
She laughed bitterly.
"You wouldn't know what to do with it."
"Try me."
She stood.
"Elena hated you."
The sentence landed between them.
Lorenzo's expression did not change.
"She hated your business. She hated your men. She hated that you could disappear for three days and return expecting her to welcome you like a husband."
Isabella took a breath.
"She wanted to leave."
Lorenzo stared at her.
"Leave where?"
"With Daniel."
For the first time, something moved behind his eyes.
"She was planning to take my son?"
"She was planning to save him."
The room became silent.
Lorenzo looked at the papers.
Then at Isabella.
"Who helped her?"
Isabella smiled.
"That's what you should have asked three years ago."
Marco stepped forward.
"Answer him."
She turned toward him.
"Stay out of this."
Marco looked at his brother.
Lorenzo raised one hand.
Marco stopped.
"Tell me what happened."
Isabella's smile disappeared.
"Elena found out about the accounts."
"What accounts?"
"The ones connected to the waterfront businesses. She discovered that you were using a charity foundation to move money. She had copies of documents."
Lorenzo said nothing.
"She threatened to go to the authorities. She wanted a divorce. She wanted custody. She wanted to take Daniel away from you."
"That doesn't explain the accident."
"No."
Isabella lowered her voice.
"It explains why she became a problem."
Lorenzo stood.
"Did you arrange it?"
She looked at him.
For a moment, her eyes were empty.
Then she said, "I didn't drive the car."
"That wasn't my question."
"I didn't touch her."
"That wasn't my question either."
Isabella's hands began to tremble.
"You think you can judge me? You built this world. You created the rules. You taught everyone that people could be removed when they became inconvenient."
Lorenzo's voice was almost inaudible.
"I never asked you to murder my wife."
"You didn't have to."
She looked directly at him.
"You wanted Elena gone long before she died. You just didn't have the courage to admit it."
Lorenzo crossed the room.
He stopped a few feet from her.
"Be very careful."
Isabella swallowed.
Then the library doors opened.
A man entered.
He was in his early sixties, dressed in a dark overcoat, carrying a leather briefcase.
Lorenzo's attorney.
Behind him stood two investigators.
Isabella immediately recognized one of them from a private meeting three years earlier.
Her face went white.
The attorney placed a document on the desk.
"Mr. Moretti, we've obtained a preliminary report."
Lorenzo looked at him.
"Go on."
"The original vehicle inspection was incomplete. The maintenance records were altered. We also found a payment made to a mechanic who later disappeared."