"Mr. Moretti is asking for you."
Her heart began beating faster.
"Is he alive?"
"Yes."
She closed her eyes.
For the first time that evening, she allowed herself to breathe.
"Can I speak to him?"
"Not yet."
"Then what do you want?"
"He remembers you."
Elena frowned.
"What?"
"He remembers your face. He wants to know why you recognized the glass before anyone else did."
"I didn't recognize the glass."
"You warned him."
"I didn't have time."
"Then why did you help him?"
Elena looked at the old photograph still displayed on her screen.
"Because he was dying."
Luca remained silent.
Then he asked a question that changed everything.
"Did you know your father?"
Elena's fingers tightened around the phone.
"Who told you about my father?"
"Mr. Moretti."
She looked again at the photograph.
"Why does he know my father?"
Luca exhaled slowly.
"That is something you should ask him yourself."
The call ended.
Elena stood beneath the pharmacy awning for several minutes.
Then she looked toward the hospital in the distance.
She had thought the Moretti family was a mystery.
Now she was beginning to suspect that it was the reason her life had been destroyed.
***
Alessandro woke shortly after midnight.
The first thing he noticed was the ceiling.
White.
Too bright.
Too clean.
He hated hospitals.
The second thing he noticed was the pain in his chest.
The third was Luca sitting beside the bed.
"You're alive," Luca said.
Alessandro turned his head.
"Disappointed?"
Luca laughed once.
It was an ugly sound, almost a sob.
"Don't do that again."
"I'll try to schedule my next medical emergency."
"You're an idiot."
"That's a new way to address your employer."
Luca leaned forward.
"Do you know what happened?"
"Not entirely."
"Someone poisoned your water."
Alessandro's expression changed.
"Vittorio?"
"We don't know."
"Did he leave?"
"Before the ambulance arrived."
"Of course."
Alessandro tried to sit up.
Luca stopped him.
"Don't."
"I need my phone."
"You need to stay alive."
"I can manage both."
Luca placed the phone on the bedside table.
Alessandro looked at it but did not pick it up.
"Who brought the water?"
"We're investigating."
"And the maid?"
"Elena Rossi."
The name produced an immediate reaction.
Alessandro turned his head.
"What did you say?"
"Elena Rossi. Red hair. Twenty-six. Former nursing student. Her father was Antonio Rossi."
Alessandro stared at the ceiling.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he whispered:
"Antonio's daughter."
Luca nodded.
"You knew her father?"
"I knew him very well."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I thought he was dead."
"He is."
Alessandro closed his eyes.
"Not just dead. Murdered."
Luca looked at him.
"You believe your brother did it?"
"I know my brother arranged it."
"Then why didn't you kill him?"
Alessandro opened his eyes.
"Because Antonio asked me not to."
Luca leaned back.
The room seemed to grow quieter.
"What did Antonio have to do with the family?"
Alessandro looked toward the window.
"Eleven years ago, my father was dying. The family business was collapsing from the inside. Money was disappearing. Contracts were being sold. Men who had served us for decades were being paid to turn against us."
"And Antonio?"
"He was auditing the shipping accounts. He found evidence that someone inside the family was selling information to our enemies."
"Vittorio."
"Yes."
Alessandro's jaw tightened.
"Antonio came to me with documents. He wanted protection for his family. He wanted to testify."
"Why didn't he?"
"Because I made a promise."
"What promise?"
"That I would end the corruption without exposing him."
Luca looked away.
"Did you?"
"No."
The answer came quietly.
Alessandro's voice became rough.
"I was younger. I believed I could control everything. I thought I could persuade Vittorio to stop. I thought blood would matter more than money."
He stared at his hands.
"Antonio died before I understood how wrong I was."
Luca remained silent.
"Did you attend the funeral?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Did she see you?"
"I don't know."
Alessandro looked toward the door.
"Bring her here."
"Boss, the police are still investigating."
"I didn't ask for a report."
"She's not part of this world."
"Neither was her father."
Luca nodded slowly.
"I'll find her."
Alessandro closed his eyes.
"And Luca?"
"Yes?"
"Do not let Vittorio know she's here."
***
The following morning, Elena arrived at St. Catherine's carrying a paper bag containing two sandwiches and a coffee.
She had not slept.
She had spent most of the night searching through old articles, corporate records, and archived news reports.
The more she discovered, the more questions appeared.
Antonio Rossi had not simply audited the Moretti shipping company.
He had been investigating a network of companies controlled by the family.
Several weeks before his death, he had transferred a large number of financial records to an unknown recipient.
The records had never been recovered.
And according to one newspaper report, the case had been reopened briefly two years later before disappearing from public attention again.
Elena had no idea what to believe.
She entered the hospital lobby.