Chapter 7 - THE GIRL IN THE PHOTOGRAPH
The first photograph arrived in a plain envelope.
No return address.
No fingerprints that investigators could immediately identify.
Inside was a recent picture of a woman sitting beside a window.
She was in her late thirties.
Her hair was dark.
Her face was thin.
But Gabriel recognized her eyes.
Mara.
On the back, someone had written:
SHE REMEMBERS EVERYTHING.
Gabriel stared at the photograph for nearly a minute.
Then he handed it to Matteo.
“Find her.”
Matteo nodded.
“We will.”
Gabriel looked toward Olivia.
She had been examining the envelope.
“What?” he asked.
She hesitated.
“The paper smells like cedar.”
Matteo frowned.
“Cedar?”
“Fresh-cut cedar. Not perfume.”
Gabriel studied her.
“Does that mean something?”
“Maybe nothing. But it reminds me of the storage cabinets in the old east wing.”
Matteo turned.
“The records room?”
Olivia nodded.
“Those cabinets were lined with cedar. I cleaned them before that wing was closed.”
Gabriel looked at the photograph again.
Someone inside the estate might have handled it.
The next morning, the forensic team found traces of the same cedar dust inside the envelope.
The evidence did not identify the sender.
But it supported Olivia's observation.
Matteo ordered a review of everyone who had accessed the east wing.
The list was short.
Gabriel.
Matteo.
Two maintenance workers.
And the estate's longtime accountant, Victor Hale.
Victor had worked for the Duca family for thirty years.
He was sixty-two, polite, meticulous, and almost invisible.
He had managed Vittorio's accounts.
Then Gabriel's.
And he had access to the old records room.
Gabriel summoned Victor.
The accountant arrived carrying a leather briefcase.
“Mr. Duca.”
Gabriel gestured toward the chair.
“Sit.”
Victor looked at the photograph of Mara on the desk.
His expression changed.
Only slightly.
But Gabriel saw it.
“Where is my sister?” Gabriel asked.
Victor swallowed.
“I don't know.”
Gabriel leaned forward.
“Try again.”
Victor looked toward Matteo.
“I don't know where she is now.”
The room went silent.
Gabriel stood.
“Now?”
Victor closed his eyes.
“I was told she was safe.”
“By whom?”
“Your father.”
Gabriel's voice dropped.
“Tell me everything.”
Victor confessed that Vittorio had arranged Mara's disappearance.
She had discovered financial records showing that the family business was being used to conceal illegal shipments.
Mara threatened to report him.
Vittorio claimed she was unstable.
He arranged for her to be taken to a private facility under a false identity.
Victor helped move the money.
He told himself he was protecting the family.
Then years passed.
Mara remained hidden.
Vittorio died.
And Victor continued paying the facility because he was afraid of what would happen if the truth emerged.
Gabriel stared at him.
“You knew.”
Victor began crying.
“I was afraid.”
Gabriel stepped closer.
“She was sixteen.”
Victor lowered his head.
“I know.”
“You let her disappear.”
Victor said nothing.
Gabriel turned away.
For a moment, Olivia thought he might strike the man.
Instead, he took out his phone.
“Call the investigators,” he told Matteo.
Victor looked up in terror.
“Gabriel—”
Gabriel's voice was cold.
“You're going to tell them what you told me.”
That evening, Gabriel received another message.
This one contained a short audio recording.
A woman's voice spoke softly.
“Gabriel?”
He stopped breathing.
“It's Mara.”
A pause.
“Don't trust the man who brought you the photograph.”
The recording ended.
Gabriel looked at Matteo.
Then at the envelope.
Victor had handled it.
May you like
But someone else had delivered it.
And whoever that person was had access to a woman Gabriel had spent twenty-two years mourning.
