Chapter 5 - THE MAN WHO STOLE A DEAD MAN'S FACE
Dante returned to the guest apartment within twenty minutes.
Sofia sat at the kitchen table with her notebook open.
Marisol stood beside her.
The little girl pointed at a drawing.
“I remembered something.”
Dante crouched.
“What?”
“The man had a scar here.”
She touched the side of her neck.
Dante's pulse quickened.
His father had no scar there.
But his father's longtime attorney, Leonard Voss, did.
A pale scar ran beneath Leonard's left ear.
Dante had seen it hundreds of times.
“Did you see his face?” Dante asked.
“Only a little.”
“Are you sure about the scar?”
Sofia nodded.
“He scratched it when he was waiting.”
Dante looked at Marisol.
She understood immediately.
Someone had been impersonating Vittorio.
Or at least using his belongings to make witnesses think Vittorio had visited Enzo.
Leonard Voss had served the Rizzo family for thirty-five years.
He handled property trusts.
Estate documents.
And the financial arrangements Vittorio preferred not to discuss.
If anyone knew about Gabriel Mercer, it was Leonard.
Dante called Rebecca.
“Find everything you can on Leonard Voss.”
She paused.
“Your father's attorney?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he may have been in Enzo's apartment before the murder.”
That afternoon, Rebecca uncovered a disturbing fact.
Leonard had recently filed documents attempting to transfer assets from the Mercer Trust.
The beneficiary was listed as Gabriel Mercer.
But Gabriel's signature appeared on paperwork dated only weeks earlier.
No current address was provided.
Dante stared at the documents.
“Where is Gabriel?”
Rebecca shook her head.
“We don't know.”
Then Thomas Reed called.
“I found something.”
“What?”
“Gabriel Mercer has been living in Chicago for years.”
Dante went still.
“Where?”
Thomas hesitated.
“Under another name.”
Dante gripped the phone.
“Tell me.”
Thomas answered.
“His legal name is Gabriel Hayes.”
Dante stared at the wall.
Gabriel Hayes.
He knew that name.
Gabriel Hayes was the owner of a small neighborhood bakery.
The same bakery where Enzo had worked every Saturday.
Dante closed his eyes.
His brother hadn't stumbled onto the secret by accident.
May you like
He had found their missing brother.
And someone had killed him before he could bring Gabriel home.
