Discredited.

Preferably before she could talk to me.

And they chose my mother’s clock because anyone who knew me expected me to react before asking questions.

It would have worked on the man I had been at twenty-five.

Maybe even at thirty.

Fire the maid.

Call the police.

Finish the meeting.

Sign the contract.

By sunset, Elena would be gone, the clock recovered, and my uncle would have acquired a path to my empire.

One frightened child ruined everything.

I looked through the open doorway.

Sofia had fallen asleep on the sofa.

Her head rested against Pino’s side.

The battered rabbit was tucked beneath her chin.

A four-year-old had done what experienced adults around me had been too afraid to do.

She had told the truth.

“Elena.”

“Yes?”

“Why did you come into my office the day you saw Renata?”

“To replace flowers.”

“Did anyone know you were going?”

“Renata assigned the room.”

There.

“She sent you in.”

Elena's face drained.

“She wanted me to see?”

“Or wanted to know whether you saw enough to matter.”

I called Mrs. Calder.

“Bring Renata to the library.”

“She’s not in her room.”

I went still.

“Where is she?”

“We thought she was with you.”

Dominic was already moving.

Radios came alive throughout the estate.

Kitchen.

Garage.

Staff corridor.

Laundry.

No Renata.

The front gate logs showed nobody had exited.

She was still inside.

I went back to Sofia.

“Elena, lock this door.”

Her eyes widened.

“Why?”

“Because Renata knows we’re asking questions.”

Sofia stirred.

“Mr. Lorenzo?”

I softened my voice.

“Go back to sleep.”

She blinked at me.

“Did I help Mommy?”

“Yes.”

“How much?”

I looked at Elena.

Then at Pino.

“A lot.”

Satisfied, Sofia closed her eyes.

I stepped into the corridor.

Dominic met me near the stairs.

“We found her phone.”

“Where?”

“Her bedroom.”

“Renata?”

“No.”

“Anything else?”

“Suitcase missing.”

She was trying to leave.

Good.

Fear made careful people careless.

We reached the service garage.

One sedan was running.

The garage door began to rise.

Renata sat behind the wheel.

Dominic hit the emergency stop.

The door froze halfway.

Renata saw us in the mirror.

For one second, nobody moved.

Then she shut off the engine.

I walked to the driver's window.

She opened the door.

“I was going to my sister’s.”

“With a suitcase?”

“I stay with her sometimes.”

“Open it.”

Her face tightened.

“No.”

Dominic reached for the luggage.

Renata grabbed the handle.

That was mistake number one.

Mistake number two was forgetting the bag wasn't zipped completely.

It hit the concrete.

Clothes spilled out.

A passport.

Cash.

And a cream-colored envelope.

Elena had described one exactly like it.

I picked it up.

Inside were twenty thousand dollars.

And a photograph.

Renata standing beside Vittorio outside a restaurant.

On the back, a handwritten note:

After the signing, another 30. Keep Marlowe quiet until then.

Renata stared at it.

Then at me.

Her shoulders collapsed.

“You don’t understand.”

“I understand enough.”

“It wasn’t supposed to hurt anyone.”

“Tell that to the four-year-old hiding behind my trash cans.”

Her eyes filled.

“He said Elena would only lose the job.”

“Who?”

Silence.

I stepped closer.

“Renata.”

She looked at the floor.

“Your uncle.”

The words were barely audible.

Dominic exhaled.

I felt nothing.

Not surprise.

Not anger.

Not yet.

There was still one question.

“The clock.”

Renata swallowed.

“He told me to use something you’d care about.”

There it was.

Not theft.

Manipulation.

My mother’s memory turned into leverage.

“And Arturo?”

“He made the duplicate badge.”

“Deleted the video?”

“I think so.”

“You think?”

“I never spoke to him directly about that.”

“What did Vittorio want Elena quiet about?”

Renata looked at me.

“The contract.”

“I know that.”

“No.”

She shook her head.

“The other contract.”

My skin went cold.

“What other contract?”

Renata looked toward the house.

Then whispered the sentence that changed the investigation completely.

“The one transferring the estate after your marriage.”

And suddenly the scheme was no longer about influence.

It was about ownership.

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