Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW EVERY DOOR
Evelyn Marlowe did not return to the townhouse that afternoon.
She called at three fifteen to announce that she was taking personal leave.
Matteo thanked her.
Then he asked Luca to find out where she went.
By six, they had learned that Evelyn had visited a private bank near the waterfront, met briefly with a lawyer, and purchased a one-way train ticket to New York.
She had also withdrawn a substantial amount of money from an account that had remained dormant for nearly a decade.
“She's preparing to disappear,” Luca said.
Matteo stood beside the window.
“Or she's preparing to meet someone.”
“Should we bring her in?”
“No. We have no authority to detain her, and I won't turn suspicion into an excuse to behave like the people we're investigating.”
Luca gave him a thoughtful look.
“Your father would have handled this differently.”
“My father is the reason we're here.”
That ended the conversation.
Matteo arranged a meeting with an independent attorney and an investigator who specialized in financial crimes. They made secure copies of the documents, preserved the microfilm, and began tracing the Northstar payments.
For the first time, Matteo was determined not to solve a family problem by using family power.
If Julian had committed crimes, he would answer for them through the law.
But before Matteo could decide how to proceed, his phone rang.
It was Mia.
She had been staying in the guest suite with Lily and a nurse.
“Mr. Duca?”
“What's wrong?”
“I found something.”
He went upstairs immediately.
Mia sat on the bed with a small notebook in her lap.
“I was looking for my coloring book,” she explained. “Then I saw this behind the drawer.”
She handed him the notebook.
It belonged to her mother.
The first pages contained grocery lists, appointment dates, and reminders about Lily's feeding schedule. But halfway through, the handwriting changed.
The notes became shorter, more urgent.
Evelyn came again.
Someone asked about the key.
Julian said the old agreement still stands.
If I disappear, take the girls to Matteo.
Matteo turned another page.
A date was written beside a single sentence.
The winter photograph is not the only original.
Below it was an address in Cambridge.
Matteo recognized it immediately.
The building had once housed a small charitable foundation established by his mother. It had closed after her death, and the property had been sold years later.
“What is this place?” Mia asked.
“Somewhere my family used to keep records.”
“Will we find Mama's secret there?”
Matteo looked at her.
“Possibly.”
She nodded solemnly.
“Then we should go.”
He almost smiled.
“You're six years old. You're not going anywhere near a dangerous building.”
Mia's face fell.
“But I found the note.”
“And you did an excellent job.”
“Then why can't I help?”
Matteo crouched.
“Because helping sometimes means letting the adults take the risks. Your job is to stay safe, take care of Lily, and tell us when you discover something important.”
Mia considered that.
“That's a lot of jobs.”
“It is.”
She finally smiled.
That evening, Matteo and Luca visited the old foundation building with their attorney and two licensed security professionals. The building was vacant, but its basement had been sealed behind a modern steel door.
The attorney located the property records and contacted the current owner, who authorized a supervised inspection.
Inside, they found shelves of archived documents and a small locked cabinet bearing Matteo's mother's initials.
The key from Lily's necklace opened it.
Inside were three envelopes.
The first contained letters between Matteo's mother and Grace.
The second contained copies of Northstar's original financial agreements.
The third contained a birth record for Elena Harper.
But the record had been altered.
The original entry showed that Elena had been transferred from the hospital to a private clinic under the authority of a doctor who had later been investigated for falsifying medical records.
Attached was a handwritten note from Matteo's mother.
Grace deserves the truth. I was too afraid to give it to her while your father was alive. If you are reading this, I have failed her. Do not repeat my mistake.
Matteo read the letter twice.
His mother had known.
She had known that Grace's daughter had not died.
She had known that the medical records were false.
And she had remained silent.
Luca found another document.
It was a payment authorization bearing Julian's father's signature.
The money had been sent to the private clinic on the day Elena was born.
“Someone paid to move the baby,” Luca said.
Matteo nodded.
“Find out where that clinic sent its patients.”
Their attorney warned them that the records were incomplete and that any conclusions would require independent verification.
Matteo agreed.
They would not accuse anyone without evidence.
As they prepared to leave, Luca discovered a sealed envelope taped beneath the cabinet.
It contained a photograph of a young woman standing outside a church.
On the back was a name.
ELENA WARD.
Matteo stared at it.
Elias Ward's wife was named Rachel.
Elena was the name of Grace's first daughter.
And Elias had disappeared while investigating Northstar.
The connections were becoming impossible to ignore.
When Matteo returned to the townhouse, he found a message from the hospital.
Grace had been discharged into supervised recovery and was ready to speak with him.
He visited her that night.
She looked stronger, though exhaustion still shadowed her eyes.
Matteo placed the photograph on the bedside table.
Grace stared at it.
For a long time, she said nothing.
Then she touched the woman's face with trembling fingers.
“I know her.”
“Who is she?”
“Her name was Elena Ward before she married.”
Matteo's heart began to pound.
“Grace, are you saying Elias's wife is your daughter?”
“I don't know. I saw this woman once, years ago, at a charity event. She looked so much like my mother that I couldn't stop staring.”
“Did you speak to her?”
“No. She left before I could approach her.”
Matteo sat down.
“We'll find out.”
Grace looked at him with fear in her eyes.
“What if she's alive?”
“Then we'll bring her home if she wants to come.”
“And what if she knows what happened?”
Matteo answered honestly.
“Then she may be the person who can finally tell us.”
Outside the hospital, rain began falling over Boston.
Across the city, Julian Duca sat in a private office with Evelyn Marlowe.
Between them lay a photograph of Mia and Lily.
Julian tapped the image with one finger.
“The girl found the key.”
Evelyn nodded.
“And Matteo has the documents.”
“Then we have a problem.”
She looked at him.
“No. We have an opportunity.”
Julian frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
Evelyn leaned forward.
“Your father spent twenty years building Northstar. Your cousin has spent twelve years pretending he doesn't know what happened. And now two children have walked into the middle of it.”
“What do you suggest?”
Evelyn smiled without warmth.
“We stop trying to frighten Matteo. We give him something he wants.”
“What's that?”
“The truth.”
Julian stared at her.
“Which truth?”
Evelyn opened her handbag and removed a sealed envelope.
“The truth about his father.”
May you like
She placed it on the desk.
“And the truth about who really controls Northstar.”
