Chapter 5 - THE NOTEBOOK IN THE WALL
Santiago called Tomas and ordered him to find the blue notebook.
The first search of Matteo's office produced nothing. His private apartment was empty, and the safe in his study contained only legal documents and old family photographs.
Then Sophia remembered something else.
She drew a small rectangle with a flower in one corner.
Ruby recognized it.
“Your mother's sewing box?”
Sophia nodded.
Santiago stared at the drawing.
“My mother kept that in her bedroom.”
The room had remained almost untouched since her death. Santiago rarely entered it. The curtains were still the pale ivory she had chosen, and a small vase stood beside the bed.
He opened the wardrobe.
The sewing box was gone.
“Matteo took it,” he said.
Sophia shook her head.
She pointed toward the wall beside the old dressing table.
Ruby moved closer.
There was a narrow wooden panel, almost invisible beneath the wallpaper. A small flower had been carved into its edge.
Santiago pressed it.
The panel opened.
Inside was a shallow compartment containing a blue notebook, a photograph, and a small digital recorder.
Santiago lifted the notebook.
His mother's handwriting filled the first pages. Grocery lists. Birthday reminders. Notes about Sophia's favorite songs.
Then the entries changed.
Matteo came again. He asked about the accounts. I refused.
Sophia says she heard him arguing with Dr. Voss.
I must speak to Santiago. He trusts Matteo too much.
The final entry was dated the day before her death.
If anything happens to me, the truth is in the recording. Sophia knows. I pray my children will listen to her.
Santiago's fingers trembled.
He picked up the recorder.
“Does it still work?”
Tomas, who had followed them into the room, checked the battery.
“Possibly. I'll have it transferred safely.”
Sophia signed something.
Ruby translated.
“She says she hid it here with your mother.”
Santiago looked at her.
“You knew about this compartment?”
Sophia nodded.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
She signed again.
Ruby's face softened.
“She says she tried.”
Santiago lowered his head.
The recorder was sent to a forensic audio specialist. While they waited, Tomas uncovered a second problem.
The Moretti family trust had been paying Dr. Voss for years after his contract ended. The payments had been authorized by a company controlled by Matteo.
“Why would Matteo keep paying a doctor who no longer treated Sophia?” Santiago asked.
Tomas placed a ledger on the desk.
“Because the payments were not for treatment.”
“What were they for?”
“Silence.”
Santiago stared at him.
Tomas continued.
“Dr. Voss signed an agreement preventing him from discussing Sophia's case. The agreement was renewed every year.”
Santiago closed the folder.
“Find him.”
“He lives outside the city. He's retired.”
“Bring him in.”
“Legally?”
Santiago looked at him.
“Legally. I want his statement on record.”
Tomas nodded.
At the top of the stairs, Sophia waited with Ruby.
She was watching Santiago.
He approached her and stopped several feet away.
“I should have listened.”
Sophia looked down.
“I cannot change what happened,” he continued. “But I can listen now.”
Her hands moved.
Ruby translated.
“She says she doesn't know if she can trust you yet.”
Santiago nodded.
“That's fair.”
Sophia signed one more sentence.
Ruby's eyes filled.
May you like
“She says she wants you to try again tomorrow.”
For the first time in seven years, Santiago felt hope and shame at the same time.
