Chapter 9 - Victor’s Offer
Victor Santoro sounded nothing like a murderer.
That bothered Elena more than if he had.
His voice was warm, patient, educated.
The kind of voice that thanked waiters by name.
“Mrs. Carter,” he said, “I am sorry we are meeting under ugly circumstances.”
“We are not meeting.”
“Not yet.”
“What do you want?”
“A misunderstanding corrected.”
Elena looked at Alessandro.
He sat across the room, silent.
Marco stood near the door.
Victor continued.
“Daniel took property belonging to my family.”
“My husband is dead.”
“I know.”
“You sent flowers.”
A pause.
“You found the receipt.”
“Yes.”
“I respected Daniel.”
Elena almost laughed.
“People keep respecting him after threatening him.”
Victor ignored that.
“He was brilliant. But he became frightened near the end.”
“Of you?”
“Of Alessandro.”
Alessandro’s face did not change.
Elena asked, “Why?”
“Because Alessandro asked Daniel to move money that could not be explained legally.”
Elena looked at Alessandro.
Victor heard the silence.
“See? That is what he does. He makes people doubt themselves while he waits.”
Alessandro said nothing.
That helped him more than any denial.
Victor continued.
“Daniel came to me because he wanted out.”
“Then why hide the ring?”
“To protect himself from Alessandro’s people.”
Elena’s anger rose.
“You are trying to turn every piece of evidence into the opposite thing.”
“No. I am telling you evidence requires context.”
“That line sounds better when a lawyer says it.”
Victor laughed softly.
“I like you.”
“I do not care.”
“I know.”
Then his voice changed.
“Your rent is due.”
Elena went still.
Alessandro’s eyes hardened.
Victor continued.
“Your hospital suspended you. Your checking balance is low. Your mother is borrowing a friend’s apartment. Your daughter needs new boots.”
Elena’s skin crawled.
He knew everything.
“You have people watching us.”
“I have information.”
“You photographed Mila.”
“That was not me.”
“Convenient.”
“I do not threaten children.”
Elena looked at Alessandro.
Victor sounded sincere.
That meant nothing.
“What is your offer?”
“The lion ring.”
“In exchange for?”
“Your building debt disappears. Your employment problem disappears. A trust for Mila. Enough money that you never pick discarded bread out of a bag again.”
Elena closed her eyes.
He knew that too.
The alley.
The bread.
Someone had watched before she ever found Alessandro.
“Why were you watching me that night?”
Victor did not answer immediately.
“There is a question worth asking.”
“Answer it.”
“We were watching Alessandro.”
“So you admit the attack.”
“No.”
Elena smiled without humor.
“Careful.”
Victor changed direction.
“Bring the ring to Harbor Trust tomorrow at ten. Public place. Lawyers. Cameras. Alessandro can come.”
Alessandro finally spoke.
“You’re confident.”
Victor’s voice became colder.
“Cousin.”
There it was.
Family.
Alessandro leaned forward.
“Why attack me if you need the ring?”
Victor replied, “I did not attack you.”
“Then who did?”
“Ask Thomas Reed.”
The line disconnected.
Elena looked at Alessandro.
“Do you believe any of it?”
“Some.”
“Which part?”
“He does not threaten children.”
Marco looked surprised.
Elena did too.
“How do you know?”
“Victor has rules.”
She stared.
“So do you.”
“Yes.”
“And your rules have never failed?”
Alessandro looked down at his healing hands.
“Daniel is dead.”
Good answer.
They spent the night preparing.
Denise contacted Harbor Trust.
No private access.
No secret room.
Bank counsel present.
Police notified because the brass key was potentially stolen property.
Victor agreed.
That made Elena uneasy.
Men rarely agreed to rules unless they believed rules would help them.
At nine the next morning, Rosa brought Mila new boots.
Not expensive.
Pink lining.
Rubber soles.
Elena stared.
“How?”
“Church fund.”
“I did not ask.”
“No.”
Rosa tied Mila’s laces.
“Sometimes accepting help is not debt.”
Elena glanced toward Alessandro.
He pretended not to hear.
At Harbor Trust, Victor arrived alone except for counsel.
He was fifty-two, silver-haired, clean-shaven, elegant.
He looked like a man who chaired museums.
He hugged Alessandro.
Alessandro did not return it.
Victor turned to Elena.
“My condolences should have come years ago.”
“They did. White roses.”
His expression flickered.
Tiny.
She saw it.
“Daniel liked white roses?”
“No.”
The flicker deepened.
Elena continued.
“He hated funeral lilies too.”
Victor smiled again.
“I did not know him personally.”
There.
First crack.
“You just said he came to you because he wanted out.”
Victor’s attorney shifted.
Victor did not.
“I meant professionally.”
Elena looked at Alessandro.
Evidence.
Not drama.
They entered the vault.
Victor produced the stolen brass key.
No attempt to hide its origin.
“I received this from Leonard Pike.”
Elena’s jaw tightened.
“You knew he entered my apartment.”
“I knew after.”
The bank officer unlocked the outer compartment.
Inside sat a steel drawer with no visible keyhole.
The officer looked confused.
“This is not our hardware.”
Alessandro placed Daniel’s lion ring into a recessed circular plate.
Click.
The inner drawer released.
Victor’s confidence disappeared for the first time.
He had not known exactly how it worked.
Daniel had outsmarted him.
Elena pulled the drawer open.
Inside lay one ledger.
One cassette recorder.
And a sealed envelope.
Written across it:
May you like
IF VICTOR IS IN THE ROOM, DO NOT LET HIM EXPLAIN FIRST.
Victor stopped smiling.
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