Chương 10
Lorenzo did not answer.
The silence became his answer.
Elena ended the call.
At the police station, she identified Marco. Patel showed her only what procedure allowed and explained that charges would be determined after prosecutors reviewed the evidence. Marco’s lawyer claimed he had boarded the yacht to meet a buyer but never possessed the capsule. He said Renata had arranged access to the house but did not know about the frame-up.
“Do you believe that?” Elena asked.
“My belief is not evidence.”
“That is what Mr. Heller said.”
“He’s expensive because he repeats obvious things in a suit.”
Elena smiled despite herself.
Patel’s expression softened. “Your daughter’s statement gave us the first clear timeline. The sensor data, access logs, messages, and physical evidence support important parts of it. She did well.”
“She shouldn’t have had to.”
“No.”
“Can I go back to work?”
“That is between you and your employer.”
“Am I cleared?”
“You are not a suspect.”
“I need it in writing.”
Patel considered her. “For your employer?”
“For the next one.”
The officer printed a brief letter confirming that Elena had cooperated as a witness and was not considered a suspect in the theft investigation. It was not the sweeping declaration Elena wanted, but it was something she could hold.
Outside, a reporter waited near the station steps.
“Elena Ruiz?”
She stopped.
The reporter approached with a microphone lowered at his side. “I’m Nathan Cole with Channel Eight. I’d like to ask about what happened at the Duca residence.”
“No comment.”
“Were you falsely accused of stealing the Bellandi clock?”
Mara hid behind Elena’s coat.
“No comment.”
“Did Lorenzo Duca order armed men to detain you?”
Elena’s pulse jumped. The phrase armed men transformed her fear into a headline before she had decided what it meant.
Patel came through the doors. “Give them space.”
The reporter stepped back but called after Elena. “Ms. Ruiz, the public deserves to know whether foundation property was protected by intimidating an employee.”
The public had not known Elena’s name that morning. By afternoon, it had opinions about what she owed it.
Mrs. Alvarez met them outside the apartment with two grocery bags and an expression of theatrical disgust.
“There are reporters by the laundromat,” she said. “One asked if you were an undocumented single mother.”
“I’m a citizen.”
“I told him you were the queen of Spain.”
Mara tugged at a grocery bag. “What did you buy?”
“Cereal. Eggs. A chicken that cost more than my first husband’s suit.”
Elena followed her upstairs. “I can pay you.”
“I kept the receipt. I’m not a saint.”
Inside the apartment, Mrs. Alvarez turned on the television and immediately turned it off again when Lorenzo’s photograph appeared.
“You cannot go back to that house,” she said.
“I need my job.”
“You need a job. Not that one.”
“They pay eighteen dollars an hour.”
“So does the hospital laundry.”
“The hospital doesn’t let me change shifts for preschool pickup.”
“The hospital has an application.”
“An application is not a paycheck.”
Mrs. Alvarez put eggs in the refrigerator. “You always make the bad option sound practical until it becomes permanent.”
Elena bristled. “You offered to watch Mara twice this month and canceled both times.”
“I was sick.”
“You were at bingo.”
“I can be sick at bingo.”
They stared at each other.
Mara sat on the floor and made Pino from couch cushions.
Mrs. Alvarez sighed. “Fine. I am unreliable. That does not make the mansion safe.”
“No.”
“You agree?”
“I didn’t say it was safe.”
“What are you saying?”
Elena rubbed her bruised wrist. “I’m saying I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
That evening, Heller came to the apartment without Lorenzo.
He stood in the narrow hallway holding a paper bag from the diner and looked too formal for the peeling green walls. Mrs. Alvarez inspected him from her doorway.
“You police?” she asked.
“Lawyer.”
“Worse.”
Heller nodded. “Frequently.”
Elena let him in because Mara recognized the bag’s pancake logo.
He brought documents: written confirmation that Elena was suspended with full pay, reimbursement for childcare expenses caused by the investigation, and an offer to provide independent legal counsel chosen by Elena from three firms with fees paid through an escrow arrangement the Duca household could not control.
“This is Lorenzo’s idea?” Elena asked.
“The counsel structure is mine.”
“The money?”
“His.”
“What does he want me to sign?”
“Nothing today.”
“Eventually?”
“Possibly an acknowledgment of payment. Not a release of claims unless your lawyer negotiates one and you choose to sign.”
Mrs. Alvarez had entered without invitation and now read over Elena’s shoulder.
“No confidentiality clause?” she asked.
“Not in these documents.”
“You look disappointed.”
“I rarely display disappointment before billing.”
Mara opened the diner bag. Inside was a slice of lemon cake with a separate cup of frosting.
“From Danny,” Heller said.
“Not Mr. Duca?” Elena asked.
“Mr. Duca does not know how to send cake without turning it into evidence.”
Heller sat at the small kitchen table. He explained that the foundation board had suspended Lorenzo as chair pending an independent review of security procedures. Marco had been fired. Renata was in custody on charges related to conspiracy, evidence tampering, and attempted theft. Voss had not been found.
“Did they find the capsule?” Elena asked.
“No.”
“Then this isn’t over.”
“No.”
Heller placed another envelope on the table. “This is an offer from a media attorney who believes you may wish to make a public statement before others define what happened.”
“I don’t want to be public.”
“Then do not become public accidentally.”
Mrs. Alvarez nodded. “That is annoyingly good advice.”
Elena looked at Heller. “Why are you helping me?”
“Because my client created legal exposure by treating accusation as proof.”
“That sounds like helping him.”
“It is also helping you. Motives can be impure and still produce useful work.”
“Did Lorenzo tell you to say that?”
May you like
“No. Lorenzo prefers motives to remain unexamined.”
Mara dipped cake into frosting with her fingers.
