Chapter 7 - DANIEL CARTER'S FILE
Grace sat down because her legs would no longer hold her.
For three years she had carried guilt like a stone beneath her ribs.
She had believed Daniel died because he asked one question too many.
Now she was learning he had asked dozens.
Emily climbed into the chair beside her and pressed their shoulders together.
"Mom, was Dad a detective?"
Grace laughed once through tears she refused to let fall.
"No."
"He was very nosy, though."
Emily considered that.
"That sounds like me."
Grace kissed the top of her head.
"Unfortunately, yes."
Vincent stood at the far end of the table reading the public records for Saint Agnes.
The facility had been licensed as a private psychiatric residence for wealthy patients requiring anonymity.
Its owners claimed it specialized in trauma, addiction, and nervous exhaustion.
The licensing investigation had found missing records, unexplained transfers, and medication logs signed by physicians who denied working there.
No criminal charges had resulted.
The facility closed quietly.
Vincent's expression grew darker with every page.
"Who buried the investigation?"
Marco searched the archived articles.
"A settlement sealed most of the records."
"Which law firm?"
Marco did not need to answer.
Bellamy, Price & Cole appeared at the bottom of the court notice.
Dominic looked toward the library.
"He did not even bother hiding his fingerprints."
Vincent shook his head.
"He hid them where nobody expected to look."
"That is different."
A guard entered the ballroom.
"Mr. Moretti, we finished the first sweep of the greenhouse perimeter."
Marco turned.
"Anything?"
"Shell casing near the north hedge."
"Footprints?"
"Two sets leading toward the old gardener's road."
"Vehicles?"
"Tire tracks, but the road camera was offline."
Vincent's mouth hardened.
"Of course it was."
The guard hesitated.
"There is one more thing."
"Say it."
"We found a key card near the hedge."
He placed a clear evidence bag on the table.
Inside was a white plastic access card with a blue stripe.
Grace leaned forward.
"That is from the maintenance department."
Marco checked the number.
"Card 042."
Grace's face changed.
"That was Daniel's."
Emily looked up.
"Dad's?"
Grace nodded slowly.
"His card disappeared after the accident."
Vincent stared at the bag.
"And someone used it today."
Marco's phone buzzed.
He checked the message.
"According to the access server, card 042 opened the gardener's road gate at 2:11 this afternoon."
Vincent looked toward the library doors.
"Three minutes before Emily played the recording."
Dominic shook his head.
"Then whoever came to the greenhouse was already waiting."
Grace felt cold.
"They knew the signing would happen."
Vincent looked at the white roses.
"They expected something to happen."
Emily looked at the key card.
"Dad hid things."
Grace turned toward her.
"What do you mean?"
"He hid birthday presents."
Dominic looked almost amused.
"That is normal."
"Not where normal people hide them."
Emily slid off the chair.
"One year he put my doll inside the furnace closet because he said nobody looks behind ugly things."
Grace's eyes widened.
"The furnace closet."
Vincent looked at her.
"What about it?"
"Daniel kept an old metal toolbox there."
"After he died?"
"I never checked."
Marco immediately sent two men toward the service level.
Grace stood.
"I am going too."
Vincent started to object.
She cut him off.
"If Daniel hid something, I may be the only person who recognizes it."
Vincent nodded.
"Emily stays with Isabella and two guards."
Grace hesitated.
Isabella looked at her.
"I will not let anyone near her."
Grace studied the woman who had unknowingly worn Sofia's stolen necklace for eighteen months.
Trust felt impossible in that house.
But Emily tugged at her hand.
"Go find Dad's stuff."
Grace crouched.
"Do not leave this room."
"I won't."
"Not even if someone says I sent them."
Emily nodded.
"Only you come get me."
"Good."
Grace kissed her forehead and followed Vincent downstairs.
The furnace level smelled of dust, warm stone, and old oil.
Daniel had spent years complaining that nobody respected the service rooms until the heat stopped working.
Grace had teased him about knowing every pipe in the estate better than he knew the rooms upstairs.
Now that knowledge felt like a map he had left behind.
The furnace closet door stood open.
Marco's men had already pulled out two shelves of maintenance supplies.
At the back was a dented green toolbox.
Grace recognized it immediately.
"That is his."
The lock had rusted shut.
One guard cut it.
Inside were ordinary tools.
Pliers.
Electrical tape.
A voltage tester.
A packet of screws.
Grace's shoulders dropped.
Then Vincent lifted the removable tray.
Beneath it was a false wooden panel.
Grace stared.
Daniel had made the panel from a piece of floor trim.
Vincent removed it.
Underneath lay a black notebook, two flash drives, and an envelope with Grace's name written across the front.
Her hand began shaking.
"Open it," Vincent said softly.
Grace could not.
Vincent waited.
Finally, she slid one finger beneath the flap.
The letter inside was only one page.
Grace read the first line and had to stop.
If you are reading this, I was right to be worried and wrong to believe I had more time.
Emily's father had written the words in his square, impatient handwriting.
Grace pressed the paper against her mouth.
Vincent looked away to give her privacy.
She forced herself to continue.
I found the missing camera archive Sofia asked about.
I found payments from Harbor Light to Saint Agnes.
I also found something worse.
Someone is using Mr. Moretti's signature on medical authority documents, but the signature is genuine.
That means they are putting papers in front of him when he is rushed, angry, or distracted.
Grace looked up.
Vincent's face tightened.
She read on.
Do not blame him before you know what he saw.
Sofia believed he was being used too.
The next line made Grace sit on an overturned bucket.
If anything happens to me, take Emily away from the estate before you tell Vincent.
Do not use a Moretti car.
Do not call Bellamy.
And do not trust Dominic just because Vincent does.
Dominic was not in the room to hear it.
Vincent was.
He stared at the letter.
"Why Dominic?"
Grace shook her head.
The final paragraph offered no answer.
The blue drive contains the money trail.
The black drive contains the transport list.
There is one name on that list I cannot explain.
If Sofia is alive, that name may be the reason.
Grace lowered the paper.
Marco picked up the two drives.
"We clone both before opening."
Vincent nodded.
"Down here."
"No network."
"Exactly."
They used an old maintenance laptop that Marco's technician brought from the security room.
The blue drive contained spreadsheets.
Payments from Moretti family trusts flowed into Harbor Light through consulting retainers, legal reimbursements, and medical security expenses.
The theft had started small.
Then it grew.
Two hundred thousand became eight hundred thousand.
Eight hundred thousand became four million.
By the year Sofia disappeared, more than twenty-three million dollars had moved through Harbor Light entities.
Grace looked stunned.
"All of that from the family?"
Vincent shook his head.
"Not just the family."
He pointed at account labels.
"Pension reserves."
Marco frowned.
"Employee money."
Vincent's expression turned hard.
"That makes this more than theft from me."
The black drive was smaller.
It contained scanned transport sheets from Kane Medical.
Most names were coded.
Patient 11.
Patient 23.
Patient 17.
Grace's breath stopped when she saw the date.
Patient 17 had been collected from MORETTI EAST SERVICE GATE at 11:03 p.m. on the night Sofia vanished.
Destination: SAINT AGNES NORTH PROGRAM.
Authorization: V. MORETTI.
Witness: D. MORETTI.
Dominic had signed.
Vincent shut his eyes.
Marco scrolled down.
The next transport record was dated six months later.
Patient 17 moved from Saint Agnes to a private residence identified only as MAPLE HOUSE.
Witness: D. MORETTI.
Vincent's eyes opened.
"Six months later."
Marco nodded grimly.
"Dominic signed again."
Grace whispered.
"He knew she was alive."
A final transport sheet appeared.
It was dated fourteen months ago, three days before Saint Agnes closed.
Patient 17 transferred from MAPLE HOUSE to RIVER SITE B.
The witness signature was not Dominic's.
It belonged to C. ROMANO.
Celeste.
Beside her signature was one additional notation.
FAMILY CONTACT APPROVED.
The contact name was printed clearly beneath it.
ISABELLA ROMANO.
Grace looked toward the ceiling, as if she could see through three floors into the ballroom where Isabella sat with Emily.
May you like
"She said she knew nothing."
Vincent was already moving toward the stairs.
