CHAPTER 3: THE MAN WITH THE BRIEFCASE
The man entered without knocking.
His name was Gabriel Torres, regional vice president of Unión Nacional Bank.
He took two steps into the foyer before noticing the detectives.
Then he stopped.
His hand tightened around the leather briefcase.
Julián recovered first.
“Gabriel,” he said. “You came at a bad time.”
Detective Delgado approached him.
“Mr. Torres, place the briefcase on the table.”
Gabriel forced a confused smile.
“I’m here for a private meeting.”
“You are standing inside an active investigation.”
“I haven’t done anything.”
“No one said you had.”
That frightened him more than an accusation would have.
Gabriel slowly placed the case beside Ernesto’s steel wristwatch.
Detective Delgado asked, “Why are you here?”
Gabriel looked at Julián.
Julián gave the smallest shake of his head.
Valeria saw it.
So did the detectives.
“I came to discuss a business loan,” Gabriel said.
“On a Sunday afternoon?” Delgado asked.
“It was urgent.”
“What business loan?”
Gabriel hesitated.
Julián interrupted.
“He doesn’t have to answer.”
Detective Delgado turned toward him.
“You should stop giving legal advice.”
The forensic investigator photographed the briefcase before opening it.
Inside were bank statements, property transfers, two passports and a prepaid phone.
The top statement carried Valeria’s full name.
Below it was an account balance of $2.4 million.
Valeria stared at the page.
“I’ve never seen that money.”
Gabriel closed his eyes.
Julián remained silent.
Ernesto took the document and examined the transaction history.
Deposits had arrived from construction companies that had received contracts through Moreno Development.
The funds were then moved through Valeria’s account before being transferred overseas.
“She was the shield,” Ernesto said.
Detective Delgado nodded.
“If the transactions were discovered, the account would lead to her.”
Valeria felt suddenly unsteady.
For years, Julián had told her she knew nothing about business.
He kept her away from the company office, mocked her questions and demanded that she sign forms without reading them.
He had not merely treated her as insignificant.
He had designed her to become responsible for his crimes.
“You were going to blame me,” she said.
Julián gave her a cold look.
“You enjoyed the house. The vacations. The clothes.”
“I paid for this house.”
“You inherited money. That doesn’t make you intelligent.”
Ernesto stepped forward, but Valeria raised her hand.
She did not need him to answer for her.
“You’re right,” she told Julián. “I wasn’t intelligent when I trusted you.”
His expression sharpened.
“But I became intelligent when I stopped.”
Detective Delgado turned to Gabriel.
“Who opened the account?”
Gabriel looked down.
“I did.”
“And who authorized the transfers?”
“Julián.”
Julián laughed bitterly.
“You approved every one of them.”
Gabriel’s face tightened.
“Because you threatened my family.”
A murmur moved through the guests.
Julián’s eyes became dangerously calm.
“Be careful.”
Gabriel opened the briefcase’s inner compartment and removed a sealed envelope.
“I’m done being careful.”
He handed it to Detective Delgado.
Inside was a written statement, copies of internal bank communications and a flash drive.
Gabriel explained that Julián had discovered irregularities in the bank’s lending department two years earlier.
Instead of reporting them, he used the information to blackmail Gabriel into approving false loans and hidden transfers.
“Why come here today?” Delgado asked.
Gabriel looked at Valeria.
“Because she called me.”
Julián turned toward her.
Valeria did not look away.
Three days earlier, she had found Gabriel’s number in Julián’s prepaid phone.
She had called him and told him the investigation was moving forward.
She offered him one chance to cooperate.
Gabriel had agreed.
The birthday party had been designed to make Julián feel safe enough to speak freely in front of witnesses.
But Gabriel had been instructed to arrive only after Detective Delgado contacted him.
She had not contacted him yet.
“You came early,” Valeria said.
Gabriel nodded.
“I received a message telling me the plan had changed.”
“What message?” Delgado asked.
Gabriel handed her the prepaid phone.
The message had been sent twenty minutes earlier.
COME NOW. THEY FOUND THE PAPERS.
The room fell silent.
Delgado looked at the guests.
Only the people inside the mansion had known the papers had been found.
Someone at the party had warned Gabriel.
The detective examined the number.
Then her gaze moved slowly across the room.
The message had not come from Julián’s phone.
It had come from Ernesto’s.
Valeria turned toward her father.
“Dad?”
Ernesto reached into his jacket.
His phone was gone.
May you like
And behind them, the garden door quietly clicked shut.
Ofelia had disappeared.
