The Maid Knew Where His Mother Was Buried—And His Fiancée Knew Why

Alessandro let the phone ring.

Mrs. Bell led them into the kitchen and pulled a tin of flour from a high shelf. Beneath the flour sat a red notebook wrapped in plastic.

“Isabella left this with me three months ago,” she said. “She told me to give it to Mara if she stopped coming around.”

Mara wiped flour from the cover. Her mother’s handwriting filled the first page.

Names. Dates. Payments made through charities and shell companies. Notes about trucks arriving at Romano warehouses with contents that didn’t match their paperwork.

Near the middle of the ledger, Mara found a page marked JULY 18 — EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO.

“Is that the day of the fire?” she asked.

Alessandro nodded.

The entry listed three names: Alessandro’s father, Enzo Romano; a city medical examiner; and a woman named Helen Vale.

“Victoria’s mother,” Alessandro said.

Beside Helen’s name was a payment of eighty thousand dollars.

Mrs. Bell pulled up a chair. “Isabella discovered Enzo was moving money through one of her family’s charitable foundations. She wanted out. She went to the authorities.”

“Why didn’t she take us with her?” Alessandro asked.

“She tried. Enzo found out. He kept you at the house and had men watching Mara’s school. Isabella agreed to vanish because he promised to leave you both alone.”

Mara stared at the ledger. Her mother had told her they’d moved from city to city because they were starting over. Mara had believed her.

“And the body?” Alessandro asked.

“Ask Enzo.”

Alessandro’s phone rang again. Luca.

This time he answered. “Where is Victoria?”

A pause.

“Upstairs,” Luca said.

“Put her on.”

There was movement on the line, then Victoria’s voice. “Are you done chasing a maid’s story?”

Alessandro looked at Mara and spoke carefully. “Nearly.”

Victoria laughed. “Come home, then.”

The call ended.

Mrs. Bell leaned forward. “Isabella thought Helen Vale helped Enzo stage the funeral. Years later, Helen died, and Victoria found some of her papers. That’s when Victoria began asking about Isabella.”

“Where is my mother now?” Mara asked.

Mrs. Bell’s eyes fell to the ledger. “She called me yesterday. Said she’d found out where the body came from. She was going to confront someone.”

“Who?”

Before Mrs. Bell could answer, a car door slammed outside.