Chapter 2 – The Dead Husband's Secret
The laboratory report arrived before sunrise the next morning.
Marco Ricci carried the sealed envelope directly into Alessandro Duca's private office.
Neither man spoke until the heavy oak door clicked shut.
Marco laid the report on the desk.
"The results came back."
Alessandro looked up from the financial documents he had been pretending to read.
"And?"
Marco hesitated.
"The sedative wasn't accidental."
Silence.
He opened the report and slid it across the desk.
"The lab identified traces of Etorphen-X9, an experimental neurological sedative. It's colorless, nearly odorless, and dissolves completely in hot liquids."
Alessandro frowned.
"I've never heard of it."
"Very few people have. It isn't sold commercially. According to the lab, only a handful of pharmaceutical companies and research hospitals have ever had access to it."
"How dangerous?"
Marco's expression darkened.
"In a healthy adult, a small dose causes deep unconsciousness."
"And a larger dose?"
"It can stop breathing."
Alessandro leaned back in his chair.
"So Emma was right."
Marco nodded.
"Someone intended for you to never wake up."
Downstairs, life inside the mansion looked strangely normal.
Breakfast was served.
Fresh flowers decorated the dining room.
The gardeners trimmed hedges beneath the bright summer sun.
Yet beneath the polished surface, fear had settled over every employee.
Security officers now stood at every entrance.
Kitchen supplies were inspected before being unloaded.
No one entered or left without permission.
Whispers followed every servant through the halls.
Everyone wondered the same thing.
Who among them had tried to kill Alessandro Duca?
Sophia folded towels in the laundry room while Emma sat nearby, carefully brushing her stuffed rabbit with a tiny plastic hairbrush.
She had barely slept.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Alessandro lowering the coffee cup.
If Emma had arrived thirty seconds later...
She forced the thought away.
A knock sounded at the door.
Marco entered.
"Mr. Duca would like to speak with you again."
Sophia's heart skipped.
"Am I in trouble?"
"No."
He glanced toward Emma.
"Bring her too."
The library felt warmer than before.
Sunlight streamed through the tall windows as Alessandro stood beside an old fireplace.
He motioned for them to sit.
"I've been thinking about what Emma said."
Sophia nodded quietly.
"So have I."
"I'd like to ask you more about your husband."
For several moments she remained silent.
Then she spoke.
"Daniel wasn't sick."
Alessandro waited.
"He never had heart problems."
"What happened the day he died?"
Sophia stared at the floor.
"He came home nervous."
"Nervous why?"
"He wouldn't tell me."
She swallowed hard.
"He kept saying someone had made a terrible mistake."
"A mistake?"
"He said he had seen something at work that he wasn't supposed to see."
Alessandro exchanged a glance with Marco.
"What exactly?"
"I don't know."
"He never explained?"
"He wanted to."
Tears filled her eyes.
"But every time he started talking..."
"...he looked toward the window."
"As if someone was watching."
Emma suddenly looked up from the picture she had been drawing.
"I remember."
The adults turned toward her.
Sophia blinked.
"What do you remember, sweetheart?"
Emma continued coloring.
"Daddy was scared."
Sophia's voice trembled.
"How do you know?"
"He told Bunny."
She held up the faded rabbit.
"He thought I was sleeping."
The room became perfectly still.
"What did he say?" Alessandro asked gently.
Emma thought for a moment.
Then repeated the words exactly as she remembered them.
"He said..."
"...'If anything happens to me, don't let them find the folder.'"
Sophia gasped.
Marco immediately reached for his notebook.
"The folder?" Alessandro asked.
Emma nodded.
"He hid it."
"Where?"
The little girl frowned.
"I don't know."
"You saw him?"
She nodded again.
"He kissed Mommy."
"He kissed me."
"Then he hid something."
Sophia covered her mouth.
She remembered the kiss.
She remembered Daniel standing in the hallway longer than usual.
But she had never noticed him hiding anything.
Marco stood.
"We need to search your old apartment."
Sophia's face fell.
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"I lost it after Daniel died."
"The landlord threw everything away."
"Are you sure?"
She nodded sadly.
"It was months ago."
Emma quietly shook her head.
"No."
Everyone looked at her again.
"The folder isn't there."
Alessandro crouched beside her.
"How do you know?"
She smiled proudly.
"Because Daddy said..."
"...'Only birds can see it.'"
The room fell silent.
Marco frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Sophia whispered,
"I have no idea."
But Alessandro did.
His eyes slowly drifted toward the enormous windows overlooking the estate.
"Birds..."
He repeated the word softly.
Then suddenly turned to Marco.
"The roof."
Marco looked confused.
"The attic windows," Alessandro continued. "Anything hidden where only birds could see it..."
Understanding flashed across Marco's face.
"You think he hid it above eye level."
"Exactly."
That afternoon, Marco drove Sophia and Emma back to the small rental house where they now lived.
The place was modest.
A narrow porch.
Peeling white paint.
An old maple tree stretching over the roof.
Marco climbed into the dusty attic while Sophia waited below.
Cardboard boxes.
Broken furniture.
Old Christmas decorations.
Nothing unusual.
He was about to climb back down...
When a faint breeze caught his attention.
One loose ceiling board shifted slightly.
Marco pried it open.
Inside lay a weatherproof plastic envelope covered in dust.
His pulse quickened.
He pulled it free.
Across the front, written in black marker, were five simple words.
If you're reading this... run.
Marco stared at the envelope.
Then carefully opened it.
Inside was a thick stack of documents.
Photographs.
Chemical reports.
Employee records.
And one flash drive.
At the very bottom sat a handwritten note.
May you like
It contained only one sentence.
They already own the police.
