Chapter 7 - The Storm Over the Manor
Night fell over the Boston coast in a fierce, dark rainstorm. Heavy thunder rolled across the ocean bay, rattling the tall, arched bay windows of the Duca mansion.
Inside the secure basement holding office, Renata sat pinned in a wooden chair, flanked by two armed security guards. Her dark housekeeping uniform was rumpled, her polished bun falling apart, her eyes red with rising panic.
The door opened, and Lorenzo walked inside, holding a glass of dark espresso in his hand. He wore his black trousers and crisp white dress shirt, his light-brown vest unbuttoned, his luxury watch catching the dim overhead light.
He set the glass on the desk before her.
"The forensic team from the state police just finished analyzing the fingerprints on the gold clock, Renata," Lorenzo said, his gravelly voice calm and absolute. "Your thumb-print was recovered from the glass case and the interior brass gears."
Renata swallowed hard, her manicured hands trembling against her lap. "Mr. Duca... please..."
"Furthermore," Lorenzo continued, pulling an encrypted tablet from his pocket, "Frank just accessed your private bank records. Marco Duca transferred fifty thousand dollars to your offshore account at three o'clock this afternoon."
Renata’s breath hitched in her throat. The final wall of her deception collapsed into dust.
"It was Marco!" Renata wept, her voice cracking with desperate panic. "He told me Mrs. Harper found the shredded land deed in the east wing! He said if I didn't get her evicted before sunset, he would ruin my career and fire my brother from the shipping docks!"
Lorenzo stood motionless beside the desk, his dark eyes showing no mercy. "You tried to destroy an innocent woman and a four-year-old child for money, Renata."
"I had no choice!" she cried out.
"You had a choice," Lorenzo growled softly. "And you chose poorly."
May you like
He turned to Frank standing at the door. "Hand Renata over to the state prosecutor's office. Charge her with corporate extortion, evidence tampering, and conspiracy."
As the guards dragged the weeping housekeeper out of the office, Lorenzo walked back up the stone stairs toward the main floor. The storm raged outside, but inside his mind, the path to justice was crystal clear.
