Chapter 3
Mara Quinn reopened every assumption.
First:
The blood on Sofia’s car.
It was hers.
But not enough to establish catastrophic injury.
A small transfer stain.
Potentially from a cut hand.
Second:
The lake.
Search teams had covered the most likely entry points.
No vehicle had entered the water from the parking area where Sofia’s car was found.
Third:
The phone.
It had been powered off manually.
Not damaged.
Fourth:
Sofia’s wedding ring.
Not in the car.
Not at home.
Missing.
Dominic said:
“She never took it off.”
Mara asked:
“Would she have if she planned to leave you?”
Dominic looked away.
“Maybe.”
That answer mattered.
Sofia’s marriage had not been easy.
Dominic loved her.
He was also still running a criminal organization.
Sofia had spent years demanding he separate legitimate assets from criminal influence.
Dominic made changes.
Not enough.
She had threatened to leave twice before Rose’s birth.
Mara did not allow Dominic to turn himself into a grieving hero.
“If your wife wanted to disappear from you, that possibility remains.”
Dominic nodded.
“I know.”
“Did you ever threaten her?”
“No.”
“Did people around you?”
“Not with my permission.”
“That was not my question.”
Silence.
Dominic finally said:
“Yes.”
That honesty helped more than posturing would have.
Then investigators reviewed Sofia’s foundation communications.
Her final week was busy.
No goodbye tone.
No plan to run.
She had scheduled:
A pediatric hospital meeting Friday.
An independent audit call Monday.
A board governance session Tuesday.
A vaccination appointment for Rose Thursday.
People planning to vanish did not necessarily cancel calendars.
Still, Sofia’s schedule looked like a woman expecting next week to exist normally.
Then Mara found something stranger.
Three days before Sofia disappeared, the Bellaforte foundation’s commercial crime insurer received a preliminary notice.
Potential loss:
$3.82 million.
Suspected cause:
Employee dishonesty.
Potential responsible executive:
Sofia Bellaforte.
Dominic stared at the document.
“What the hell is that?”
The insurer had been told the foundation suspected Sofia diverted restricted money.
Then disappeared before answering questions.
Notice submitted by:
Veronica Bellaforte.
Dominic looked up.
“She filed this before Sofia vanished?”
Mara checked.
“No.”
The notice was filed thirty-one hours after Sofia’s disappearance.
But the draft attached to Veronica’s email had been created six days earlier.
Before anyone was missing.
May you like
That was the first serious clue.
Somebody had prepared a story about Sofia stealing money before Sofia disappeared.
