Chapter 6 - MIRIAM'S SIGNATURE
Police did not give Domenico a copy of the encrypted folder. They confirmed only that the drive belonged to the investigation and that the audit could proceed using the foundation's own records.
This boundary frustrated him, then steadied him. Every time the family tried to solve a crime through private pressure, someone with less power ended up carrying the risk.
The independent administrator, Nora Bell, began calling every North Gate household personally. She asked what had been promised, what had arrived, and what was needed before another night passed.
Some families had letters but no money. Others had been told to sign forms accepting repairs they had never seen. Nora reopened claims without making people prove Conrad's intentions first.
Elena Ruiz visited the office after her daughter returned to school. She gave Nora a receipt with a vendor signature that appeared on eight different repairs, all dated the same afternoon.
Lucía compared the handwriting with an earlier authorization from Rafael. The signature looked identical because it was a copied image, pasted into documents intended to look independently signed.
Rafael's lawyer contacted Maya the next morning. He wanted to discuss cooperation. Maya directed him to investigators and warned the board that any deal or confession lay beyond foundation control.
Miriam learned these developments in a meeting she had requested herself. Maya went through every agreement Miriam had signed, year by year, without softening the negligence or inventing crimes.
Her original guarantee had covered Conrad's business loan. Later documents authorized reimbursement claims from the foundation for services he said his company provided. Several approvals bore Miriam's signature.
“I never saw a family list,” she said. Maya answered, “You approved a system that could pay vendors before a family confirmed the work. That is a serious failure.”
Miriam could have blamed grief or age. Instead she wrote a detailed account of what she remembered and supplied her old correspondence. She offered to cooperate with restitution, regardless of liability.
That night she found a folder labeled SOFIA in her desk. Inside was a letter Sofia had written during the first North Gate pilot, shortly before the accident that killed her.
Sofia described how much she admired the family's ability to mobilize help. Then she added one careful sentence: “A signature should travel with a person who can tell us what changed.”
Miriam had praised the letter once and filed it away. She read it now beside the unsigned apology to Eli, seeing how easily she had praised a principle while allowing exceptions for Conrad.
At the kitchen table, Domenico reviewed the foundation's repaired payment process with Nora. Recipients would confirm work directly; no single executive could redirect money without an independent approval.
He would submit to review as well. His absence from day-to-day oversight had made it easier for Conrad to build a shadow system, even if it did not make Domenico responsible for the fraud.
When Eli entered, they closed the files. The boy raised one hand, then pointed outside. He wanted to see the garden but not the broken chair, which had already been removed.
Domenico walked with him to the stone path. New grass covered the shallow mark where the bar had landed. Eli held his father's fingers tightly and stopped at the flowerbed.
“Can we put the ball here again?” he asked. Domenico told him they could, and that stopping halfway counted as trying. Eli chose to return another day.
Miriam watched from the window. She wanted to go out and explain everything, but kept still when Eli's hand rose briefly at the sight of her reflection.
Later, Isabel brought Adrián to the police child specialist. Adrián said his father had told him the red ball was lost, then ordered him not to enter the garden that afternoon.
He also described seeing Conrad borrow Miriam's tablet at breakfast. Investigators took the account in a controlled interview, without Domenico or Miriam present to influence him.
Afterward Isabel called Domenico. “He's asking if telling the truth means his father will stop loving him,” she said. Domenico sat down before answering. “Please tell him none of this is his burden.”
He knew reassurance from another family member could not settle that fear. Isabel had already arranged counseling, and Domenico offered to pay without attaching a request to see Adrián.
At sunset, Maya called with a limited update. Investigators had identified the encrypted folder's owner account. It had been created the night Sofia's first North Gate grant was approved.
May you like
No one yet knew what it held. Domenico's stomach tightened at the coincidence, but Maya cautioned him against turning an old date into a theory about Sofia's death.
He thanked her and went upstairs. Eli had fallen asleep with his wooden bridge beside the bed, one toy car parked halfway across, safely supported by both sides.
