Chapter 7 - THE OLD ACCOUNT
The old account had belonged to Sofia's pilot team, not to Sofia alone. When investigators decrypted the drive, they found that Rafael had copied its credentials after her death and kept the name.
No evidence connected her fatal highway accident to Conrad's scheme. Maya said this plainly to Domenico before discussing the rest, knowing how grief could turn a coincidence into a torment.
The folder contained years of vendor drafts, false signatures, and spreadsheets recording the gap between promised grants and actual payments. Some entries carried Conrad's notes in the margins.
One note read: “Leave Mancini clean until review.” Another marked Miriam's signature as “pressure.” The words gave investigators leads; the original records and witness accounts would have to establish what happened.
Rafael agreed to speak with police through his attorney. He described sending payments where Conrad ordered, then keeping a share when his own debts mounted. He had also assembled the cropped garden clip.
“He said the boy wouldn't be touched,” Rafael reported. Domenico heard the account from Maya and felt fury rise at the idea that such a promise made the plan less monstrous.
Conrad's own staged sequence contradicted it. The bar had been lifted over Eli before Domenico entered the frame. Whatever Conrad claimed to expect, he had made a child his instrument.
The detective asked that no one contact Rafael directly. Domenico agreed. He concentrated on the practical work he could do: verify payments, support staff, and keep the home safe.
A week after the attack, Eli requested the garden again. Dr. Salvatierra suggested letting him lead, so Domenico followed a few steps behind with the ball under his arm.
Eli stopped beside the pergola. New flowers filled the overturned bed, but the sight of the chair's empty place tightened his expression. He held up his hand.
Domenico stopped immediately. They stood there until Eli asked him to put the ball on the path. Then he walked forward, nudged it once with his shoe, and retreated.
“That was enough,” Domenico said. Eli shook his head. “Tomorrow I might kick it harder.” The possibility was small, bright, and entirely his own.
Miriam had begun meeting with a counselor and working with the audit without access to grant approvals. One afternoon she asked Domenico whether Eli would accept a visit on the porch.
“He has to choose,” Domenico answered. “You may tell him you're available. No speeches, and no asking him to forgive you.” Miriam accepted those terms without negotiating them.
Eli chose a porch visit two days later. Miriam brought no presents. She sat where he indicated, leaving the steps between them open, while Domenico remained inside the screen door.
“I saw you were scared and protected Conrad first,” she said. “I was wrong. You didn't cause it, and you don't have to say anything to me.”
Eli pushed a toy car along the porch rail. “You said he was nice when I told you he shouted.” Miriam nodded. “I should have listened the first time.”
He asked if she would still tell Conrad where he was. “No,” she said. “I won't share anything about you with him.” Eli sent the car back the way it had come.
The meeting ended when he raised his hand. Miriam stood, thanked him for letting her speak, and left. Afterward Eli wanted a glass of water and said nothing more about it.
At the foundation, Nora confirmed that emergency assistance had reached every North Gate household that had reported a missed payment. The audit identified additional families who might never have known their records were false.
Elena Ruiz signed for a repaired apartment door, then demanded to see the receipt before Nora marked the work complete. Nora showed her the line reserved for a resident's own confirmation.
“That's how it should have worked,” Elena said. She photographed the form for her records and took her daughter's hand as the repairman packed away his tools.
Conrad's attorney filed a motion challenging the device search. The investigation slowed while the court considered the issue. Domenico learned to live with an outcome he could not speed up.
Then an unsigned letter reached the foundation's clinic address. Inside was a list of four vendor payments absent from the drive, all routed through a different bank after the garden incident.
The figures were modest compared with the larger missing grants. Their dates were not. Someone had moved money after Conrad was suspended and after Rafael's access had been cut.
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Nora referred the letter and her account logs to investigators. Domenico looked at the handwriting but resisted the urge to name a hidden enemy. The board had already learned what certainty without evidence could cost.
He went home in time to see Eli on the lawn. His son gave the cream ball a careful kick, then another. It rolled past the flowerbed without striking anything at all.
