THE MAFIA BOSS CAME HOME TO SEE HIS WIFE PUSH HIS SIX-YEAR-OLD SON DOWN THE STAIRS—BUT THE BOY'S LAST WORD BEFORE THE AMBULANCE EXPOSED A SECRET SHE HAD BURIED FOR FOUR YEARS

Chapter 08 - The Ledger Under the Floor

Elena's old study held one more secret. As an archivist examined the blue box, he noticed a shallow false bottom. Beneath it lay a photograph of a floorboard beside the music room fireplace, marked with a small pencil cross.

The floorboard lifted only after workers removed a molding strip. Inside the narrow cavity was a metal document case, water-resistant but scratched. It contained an original ledger and an external drive from Elena's office. Salvatore felt an almost unbearable urge to open everything himself. Dana insisted on proper documentation and chain of custody.

The ledger showed accounts that did not appear on the freight subsidiary's financial reports. Some invoices bore Dominic's authorization; others appeared to have been approved using Elena's credentials after her death. The drive held emails, but several were incomplete and their authenticity needed verification.

Salvatore read enough to understand that Elena had been trying to uncover serious wrongdoing, then stopped. He had spent four years blaming himself for failing to save her. Now he needed to avoid turning his grief into certainty about facts investigators had not yet established.

Nicholas had noticed the hidden floorboard when he played hide-and-seek with his mother. She called it her “secret piano note,” he explained. “She said only the stars could tell Daddy where it was.”

Salvatore looked at the box. Elena had hidden her evidence where a child might one day remember it, but had left instructions intended for adults. He wished she'd had someone she could trust openly.

One evening Nicholas asked whether Elena had been scared before she died. Salvatore was quiet for a moment.

“I think she worried about some things,” he said. “But I also remember her singing while she baked cookies, dancing in socks, and laughing so hard she couldn't finish a story.”

“Was she brave because she wasn't scared?”

“No. Sometimes bravery means being scared and still asking for help.”