Chapter 5
Bernadette hired an attorney.
She denied putting medication in Luca’s tea.
Her written statement described the luncheon as a misunderstanding intensified by Vittorio’s temper.
She admitted kicking the cobbler.
She called it “an unfortunate joke.”
She admitted encouraging Luca to drink tea.
She denied adding anything harmful.
As for the household beverage protocol, Bernadette said it referred only to caffeine-free drinks and low-sugar options.
Claire read the statement aloud in Vittorio’s office.
When she finished, Vittorio said:
“She’s lying.”
“Probably.”
“Probably?”
“You want a lawyer who agrees with your anger or one who tells you what the evidence proves?”
He looked at her.
“The second.”
“Then right now we prove Luca had an unprescribed substance in his system. We prove Bernadette gave him a drink. We prove she created or influenced recurring beverage rules. We do not yet prove she personally introduced the substance.”
Vittorio hated every word.
He accepted them anyway.
Police searched Bernadette’s residence pursuant to legal process.
They found ordinary medications.
Supplements.
Tea.
Nothing that instantly solved the case.
No convenient labeled bottle announcing guilt.
That frustrated several family members who had already chosen sides.
Vittorio refused to.
Not because he trusted Bernadette.
Because Luca deserved facts strong enough to survive court.
The next piece came from the estate accountant.
Bernadette had submitted regular reimbursement requests under “child hospitality supplies.”
Amounts were small.
Fifty dollars.
Eighty.
A hundred twenty.
Never enough to attract Vittorio’s attention.
Receipts came from pharmacies, specialty grocery stores, and online retailers.
The accountant originally assumed they were vitamins, children’s snacks, and travel supplies.
Claire obtained the reimbursement packets.
Several receipts had product descriptions manually blacked out before submission.
“Who approved reimbursement?”
“The family office.”
“Who checked what was underneath?”
“Nobody.”
Vittorio stared at the black rectangles.
For years he had required multiple signatures to move large sums of money.
Meanwhile, small household purchases passed under the threshold of suspicion because powerful adults considered domestic details unimportant.
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He was beginning to understand that Bernadette had hidden not behind sophistication.
Behind everyone’s assumption that child care was too ordinary to audit.
