Chapter 6
Edmund’s version was different.
He admitted searching Gabriella’s office after her death.
He claimed he was trying to find evidence that she had made unauthorized payments while sick.
Salvatore stared at him.
“You thought my wife was stealing?”
“I thought she had lost control of the books.”
“She wrote down the discrepancies.”
“She also approved some of them.”
“Her credentials did.”
Edmund’s jaw tightened.
“You want Gabriella to be untouchable because she died.”
Salvatore stood.
Rebecca said his name once.
He remained where he was.
Edmund continued.
“She was sick. She was taking medication. She made mistakes.”
“Then why hide from the ledger?”
“I wasn’t hiding from it.”
“You slapped my daughter asking where it was.”
Edmund looked ashamed for the first time.
Not enough.
But something.
“That was unforgivable.”
“Yes.”
“I lost control.”
“You reached for her twice.”
Edmund looked down.
“I know.”
Salvatore waited.
Then Edmund said something strange.
“You think that ledger destroys me.”
“Doesn’t it?”
Edmund’s eyes moved toward the window.
“No.”
Salvatore studied him.
“What does it destroy?”
Edmund refused to answer.
That was not an exoneration.
It was direction.
Daniel continued tracing money.
The direct personal benefit to Marina grew.
$64,000.
Then $91,000.
Then $143,000.
Payments covered debt on her event venue, legal bills from a failed business partnership, and a personal line of credit.
Marina had motive.
But Edmund had authorized the vendor system that made it possible.
Rebecca summarized it simply.
“She appears to have taken money. He appears to have made the structure possible.”
Salvatore looked at Gabriella’s ledger.
“Then why put Gabriella’s name on approvals?”
“That is the question.”
The answer seemed obvious.
Spread responsibility.
Make the books messy enough that nobody could identify one person.
But Gabriella’s notes suggested something more deliberate.
She had written medical appointment codes beside certain dates.
Not all.
Only the transactions under her name.
On one page she wrote:
Keep treatment calendar. They may need proof I wasn’t here.
Third clue.
May you like
Gabriella was not merely auditing fraud.
She was preserving an alibi.
