Chapter 9
Finding Natalie was not simple.
Nor should it have been.
She had deliberately kept her address private.
She had worked under her own legal name, but moved twice and used a mail service for public records.
Claire refused to treat that as suspicious.
“People who want privacy do normal things to preserve it.”
Cassandro nodded.
The old police department would not disclose her location without legal authority.
Correct.
Instead, investigators followed the permitted trail.
Natalie had retained an attorney seven months after leaving Illinois.
Her name was Monica Reed.
Monica still practiced in Milwaukee.
She would confirm only one thing initially:
“Natalie did not consider herself free to contact Mr. Moretti.”
Cassandro sat across from Claire.
“What does that mean?”
“It means Monica wants to speak through counsel.”
“Fine.”
The first exchange took a week.
Claire sent the new evidence.
The audit.
The estate correspondence log.
Proof that Cassandro had never received Natalie’s three later letters.
Proof that the disputed transfer used Natalie’s credentials while she was at Audrey’s pediatric appointment.
Then Monica sent a response.
Natalie was willing to give a formal statement.
On conditions.
No Moretti bodyguards inside the meeting.
No Damian.
No Vivienne.
Independent location.
Her own attorney present.
Police investigator present.
Cassandro could attend only if Natalie agreed after the first portion.
He accepted every condition.
The meeting was scheduled in Milwaukee.
Cassandro spent the night before it awake.
He had imagined Natalie dead.
Happy.
Remarried.
Hating him.
Indifferent.
He had never seriously imagined sitting outside a conference room waiting to be told whether the woman who disappeared two years earlier wanted to see him.
Claire sat beside him.
“You understand something.”
“What?”
“She may have made choices that hurt Audrey even if she was manipulated.”
“I know.”
“Do not turn her into a saint because other people may have harmed her.”
“I know.”
“And do not turn yourself into the only victim.”
Cassandro looked at her.
“I know.”
Claire nodded.
“Then maybe we’ve finally trained you.”
The investigator entered twenty minutes later.
“Natalie has given an initial statement.”
Cassandro stood.
“Is she here?”
“Yes.”
His chest tightened.
“Does she want to see me?”
The investigator paused.
“Yes.”
The door opened.
Natalie Moretti walked into the room.
Older by two years.
Thinner.
Her hair shorter.
Alive.
Cassandro did not move toward her.
Natalie did not move toward him.
For several seconds, they simply looked at each other.
Then she saw the blue bracelet on the photograph Claire had brought from Audrey’s recent therapy file.
Natalie covered her mouth.
“She still wears it?”
Cassandro’s voice almost failed.
May you like
“Yes.”
That was all either of them managed before the formal statement began.
