CHAPTER 54 - UNDER SCRUTINY

The accounting Luca demanded took two days to compile properly.

It was tedious work, requiring more than a simple statement of where everyone had been.

Every man who had known the raid's timing was required to provide a detailed record of his movements and communications during the hour before the operation began. Luca wanted exact times, names, phone numbers, locations, messages, and anyone who could confirm where they had been.

Nothing was considered too insignificant to include.

Elias spent most of the second day going through the records available to him before submitting his account.

He listed every movement he could remember, every conversation that mattered, and every communication made during the relevant hour.

There was one call to a supplier during that period, brief and routine, concerning the terms of an upcoming shipment. He included the number, the time of the call, and the reason for it in his report.

The supplier's logistics manager had been the person on the other end, and the conversation had lasted four minutes.

By the time Elias brought the completed report to Luca's office, several other accounts were already spread across the desk.

Marchetti stood near the window with his arms folded over his chest.

Two of the men involved in the raid waited against the far wall, while the other two had been asked to remain outside until Luca was ready for them.

Elias placed his report on the desk.

"Finished," Elias said.

Luca pulled the folder toward himself and opened it.

"Sit down," Luca said.

Elias took the empty chair opposite him.

For several minutes, Luca read without speaking.

His eyes moved steadily from one line to the next, occasionally stopping at a particular time or entry before continuing.

Eventually, his finger stopped near the middle of the second page.

"Your call," Luca said.

Elias looked at the line Luca was indicating.

"Yes," Elias replied.

"To the supplier?"

"That's right," Elias said. "It was about next month's shipment."

Luca raised his eyes from the page.

"What exactly did you discuss?"

"The payment schedule," Elias answered. "There was a change to the arrangement, and the logistics manager wanted confirmation before they updated their records."

"Who spoke to you?"

"The logistics manager himself."

"Name?"

Elias gave him the man's name.

Luca wrote it down in the margin.

"When did you make the call?" Luca asked.

"Twenty three minutes before the raid."

"And how long did you speak?"

"Four minutes."

Luca looked back at the report.

"Why four minutes?"

"The supplier had a few questions about the revised terms," Elias explained. "Nothing unusual."

"Did you send anything after the call?"

"No," Elias said.

"Another call?"

"Not to him."

"Any messages?"

"No."

Luca leaned back slightly.

"You're certain?"

"Yes."

Luca studied him for another moment before looking down again.

"I intend to verify it," Luca said.

"You should," Elias replied.

A faint crease appeared between Luca's brows.

"You're not bothered by that?"

"Why would I be?" Elias asked.

"Because I'm checking your story." Luca said.

"You asked everyone for the same thing," Elias said calmly. "I don't see why I should be treated differently."

Luca watched him for a moment.

"Not because I doubt you specifically, Elias," Luca said. "Because I've decided, after tonight, to doubt everyone equally until I have a reason not to."

Elias nodded once.

"That's the right approach," Elias said.

Marchetti shifted near the window.

Luca glanced toward him before returning his attention to Elias.

"You agree with that?"

"If someone inside the house is passing information, then assuming someone is trustworthy simply because they've been here for years would be careless," Elias answered.

Marchetti frowned.

"That's reassuring," Marchetti muttered.

Luca ignored the comment.

Elias remained seated.

"Records can only tell you so much," Elias said. "But they can at least establish whether someone's account is consistent with what actually happened."

Luca tapped his finger against the desk.

"And if the records are clean?"

"Then you look somewhere else."

"You make it sound easy." Luca said.

"It isn't easy," Elias said. "It's just the next step."

Luca gave him a long look before closing the folder.

"Wait outside."

Elias stood.

"All right."

He left the office with Marchetti.

The next account belonged to Marchetti.

Luca went through it line by line, stopping several times to ask questions.

"Your wife called you at twenty seven minutes past?"

"Yes," Marchetti answered.

"You're certain?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because she was asking whether I was coming home the following morning," Marchetti said. "We had already discussed it earlier that day."

Luca looked at the phone record.

"The call lasted six minutes."

"That's right."

"You didn't call anyone else afterward?"

"No."

"Messages?"

"One."

"What was it?"

"She sent me the address of the place she wanted me to pick something up from."

Luca nodded.

"Fine."

Marchetti stepped back.

The four men who had carried out the breach were questioned next.

Their accounts were nearly identical.

They had been together before the operation, preparing the equipment and going over the route.

None of them had made a call during the hour before the raid.

There were no unexplained messages, no missing periods of time, and no movements that could not be accounted for by one of the others.

Luca questioned each man separately.

"Did any of you leave the room?" Luca asked one of them.

"No," the man answered.

"Not even briefly?"

"No."

"Did anyone receive a call?"

"No."

"You're certain?"

"Yes."

Luca asked the same questions again in slightly different forms.

The answers remained consistent.

By the time the last man left the office, the room had grown quiet.

Luca gathered the reports into a single stack and stared at them.

"Then it comes back to the four of us who knew the timing beforehand," Luca said.

Elias remained standing near the desk.

"And none of the four accounts gives you anything you can act on," Elias said.

Luca looked at him.

"Exactly."

Elias glanced at the reports.

"Which means either the warning didn't come from any of us directly, or it came through a channel that isn't showing up in the records."

Luca leaned back in his chair.

"Or someone in this room is lying convincingly enough that a records check wouldn't catch it."

His gaze moved slowly from Marchetti to Elias and then back again.

Nobody spoke.

The silence lasted several seconds.

Marchetti finally broke it.

"You're saying one of us could have arranged it without leaving anything behind?"

"I'm saying I don't know," Luca replied.

Marchetti shook his head.

"After all this, we're still at I don't know?"

"We're closer than we were three months ago," Elias said.

Luca turned toward him.

"How?"

"We've eliminated people."

"Not enough."

"No," Elias agreed. "Not enough."

Luca looked down at the reports again.

"Then what am I missing?"

Elias considered the question.

"If the records don't point anywhere, maybe the records aren't where we should be looking."

"Meaning?"

"The information could have moved through someone who didn't know what they were carrying."

Luca's eyes narrowed.

"A messenger."

"Possibly."

"An outsider?"

"Possibly."

"Someone inside the house who doesn't know the full picture?"

"Also possible."

Luca leaned forward.

"You're giving me possibilities, Elias."

"Because that's what we have."

"You're usually better at narrowing them down."

"I can narrow them down when there's evidence to work with."

Luca sat back again.

"And right now?"

"Right now, we have four people who know the timing and four accounts that don't give us anything useful."

Luca stared at him.

"If you believe that," Elias continued, "then a records check was never going to satisfy you regardless of what it produced."

Luca's expression hardened slightly.

"What would satisfy you, Elias?"

Elias met his gaze.

"A name," Luca answered himself after a brief pause. "A name I can point to and know I'm right."

"Then that's what we need to find," Elias said.

Luca looked at him for several seconds.

"I don't know how long that's going to take."

"Neither do I."

"Three months," Luca said quietly. "Three months of failures, investigations, interviews, and false leads."

Elias said nothing.

"And I'm still standing here without a name."

"We haven't finished," Elias said.

Luca gave a humorless smile.

"That's one way to look at it."

"It's the only useful way."

Luca picked up the folder containing the twelve remaining names.

"Keep working through these."

"I will."

"Cross reference their movements with the previous failures."

"All of them?"

"All of them."

Elias nodded.

"I'll start tonight."

"Tomorrow morning is fine."

"I'll have something by then."

Luca closed the folder.

"Good."

The meeting finally ended.

By the time Elias left the office, the mansion had fallen into an uneasy quiet.

People moved through the corridors more carefully than they had before.

Conversations became shorter whenever someone unfamiliar entered the room.

Doors that normally stood open were closed, and even those who had nothing to do with the investigation seemed to sense that something had changed.

The atmosphere had become impossible to ignore.

Elias walked through the eastern corridor and eventually stepped outside into the garden.

The air was cooler than inside.

He sat on a bench beneath one of the garden lights, resting his hands loosely together as he looked across the dark grounds.

He had been there for several minutes when he heard footsteps approaching.

"Elias?"

He turned his head.

Elena stood a short distance away.

"You've been difficult to find lately," Elena said as she approached.

"I've been busy," Elias replied.

"I noticed."

She sat beside him.

For a while, Elena said nothing.

She looked out toward the garden, then back at him.

"You've been different lately," Elena said eventually.

Elias glanced at her.

"Different how?"

"More tense."

"It's been a difficult week," Elias answered.

"Because of the investigation?"

"Partly."

"What else?"

"There are several things going on."

Elena looked at him.

"You always say that when you don't want to explain something."

Elias gave a faint smile.

"Maybe I don't know how to explain it."

"That's possible."

She paused.

"But I don't think that's all."

Elias looked toward the garden.

Elena studied his face for a moment.

"Are you in trouble?" she asked.

"Everyone in this house is under scrutiny right now," Elias replied.

"That's not what I asked."

"I know."

Elena waited.

Elias finally looked back at her.

"I was one of four people who knew the timing of the raid," he said. "Luca reviewed my movements and communications, just like he did with everyone else."

"And?" Elena asked.

"The review didn't give him anything useful."

"So you're clear?"

"As far as the records are concerned."

"For now?"

"For now."

Elena lowered her gaze.

"I don't like that answer."

"I know."

She was quiet for a moment.

Then she looked at him again.

"Does Luca suspect you?"

"He suspects everyone."

"Even you?"

"Anyone who has access to the information is going to be questioned."

"But does he suspect you?"

Elias took a moment before answering.

"I don't think I'm being treated differently from anyone else."

Elena nodded slowly.

"That's not exactly reassuring."

"No," Elias admitted. "It isn't."

She folded her hands in her lap.

"Elias."

He looked at her.

"Is there something you're not telling me?"

He was quiet for a moment.

"There's a lot happening right now that I don't know how to talk about," Elias said.

"That's still not an answer."

"I know."

Elena sighed.

"I just don't like seeing you like this."

"I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

"I've looked worse."

"That's not comforting."

A faint smile touched Elias's face.

"I'm beginning to think I'm very bad at comforting people."

"You are," Elena said.

Elias gave a quiet laugh.

The moment passed quickly.

Elena's expression became serious again.

"Are you scared?"

Elias leaned back against the bench.

"Concerned."

"What's the difference?"

"Fear makes you stop thinking," Elias explained. "Concern reminds you to pay attention."

Elena considered that.

"That's a very Elias answer."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"I haven't decided."

He smiled faintly.

They sat in silence for a while.

The lights from the mansion reached only part of the garden, leaving the far end almost completely dark.

Elena finally spoke again. "I trust you."

Elias turned toward her.

"I want you to know that," Elena continued.

"I know," Elias replied.

"I mean it." Elena said.

"I know you do."

Elena looked down. "Even though I don't understand everything that's happening."

"You don't need to understand everything." Elias said.

"Maybe I do."

"Not tonight."

She looked at him. "Why not?"

"Because there's already enough for everyone to deal with."

Elena was quiet.

"I just don't want you shutting everyone out," she said.

"I'll try not to." Elias said.

"That's not a promise." Elena said.

"It's the most honest answer I can give you."

She studied him for a moment before nodding. "All right."

Elena stood. "Good night, Elias."

"Good night."

She took a few steps toward the mansion before stopping. "Elias?"

He looked up.

"Be careful."

"I will," Elias replied.

Elena nodded and continued toward the house.

Elias remained on the bench for a while longer.

Inside the mansion, Luca was still working through the twelve names.

The investigation had narrowed considerably, yet the answer remained out of reach.

Four people had known the timing of the raid.

Four accounts had been examined.

Nothing had been enough.

For now, Luca had no name.

And the search continued.