Taking advantage of the slightly more relaxed atmosphere prevailing in Angelo Manzini’s mansion following the day Moira started helping with the cooking, Moira thought it would be a great time to explore the mansion and admire some of its out of this world interior décor and external landscaping.Accompanied by Skinner, who had been opening up to her more each day, Moira took a tour of the mansion, a multi-level work of architectural genius constructed at the top of a small hill and spreading down the sloped side to the foot of the hill. From the front- at the bottom of the hill- all three storeys were breathtakingly visible. But from behind it- atop the hill, only the top floor could be seen; as though it was a small structure perched right on top of the small hill.A massive six car garage, a huge, open plan fully equipped kitchen complete with walk in pantry and breakfast area; and a luxuriously furnished dining room adjoined to an equally luxurious lounge made up the lowest level.

The day after Moira toured Angelo’s mansion was a Friday; and Skinner’s schedule said he had to do the weekly shopping for groceries. His conversation with Angelo, right after another silent breakfast, confirmed the butler was going to be out for at least two hours. Hearing this, Moira knew she was going to be alone in the mansion. Judging from the butler’s demeanour that morning, she was still getting the silent treatment from Skinner; and Moira realised that she might have underestimated the respect that the butler had for Angelo. Though she had been looking forward to the shopping day and expecting to finally be allowed to accompany Skinner on the excursion; the vibe between them told her that it was not going to happen. It was going to be yet another lonely day alone in the most luxurious house she had ever set foot in; albeit the loneliest place she had to endure living in. An hour after Angelo left, Skinner also did.

After yet another week of nothing but helping Skinner with the same repetitive house chores, Moira could not stand the boredom inducing routine anymore. She sorely missed her friends, mum and dad and even Tony, whom she hoped might still be waiting for her- by some remote chance. It was Thursday; and the next day, was going to be Skinner’s shopping day, as usual. So she just walked up to him early in the morning and asked him to speak to Angelo on her behalf; about allowing her to tag along on the shopping trip. “Why don’t you just ask him yourself?” Skinner continued gathering ingredients from the pantry onto his tray. “Come on, Skinner. You know that he will listen to you; he probably trusts you more.” Moira reasoned. “And what gives you that idea? Why would he listen to anything I say about you? I hardly know you and the boss knows it as well as you do.&rd

For a girl who had literally been imprisoned for over a month, being out in the free world- walking freely in the crowded streets and breathing the polluted city air- was like heaven on earth. Right from the moment when Skinner gave her the good news, Moira felt like she was floating on a cloud; nothing could put her spirits down. Not only had Angelo given her the green light to go on the shopping trip, he also gave her his personal Platinum VISA card so that she could buy some new clothes and personal supplies. The rest of the day out at the market and the mall was, for Moira, like a child’s first visit to Disneyland.“Thanks for talking to Angelo for me. You really made my day today; I needed this treat.” Moira said as she placed her shopping bags in the trunk of the car.“You really didn’t give me much of a choice, remember.” Skinner winked at Moira and forced a smile. “Let’s go, the boss said he’ll be waiting for us back at the house. I don’t want to keep him waiting for too long.

Skinner didn’t need to stay too long in Angelo’s private ‘shrine’ room before coming to a conclusion. From the entry hall, he signalled Moira to come closer so he could whisper the feedback to her, “There is no way that boy is the same one in those pictures. I knew he couldn’t be the boss’ son, I knew it.”   “How can you be so sure? He was just a baby in the pictures. I still think it makes perfect sense that it’s his boy.” Moira waved and smiled at Kevin to reassure him that she wasn’t going to leave him alone. With that, Kevin relaxed and shifted his focus back to the TV.   “But you’re forgetting one key factor, those baby pictures are at least ten years old; the kid would have been much older than Kevin. It’s not his son, I’m telling you.” Skinner, who had raised his voice a little for emphasis, quickly checked on Kevin who was still glued to the TV.   “How can you tell when the pictures were taken?” Moira asked.