Chapter 7 - Behind the Chapel Wall
Rafael had already moved two security men into the basement when Alejandro returned.
The old chapel stood behind a locked oak door near the wine cellar.
Its entrance had been covered by decorative shelving during the renovation.
They removed the shelving.
Behind it, they found masonry.
Fresh enough to be newer than the original stonework.
"Break it."
Rafael hesitated.
"This is your mother's property wing."
"It's my house."
"Break it."
Two workers arrived with tools.
Twenty minutes later, the sealed opening was large enough to enter.
Dust filled the narrow room.
The chapel was smaller than Alejandro remembered.
A wooden crucifix hung crookedly above a stone altar.
Old prayer books sat beneath years of dust.
Teresa entered behind them.
She walked toward a statue of Saint Michael.
"I put it here."
She reached behind the pedestal.
Nothing.
Her face fell.
"It was here."
Alejandro looked around.
"Think."
"I wrapped the envelope in plastic."
"I pushed it behind this stone."
Rafael shined his flashlight across the wall.
One stone had a slightly different color.
They removed it.
Behind it was an empty cavity.
Teresa covered her mouth.
"Someone found it."
Alejandro turned toward Rafael.
"Who supervised the renovation?"
Rafael checked old property records.
"Marcela."
Of course.
Alejandro felt anger rise.
Then one of the workers spoke.
"Señor."
He pointed toward the back of the cavity.
"There is something else."
A thin metal key had been wedged beneath the stone.
Attached to it was a paper tag.
E.A. 317.
Alejandro knew the initials.
Eduardo Aranda.
But the number meant nothing.
Teresa stared at the key.
"I have never seen that."
Rafael photographed it.
"We shouldn't remove anything else until investigators document the room."
Alejandro nodded.
For once, caution felt useful.
His phone rang.
An unknown number.
He answered.
"Mr. Aranda?"
The man's voice was nervous.
"Yes."
"My name is Tomas Velasco."
Alejandro recognized the surname immediately.
"Dr. Velasco's son?"
"Yes."
Alejandro walked away from the others.
"What do you want?"
"My father knows I'm calling you."
"He doesn't approve."
"Then why are you calling?"
"Because he is afraid."
Alejandro's pulse quickened.
"Of my mother?"
Silence.
"Mr. Aranda, my father treated your father before he died."
"I know."
"And he has treated your wife."
"I know that too."
Tomas lowered his voice.
"He kept records he was told to destroy."
Alejandro stopped walking.
"What records?"
"Your father's bloodwork."
"And notes about your wife's recent appointments."
"Where are they?"
"I can't tell you over the phone."
"Why?"
"Because someone has been watching our house."
Alejandro looked toward Rafael.
"Give me a location."
Tomas named a church in San Angel.
"Come alone at five."
"You expect me to trust you?"
"No."
"I expect you to understand that if my father wanted those records destroyed, I wouldn't be calling."
The line went dead.
Alejandro checked the time.
3:42.
Rafael approached.
"Problem?"
"Maybe."
Before Alejandro could explain, another message appeared.
This one was from the toxicology lab.
Samuel had forwarded it.
TEA SAMPLE POSITIVE.
Alejandro opened the attached summary.
The compound in the tea matched the abnormal substance found in Valeria's blood.
His mother had been serving it every morning.
The evidence was no longer circumstantial.
Rafael read Alejandro's face.
"What happened?"
Alejandro looked toward the sealed chapel.
"The tea was contaminated."
Rafael swore softly.
Alejandro's phone buzzed again.
A message from Marcela.
WHERE ARE YOU?
MOTHER IS WORRIED.
Alejandro typed nothing.
Then another message arrived.
This time with a photograph.
It showed Valeria entering the private clinic.
The picture had been taken less than fifteen minutes earlier.
May you like
Underneath was one sentence.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT THIS ALONE.
