Chapter 10: The Woman in the Photograph
Alejandro took the photograph.
The image was dated three days after Elena’s disappearance.
“You said my father visited you before he died.”
“He did,” Elena said.
“Then this photograph could be real.”
Elena studied it.
“I was never in his study.”
The detective held up another image.
Elena entering the west corridor.
A third showed her standing near Rafael’s body.
Vivian smiled faintly.
“Keller was very thorough.”
Alejandro looked at the detectives.
“These photographs were fabricated.”
“Then Mrs. Castillo can explain that at the station.”
“No one is taking her anywhere until our attorneys verify the warrant.”
The detective reached for Elena.
She flinched violently.
Alejandro stepped between them.
“Do not touch her.”
Mateo examined the warrant.
“It was issued by Judge Malcolm Reed.”
Alejandro recognized the name.
Reed sat on the Castillo Foundation’s ethics committee.
One of Victor’s allies.
Elena surprised everyone by stepping forward.
“I’ll go.”
Alejandro turned.
“No.”
“If I run, Sofia controls the story.”
“This is not about appearances.”
“It is about evidence.”
Elena looked at the detective.
“Do you have the original photographs?”
“They were submitted digitally.”
“Then they have metadata.”
The detective hesitated.
Elena continued.
“And I want a medical examination documenting every injury on my body before anyone questions me.”
Alejandro stared at her.
She was afraid.
But she was no longer powerless.
At the station, Elena was placed in an interview room.
Alejandro watched through the glass with his attorneys.
The digital photographs were examined.
The metadata appeared authentic.
Taken on Rafael’s private camera.
Stored on his home server.
No obvious signs of editing.
Elena looked at the image for several minutes.
Then she noticed something.
“Zoom in on the mirror.”
The technician enlarged the reflection behind her.
A small portion of the photographer appeared.
A woman’s hand.
A diamond bracelet.
Vivian’s bracelet.
Alejandro looked toward the holding room where Vivian sat.
But Elena shook her head.
“Not Vivian.”
She pointed to the bracelet’s clasp.
“Sofia borrowed it for the foundation gala.”
Alejandro remembered.
There were photographs from that night.
Sofia wearing Vivian’s emerald bracelet.
The detective frowned.
“So Sofia took the picture?”
“No,” Elena said.
“She staged it.”
Another detail caught her attention.
The clock on Rafael’s desk showed 9:40.
But the police report stated his estimated time of death was after midnight.
The photograph had been taken hours before he died.
Rafael had been posing.
Alejandro leaned toward the image.
His father’s eyes were open.
He was looking directly at the camera.
“What if he knew?”
Elena nodded slowly.
“What if the picture was not meant to frame me?”
She asked the technician to enhance Rafael’s right hand.
His index finger pointed toward a book on the shelf.
The title was barely visible.
The Count of Monte Cristo.
Alejandro knew the copy.
His father kept a small key hidden inside it.
The police searched Rafael’s study.
Inside the book, they found a micro memory card.
It contained a final video.
Rafael appeared alone at his desk.
“Elena is innocent,” he said.
“If these files have been released, then Victor has begun destroying witnesses.”
He coughed and pressed a hand to his chest.
“I have been poisoned slowly for six months.”
Alejandro closed his eyes.
Rafael continued.
“Dr. Keller administered the poison.”
The screen flickered.
May you like
Then Rafael said the final words that changed everything.
“Sofia knows.”
