CHAPTER 5 – THE TRIAL OF THE PAST
CHAPTER 5 – THE TRIAL OF THE PAST
The interrogation room was colder than Matteo remembered.
Detective Elena Brooks placed a thick case file on the table.
For years, every page had pointed toward him.
Today, she opened it without accusation.
"You saved two lives," she said.
"That doesn't erase your past."
Matteo nodded.
"I know."
She slid a small digital recorder across the table—the one recovered from Victor Kane's pocket.
"Forensics confirmed it's authentic."
Inside were months of recordings: bribes to public officials, threats against witnesses, falsified police reports, and evidence linking Victor's security company to a network of violent intimidation.
More importantly, there were recordings of Sarah pleading for help, and Victor instructing his son to "teach her a lesson."
It was enough to justify multiple arrests.
But Elena looked at Matteo with a different concern.
"Victor won't go down quietly."
Before she could explain, a young officer rushed into the room.
"Detective!"
"Someone tried to break into the hospital."
Elena stood instantly.
"Sarah?"
"They didn't reach her."
"But they were asking about the little girl."
Matteo's expression hardened.
Emma was still the target.
At the hospital, uniformed officers doubled the security around Sarah's room.
Emma sat beside her mother's bed, clutching a stuffed unicorn a nurse had found for her.
When Matteo entered, she ran to him.
"They said Mommy's going to wake up."
He knelt to her level.
"They're right."
"But until then, you stay with the officers, okay?"
She nodded.
Before walking away, she reached into her pocket and handed him an old flip phone.
"My grandma gave me this."
"It's the phone I used."
Matteo turned it over.
Its screen was cracked.
The battery was barely alive.
That tiny phone had reached a stranger by mistake—and changed all of their lives.
Just then, Elena received another call.
The officers who had attempted the hospital break-in had been arrested.
One of them agreed to cooperate.
His statement revealed something unexpected.
Victor Kane wasn't acting alone.
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Someone inside the justice system had been feeding him confidential information for years.
The investigation had just become much larger.
