Chapter 2 - The Bowl Was Too Clean
The investigation started in Bruno’s kitchen.
Adrienne stood beside the stone column where the dog’s steel bowls remained.
Water.
Food.
Both spotless.
Too spotless.
Elena entered quietly.
“Mr. Moretti?”
Adrienne touched the food bowl.
“When did staff last feed him?”
“I don’t usually handle Bruno.”
“Who does?”
“Mr. Bell, mostly. The kitchen staff sometimes.”
Adrienne looked toward his security chief.
“Bring Bell.”
The kennel attendant arrived two minutes later.
“What did Bruno eat Tuesday?”
“Ground beef, sir.”
“Who prepared it?”
“I did.”
“Did you feed him?”
Bell swallowed.
“No.”
Adrienne’s stare sharpened.
“Why not?”
“Miss Romano told me she wanted to.”
Vivien, standing near the doorway, stiffened.
“That’s a lie.”
Bell looked terrified.
“You came into the kitchen around eleven, ma’am.”
“I said I would take care of him because you were busy.”
“You never feed Bruno,” Adrienne said.
Vivien crossed her arms.
“I was trying to be kind.”
“To a dog you’ve complained about since you moved in?”
“I’ve complained about hair on the furniture.”
“You asked me to have him moved outside.”
“Because he frightened guests.”
“He frightened you.”
Vivien’s mouth tightened.
Tony entered.
“Boss.”
Adrienne turned.
Tony held a tablet.
“We checked the security system.”
“And?”
“The camera failure wasn’t technical.”
Silence.
“Someone disabled it manually.”
“Which terminal?”
“The second-floor guest wing.”
Vivien went pale.
Adrienne watched her.
“The room beside yours.”
“That proves nothing.”
Tony continued.
“We also checked gate logs.”
Vivien snapped, “Enough.”
Tony did not look at her.
“The service gate opened at 11:18.”
Adrienne’s voice was almost a whisper.
“Whose code?”
Tony hesitated.
“Vivien Romano.”
Elena inhaled softly.
Vivien stared at Tony.
“You’re accusing me of something based on a code anyone could have stolen.”
Adrienne stepped toward her.
“Then give me your phone.”
“No.”
Everyone became still.
Adrienne extended his hand.
“Your phone.”
“I have private conversations.”
“So do I.”
“You don’t own me.”
“No.”
Adrienne’s eyes went cold.
“But this is my home, my gate, my security system, my dog, and apparently my fiancée’s code opening the property for strangers in the middle of the night.”
Vivien’s composure cracked.
“I’m not giving you my phone.”
Adrienne lowered his hand.
“Fine.”
He turned away.
“Tony, freeze every access credential she has.”
Vivien stared.
“Adrienne.”
“Cars, gate codes, accounts tied to the estate.”
“You can’t—”
“I just did.”
“You’re humiliating me over an animal.”
A small voice answered from the doorway.
“He’s not animal.”
Mia stood beside Elena.
“He’s Bruno.”
Adrienne looked at her.
For the briefest second, amusement almost reached his eyes.
Vivien did not find it amusing.
“You should keep that child in the servants’ quarters.”
Elena’s face changed.
Adrienne turned back.
“What did you say?”
Vivien immediately understood she had chosen badly.
“I said—”
“I heard you.”
“She shouldn’t be wandering around private areas.”
“Neither should strangers using your gate code at midnight.”
Vivien looked furious.
Mia walked toward Bruno’s bowl.
She crouched.
Her little fingers touched the floor.
“Here.”
Adrienne knelt beside her.
“What is it?”
Mia pointed beneath the edge of a cabinet.
Something white lay trapped against the baseboard.
A grainy residue.
Elena moved forward.
“Mia, don’t touch.”
Adrienne caught the child’s wrist gently before she reached it.
“Good.”
He looked at Tony.
“Bag it.”
Vivien’s breathing changed.
Adrienne noticed that too.
Tony crouched and carefully collected the residue.
“Send it to the private lab.”
Vivien laughed nervously.
“What exactly do you think you’ll prove?”
Adrienne looked at her.
“I don’t know yet.”
He touched Bruno’s empty bowl again.
“But innocent people usually want questions answered.”
He rose.
“Guilty people want questions stopped.”
Vivien left without another word.
Mia watched her disappear.
Then looked at Adrienne.
“She doesn’t like Bruno.”
“No.”
“She doesn’t like me either.”
Adrienne glanced toward Elena.
Elena looked embarrassed.
“She’s three. She says things.”
Adrienne looked back at Mia.
“I’ve met adults who say much less accurately.”
Mia held up Bunny.
“Bunny likes you.”
Adrienne stared at the rabbit with its crooked stitched ear.
“That makes one of us.”
Mia smiled.
Adrienne nearly did.
Tony’s phone rang.
He answered.
“Yes.”
His expression sharpened.
“When?”
He ended the call.
“Boss.”
Adrienne stood.
“What?”
“Carlo found traffic footage.”
“Where?”
“Jericho Turnpike.”
Tony turned the tablet.
A black SUV was visible at an intersection.
Time stamp: 11:31 p.m.
Adrienne studied the image.
“Plate?”
“Obscured.”
“Driver?”
“No.”
“Direction?”
“East.”
Tony swiped.
“Then again near an industrial district in Hicksville.”
Adrienne went still.
“What’s there?”
“Warehouses. Repair yards. Vacant lots.”
Mia reached for Adrienne’s sleeve.
He looked down.
“Find Bruno.”
Adrienne stared into the child’s eyes.
Then he covered her tiny hand with his.
May you like
“I will.”
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