CHAPTER 3 — The Trap Closes
CHAPTER 3 — The Trap Closes
The detectives spread across the kitchen with practiced precision.
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
The forensic investigator slipped on latex gloves before pulling the black garbage bag away from the cabinet.
Inside sat the torn envelope.
Exactly where Valeria remembered.
She carefully removed its contents.
Property deeds.
Loan applications.
Photocopies of forged signatures.
The amount printed across one page froze several guests in place.
2.8 million pesos.
Julian finally found his voice.
"This is ridiculous."
He pointed toward Valeria.
"She's mentally unstable."
"I've been trying to help her."
Ofelia nodded furiously.
"She imagines things."
"She's always been emotional."
Ernesto calmly reached into his jacket.
One folder.
Then another.
Medical reports.
Photographs.
Security footage.
Printed text messages.
Audio transcripts.
Each document landed on the marble countertop one after another.
Like a judge delivering sentence after sentence.
The room transformed.
Minutes earlier...
Julian had been the confident host.
Now guests quietly stepped away from him.
Nobody wanted to stand beside the man surrounded by evidence.
Then Ernesto picked up the steel watch he had left near the entrance.
He pressed a tiny hidden button.
A red light blinked.
Julian frowned.
"What is that?"
"The recording."
Silence.
"Everything you said beside the birthday cake."
Julian's face drained of color.
"'I hit her.'"
"'She stays where I tell her.'"
"'She's my wife.'"
Every word had been captured.
Every guest had heard it.
Now every investigator had it too.
May you like
The trap had closed.
But they still hadn't discovered the worst document.
