A Dead Man’s Affidavit
Chapter 09 - A Dead Man’s Affidavit
The affidavit looked convincing.
That was the problem.
David Harlan’s name.
His bar number.
His signature.
Notarized.
It stated that Carlo Moretti had created false environmental records to extort money from Moretti Logistics and Bellini Disposal.
It called the Warehouse Twelve files “fabricated duplicates.”
It said Harlan had stored them for years out of misguided loyalty.
Sadi read it twice.
Then a third time.
Roman sat across from her in Teresa’s temporary residence.
Arthur was gone.
His lawyer had served the papers and left.
Teresa slept in the next room after a dialysis session.
Bianca stood near the window.
Mara sat at the small dining table drinking hospital coffee with visible regret.
Sadi put down the affidavit.
“It’s fake.”
Mara nodded.
“I believe you.”
“That is not evidence.”
“No.”
Roman looked at Sadi.
“What gives it away?”
“Professor Harlan never wrote like this.”
Arthur’s lawyer had used too many legalisms.
Too much “heretofore.”
Too much “said documents.”
Harlan taught first-year students to kill those words.
Roman’s mouth moved.
“You can prove writing style?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Sadi studied the signature.
It looked right.
She looked at the notary stamp.
Illinois.
Notary: Claire Bellini.
She frowned.
“Arthur’s daughter?”
Roman nodded.
“Corporate counsel.”
Sadi looked up.
“Arthur’s daughter notarized Harlan’s confession.”
Mara leaned closer.
“Legal.”
“Convenient.”
“Very.”
Sadi returned to the affidavit.
Harlan had allegedly signed at 6:40 p.m.
Three days before death.
Location listed: Bellini Tower.
“Professor Harlan taught Tuesday evenings.”
Mara looked at her.
“Which day?”
Sadi checked the date.
“Tuesday.”
“What time?”
“Six to nine.”
Mara was already typing.
“If he taught, we get camera footage.”
Roman looked at Sadi.
“That was quick.”
“I paid eighty thousand dollars for three years of this.”
“Apparently not all of it.”
She glared.
“Too soon.”
“Yes.”
Bianca hid a smile.
Two hours later, the law school sent classroom video.
Harlan stood at a lectern from 6:03 to 8:51 p.m.
He could not have signed at Bellini Tower.
Mara smiled.
“Good.”
Sadi did not.
“It proves the time is false.”
“Which helps.”
“It doesn’t prove Harlan never signed another version.”
Roman studied her.
“You always look for the weakness in your own win.”
“That is how law works.”
“That sounds miserable.”
“It is.”
She almost smiled.
Mara received another file.
Building security from Bellini Tower.
At 6:40 p.m., Claire Bellini entered the executive floor carrying a document folder.
Harlan was not with her.
Arthur was.
Sadi looked at Roman.
“His daughter forged the notarization.”
“Probably.”
“Do you know Claire?”
“Yes.”
“Personally?”
“Business.”
“Meaning?”
Roman looked mildly irritated.
“We dated.”
Sadi stared.
Of course.
“How long?”
“Six months.”
“When?”
“Seven years ago.”
“Does that matter to this case?”
“No.”
“It mattered enough that your voice changed.”
Roman’s eyes narrowed.
Mara looked delighted.
Bianca openly smiled.
Sadi regretted asking.
“Fine.”
Roman leaned back.
“She ended it.”
That surprised her.
“Why?”
“Because I would not marry her.”
“Why not?”
Roman stared.
“You are very comfortable interrogating people for someone not licensed.”
“Answer.”
“She wanted a business alliance.”
“And you?”
“I wanted dinner.”
Mara covered a laugh with a cough.
Sadi looked away.
This was not flirtation.
It absolutely was not.
Her phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
CLAIRE BELLINI.
She answered.
“Ms. Moretti.”
Claire’s voice was calm.
Educated.
Younger than Sadi expected.
“I assume you have questions.”
“One.”
“Only one?”
“Did you forge Professor Harlan’s affidavit?”
Silence.
Then Claire laughed softly.
“Roman likes you.”
Sadi’s pulse did something irritating.
“That was not the question.”
“No.”
“Which part?”
“I didn’t forge Harlan’s signature.”
“Did you notarize it falsely?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
Mara pointed to the phone.
Keep her talking.
Sadi continued.
“Why?”
“Because my father told me Harlan had signed earlier and the page needed a corrected date.”
“And you believed him?”
“No.”
There it was.
“Then why?”
Claire’s voice lowered.
“Because I was afraid.”
Sadi closed her eyes.
Of course.
“What does Arthur have on you?”
“My mother.”
Sadi frowned.
“What about her?”
“She has dementia.”
That was not what Sadi expected.
Claire continued.
“My father controls her trust. Her care. Everything.”
“So you committed fraud to keep him from withholding medical care.”
“Yes.”
Sadi thought of Teresa.
Law school.
Choices made under illness.
Understanding arrived where judgment wanted to live.
“Why call me?”
“Because Harlan did sign something.”
Sadi’s chest tightened.
“What?”
“A letter to my father.”
“About Carlo?”
“Yes.”
“What did it say?”
“That Carlo’s records were real.”
Mara sat forward.
Sadi said, “Where is it?”
“My father has it.”
“Then why would he keep it?”
“To control Luca.”
Roman’s face hardened.
Sadi understood.
Blackmail.
Again.
Claire whispered:
“My father and Luca are not partners anymore.”
“Why?”
“Because one of them plans to give the federal government the other.”
Roman stood.
“Which one?”
Claire heard him.
“Roman.”
His voice became cold.
“Claire.”
A history in two names.
She breathed out.
“Luca plans to surrender Arthur.”
Arthur plans to surrender Luca.
Sadi felt the pieces move.
“Both?”
“Yes.”
“Then why trap Roman with the property?”
Claire’s voice almost broke.
“Because whichever man transferred liability to Roman first could claim the illegal operations belonged to Moretti Holdings under his control.”
Roman looked toward Bianca.
Luca was not merely trying to destroy Arthur.
He was building a story in which Roman became the criminal center.
Claire continued.
“And Sadi?”
“Yes?”
“Do not trust the second books if you find them.”
“Why?”
“Because my father altered those too.”
The call ended.
Sadi stared at the phone.
Harlan’s missing books—the evidence everyone believed would settle the truth—might themselves be contaminated.
Roman looked at her.
“You were right.”
“About?”
“Paper.”
“What about it?”
“It is how men like my uncle commit violence without getting their hands dirty.”
Sadi looked down at the false affidavit.
Then her eyes caught one tiny detail in the footer.
Document ID.
The affidavit had been generated from a Bellini legal template.
Version number.
BLS-4471.
She recognized the sequence.
The contract Arthur brought to Belladonna had a similar footer.
BLS-4468.
Only three documents apart.
Sadi looked at Mara.
“Can you subpoena Bellini’s document server?”
Mara smiled.
“With probable cause.”
Sadi held up the affidavit.
“Would attempted fraud on a court qualify?”
Mara’s smile widened.
Roman watched Sadi.
“What?”
She looked at him.
“You need a better lawyer.”
May you like
His expression softened.
“I was thinking the same thing.”
