Chapter 5 - THE VOICE THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE
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The recording was played in Dante's private study.
Clare sat beside him while Marco connected the storage drive to a secure computer.
A timestamp appeared.
Six months earlier.
The night of the explosion.
The audio began with footsteps, a door opening, and a woman's voice.
"He's asleep."
Another voice answered.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. The doctor gave him what you requested."
Dante leaned forward.
He recognized the second voice.
It belonged to Dr. Bellini.
"Then the diagnosis will hold?"
"Nobody questions the results when they trust the doctor."
A pause followed.
Then the woman spoke again.
"What about Alessia?"
Bellini sighed.
"She knows too much."
Dante's hands curled into fists.
"Who is that woman?"
Marco shook his head.
The recording continued.
"She'll never leave this house alive," the woman said.
Then Bellini answered.
"Neither will the child if you don't follow the plan."
The recording ended.
Dante stood so quickly that his chair struck the wall.
"Find her."
Marco looked at him.
"Sir, there's a problem."
"What?"
"The audio was edited. Someone removed the first forty seconds."
Dante stared at the screen.
"Can you recover them?"
"I'm trying."
Clare had remained silent.
Now she spoke.
"Play it again."
Dante turned.
"Why?"
"Listen to the background."
Marco restarted the recording.
This time, Clare closed her eyes.
Behind the voices, there was a faint mechanical sound.
A rhythmic clicking.
She recognized it.
"That's a medical pump."
Dante looked at her.
"What?"
"Not an ordinary machine. It sounds like an infusion pump. The kind used in hospital maternity units."
Marco leaned closer.
Clare continued.
"And there's an announcement in the background. Something about a delivery arriving at the east entrance."
Dante stared at her.
"Can you identify the location?"
"Not from this recording alone."
Marco adjusted the audio.
A distant voice became slightly clearer.
"Emergency delivery, east entrance."
Dante recognized the location immediately.
The private maternity wing of San Vittore Hospital.
Alessia had been treated there before her death.
He turned to Marco.
"Get the hospital records."
The following morning, Dr. Ricci returned with preliminary findings.
Leo's hearing was not yet conclusively established, but the new tests suggested he had measurable auditory responses under certain conditions.
The doctor explained that the results required further evaluation.
Dante listened without blinking.
"Could he hear?"
"It's possible that he has more hearing ability than previously reported. But I will not promise you a normal hearing outcome. We need repeated tests."
Dante nodded.
For the first time, hope entered the room.
Then Leo made a small movement.
A nurse accidentally dropped a metal tray in the adjoining room.
The sound was sharp.
Leo turned his head.
Everyone froze.
Dante looked at his son.
"Leo?"
The baby blinked.
Dante gently tapped the side of the crib.
Nothing.
He tried again.
Leo's eyes moved toward him.
It was small.
Almost imperceptible.
But Dante saw it.
His son might have heard something.
He covered his mouth.
Clare looked away to give him privacy.
That afternoon, Marco returned from the hospital.
He carried a thin envelope.
"Sir, I found the original maternity records."
Dante opened it.
One page had been removed from the official file.
But a copy remained in the hospital's backup archive.
It contained a note written by Alessia.
If anything happens to me, do not trust the person who carries the silver key. The truth is in the room where our son was born.
Dante read it twice.
"Who had a silver key?"
Marco answered immediately.
"Your sister."
Dante's expression hardened.
His younger sister, Isabella Salvatore, had been the person he trusted most after Alessia's death.
She had helped organize the funeral.
She had arranged the doctors.
She had even selected the nurse who cared for Leo.
"Where is Isabella?" he asked.
Marco checked his phone.
"At the estate."
Dante stood.
"Bring her here."
But before Marco could leave, the study door opened.
Isabella walked inside wearing a cream designer suit.
She looked at Clare first.
Then at her brother.
"Why does this woman have access to family medical records?"
Dante placed Alessia's note on the desk.
"Where's your silver key?"
Isabella went completely still.
For the first time in years, she looked afraid.
Then she smiled.
"You're making a terrible mistake, Dante."
"Answer me."
She slowly reached into her handbag.
And placed a small silver key on the table.
But it wasn't the key Dante remembered.
May you like
It had a name engraved on it.
CLARE JENSEN.
