CHAPTER 5 — The Woman in the Missing Photograph
The message remained on Diego's phone.
"Renata isn't running away... She's running from the person who took Valentina."
For nearly a minute, no one spoke.
Detective Ana Velasco slowly lowered Diego's phone and looked directly into his eyes.
"Has anyone else been sending you anonymous messages?"
Diego nodded.
"The USB drive."
"The attic."
"The pink ribbon box."
"They knew everything before I did."
The detective exchanged a glance with one of the officers.
"Whoever this person is," she said quietly, "they've been watching this family for a long time."
A Face Hidden on Purpose
The forensic team carefully examined the damaged photograph found inside Renata's abandoned SUV.
One technician adjusted the light over the evidence table.
"The edges weren't torn."
"They were cut."
"Very carefully."
Detective Velasco frowned.
"Meaning someone wanted to erase one specific person."
The photograph was immediately sent to the forensic imaging lab.
Two hours later, the first enhancement arrived.
The faded background became clearer.
The missing figure could not be fully restored...
But one detail stood out.
Around the woman's neck hung a silver pendant shaped like a hummingbird.
Diego's heart skipped.
"I've seen that necklace before."
The detective looked up.
"Where?"
He closed his eyes, searching his memory.
Then he remembered.
The family storage room.
Years earlier.
Renata had once found an old necklace while unpacking boxes after they moved into the house.
She had stared at it for several seconds...
Then suddenly thrown it into the fireplace.
When Diego asked whose necklace it was, she answered with only four words.
"It belongs to nobody."
At the time, he believed her.
Now...
He wasn't so sure.
Lucía Draws a Picture
Meanwhile, at Camila's apartment, Lucía sat quietly at the kitchen table with a box of crayons.
She hadn't spoken much all morning.
Camila placed a cup of hot chocolate beside her.
"You can draw anything you want."
Lucía nodded.
Ten minutes later, she handed over the picture.
Camila's smile disappeared.
The drawing showed three girls holding hands.
Lucía.
Another girl with curly brown hair.
And a third child standing in the shadows.
Above them stood a tall woman with black hair.
Her face was completely colored in black.
"Who's this?" Camila asked gently.
Lucía pointed to the curly-haired girl.
"That's Valentina."
"And the other little girl?"
Lucía hesitated.
"I never saw her."
"You didn't?"
"I only heard her crying."
Camila slowly lowered the drawing.
"When?"
Lucía looked toward the window.
"Sometimes..."
"...at night."
The Laboratory's Discovery
Late that afternoon, Detective Velasco received a call from the forensic laboratory.
"We recovered something."
"What?"
"The cut photograph wasn't the original."
"What do you mean?"
"It was edited."
The detective frowned.
"The original picture had four people."
She looked at the reconstructed image displayed on the computer screen.
Renata.
Valentina.
The unknown woman.
And...
A man.
His face had also been removed.
Only his left hand remained visible.
On his wrist was an expensive custom-made watch engraved with three initials.
A.M.R.
Detective Velasco immediately searched the national business registry.
Within minutes, one name appeared.
Arturo Manuel Rivas.
Age sixty-two.
Founder of one of western Mexico's largest real estate companies.
Political donor.
Millionaire.
No criminal record.
Respected businessman.
And...
Twenty-three years earlier...
Owner of the very land where Diego's neighborhood had been built.
The Call No One Expected
As the detectives prepared to request a warrant, Diego's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered immediately.
"Who is this?"
A frightened woman's voice whispered,
"Don't say my name."
Diego froze.
It was Renata.
She sounded exhausted.
She was crying.
"I don't have much time."
"Where are you?"
"They're looking for me."
"Who?"
"You have to listen carefully."
Her breathing became uneven.
"I hurt Lucía."
"I know."
"And I'll never forgive myself."
Silence.
Then she whispered,
"But I never hurt Valentina."
Diego couldn't speak.
"What are you saying?"
"I lied."
"To everyone."
"I said she disappeared in a shopping mall."
"That never happened."
Diego's pulse exploded.
"Then where is she?"
For several seconds...
Only sobbing could be heard.
Finally Renata whispered,
"I gave her to someone."
The words hit like a hammer.
"What?"
"I didn't know what they were."
"They promised she'd have a better life."
"They told me I'd never see her again."
Diego felt sick.
"Who are 'they'?"
Renata answered with one trembling sentence.
"The people behind the Saint Gabriel Children's Foundation."
Detective Velasco, who had been listening beside Diego, immediately wrote the name down.
Then Renata continued.
"They don't adopt children..."
"They collect them."
The call suddenly filled with loud static.
A man's voice shouted in the distance.
Renata gasped.
"They found me."
"Renata!"
"If anything happens..."
"Protect Lucía."
"And whatever you do..."
"Don't let them know she still has the rabbit."
Diego frowned.
"The rabbit?"
But the line went dead.
The Secret Inside the Toy
That evening, Diego rushed back to Camila's apartment.
Lucía was asleep on the couch, still hugging the worn stuffed rabbit.
For years he had thought it was simply her favorite toy.
Now he noticed something strange.
One of its stitched ears looked thicker than the other.
Almost as if something had been hidden inside.
Very carefully, he examined the old seam.
Someone had sewn it by hand.
Not recently.
Years ago.
Using a small pair of scissors from Camila's sewing kit, Diego gently opened the loose stitches.
A tiny plastic capsule slid into his hand.
Inside the capsule...
Was a folded memory card no larger than his thumbnail.
Before anyone could react—
Someone knocked loudly on the apartment door.
Three slow knocks.
Then three more.
No one had told anyone they were there.
Camila looked through the peephole.
Her face turned pale.
"There are three people outside."
"They're wearing suits."
"And one of them..."
"...is holding a photograph of Lucía."
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END OF CHAPTER 5
To Be Continued...
