Chapter 9 - THE FINAL CONFESSIONWith hands that refused to steady, Daniela unfolded the piece of paper. Scribbled in shaky, childish handwriting were words that shattered every assumption she had made about the case:
Dear Officer Daniela,
Thank you for believing me when my teacher and my aunt didn't. But you looked in the wrong place for the heavy boxes. Uncle Esteban didn't build the archive alone. Grandma helped him pack the room where Mom used to sleep before she 'went on a long trip' ten years ago.
I’m going to find where they put her boxes. Don't look for me. The yellow house is just the beginning. — Mateo.
Daniela stared at the note, her mind racing back to Doña Rosa’s frail demeanor, the simulated defeat, and the calculated way the elderly woman had pointed out the exact spot where Mateo had been "trapped" under the boxes just hours earlier. It wasn't an accident. It was a staged distress call designed to lure the police into uncovering Esteban’s underground vault—while using the boy as bait to finally break the cycle of silence.
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Before Daniela could turn back toward the ambulance, a frantic shout rang out from the front porch of the burning house.
—Commander! You need to see this! The fire suppression units just cleared the debris from the back bedroom wall!
