Chapter 6 - BIANCA’S DEAL
Bianca’s attorneys wanted immunity.
Prosecutors refused.
She had signed false invoices.
Moved foundation money.
Lied during the first homicide interview.
And helped Victor conceal his affair.
She was not innocent.
But she had something we needed.
A phone.
Not the one police had seized.
A second phone Victor gave her a year earlier.
“Why?”
“So Elena couldn’t find our messages.”
Classy.
Bianca hid it after Victor’s arrest became possible.
Now she surrendered it.
Thousands of messages.
Photos.
Voice notes.
Victor mocking Elena.
Victor complaining about Sophie’s pregnancy.
Victor promising Bianca a new life.
Victor also discussing Andrew.
One message stood out.
Victor:
A says E is getting too close.
Bianca:
Close to what?
Victor:
Not your problem.
Bianca:
Everything becomes my problem when you use my company.
Victor:
Then remember who pays for your life.
That changed Bianca’s story.
She had asked questions.
Not enough.
But some.
Another exchange occurred two days before Elena died.
Victor:
E copied files.
Bianca:
Then give the money back.
Victor:
You have no idea what’s at stake.
Bianca:
I’m done.
Victor:
No you’re not.
Bianca:
Watch me.
Then Victor sent a photograph.
Bianca’s younger brother leaving work.
No caption.
He didn’t need one.
Bianca had been controlled too.
That did not excuse her.
But it explained why she stayed.
Then came the most important voice note.
Victor sounded drunk.
“Andrew says we solve Elena first.”
Bianca’s voice:
“What does that mean?”
Victor:
“It means stop asking questions.”
Bianca:
“Victor, what did you do?”
Silence.
Then:
“Nothing yet.”
The message was recorded thirty hours before Elena died.
Prosecutors now had evidence of premeditation language.
But “solve Elena” could mean divorce.
Legal action.
Financial settlement.
We needed context.
Bianca provided it.
“Victor wanted Elena declared mentally unstable.”
Of course.
The pattern again.
“Why?”
“If she was incapacitated, he thought he could control her foundation voting rights.”
Victor had researched emergency guardianship.
Psychiatric holds.
Competency proceedings.
He had even contacted a private physician.
Elena discovered it.
Instead of becoming frightened, she became furious.
She retained a divorce lawyer.
Changed passwords.
Copied records.
And called me.
Victor’s financial plan was collapsing.
Then Sophie died.
Elena survived.
And she became more dangerous because she had stopped trying to save her marriage.
She wanted to expose him.
Bianca looked at me across the interview table.
“She told me that night.”
“At Ashford?”
“Yes.”
“What exactly?”
“She said she was going to the FBI in the morning.”
My heart stopped.
“Did Victor know?”
“I called him after she left.”
The room went silent.
Bianca started crying.
“I didn’t know he was going to kill her.”
“You knew he was dangerous.”
“Yes.”
“You knew he shoved her.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Sophie died.”
“Yes.”
“Yet you called him.”
“Yes.”
I wanted to hate her.
Part of me did.
“Why?”
She wiped her face.
“Because I was terrified he would blame me for the money.”
Her answer was ugly.
Human.
Selfish.
She chose herself.
And Elena paid.
Bianca agreed to testify.
In exchange, prosecutors offered consideration at sentencing but no promise of freedom.
Before leaving, she placed my wedding photograph of Elena on the table.
“I took this from Victor’s apartment.”
I stared.
Elena laughing.
Hair blown across her face.
Victor beside her.
Bianca whispered,
“He kept it in a drawer.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
I did.
Possession.
Victor had always confused possession with love.
Then Bianca told me one final thing.
“The night Elena died, Victor called me at 12:32.”
“What did he say?”
“Nothing.”
“What?”
“He didn’t speak.”
“For how long?”
“Eleven seconds.”
“Then?”
“I heard Elena.”
My breath stopped.
“What did she say?”
Bianca looked at me.
“She said Andrew’s name.”
May you like
Not Victor’s.
Andrew’s.
