Equipped with Olivia's insight the team divided their tasks. Isabella, supported by the Jacques was to meet the lawyer at his bistro. Maria was adamant that Giovanni accompany her to the center of the maze—the location of Osborne's most ambitious planned development: a rundown industrial area, between Grenoble and Valence intended to be the showcase eco-park of his "Unified Corridor."
"Locations retain memories " Maria remarked while Jacques steered them toward the scrubland. "Particularly locations pledged to a future that's false."
The area was a stretch of decaying concrete bases, corroded equipment and resilient weeds. The breeze howled through structures creating a solitary empty noise. Maria moved forward with her eyes shut, her fingertips grazing the space around her. Giovanni trailed behind the mark, on his arm tingling with a faint pain.
"Here " Maria whispered, halting in the middle of what could have been a factory floor. "The floor is unwell. Not, from toxins. From…shattered language." She opened her eyes glancing at Giovanni. "Reveal the mark to it."
With reluctance Giovanni pushed up his sleeve revealing the maze beneath the daylight. The reaction was instant. The dark core appeared to twist to become more profound. The maze's lines sharpened, as though recently traced in ink. A sudden dizziness overwhelmed him. Noises overwhelmed his perception—not, from the breeze. Resonances: Osborne's voice, magnified, brimming with passionate assurance. "Here we shall create not industry, but honor! A symbol of collaboration!" Underneath that voice, other whispers, slick and cold: Cost overruns. Regulatory bypass. Chemical containment. Silencing surveys.
Giovanni wheezed, dropping down onto his knees. The images appeared—not signs. Brief glimpses. A man wearing a lab coat disagreeing with a report receiving an envelope. A councillor's enraged expression, turning calm following a confidential discussion. And Helena Helga, positioned where Maria stood just now indicating a map, her tone cold: "This groundwater report disappears. The surveyor isolates himself."
"It's a…recording " Giovanni stammered. "The deceit isn't speech. It involves deeds. Concealments. Payments. Every move to construct the untruth…it's all here."
Maria rested a hand on his shoulder steadying him. "The labyrinth isn't symbolic. It serves as a plan. And its core " she indicated the emptiness, on his skin "is the spot where they hid the truth they devoured. You aren't merely linked to Osborne. You're linked to the crime scene."
At the time on the sunlit café terrace Isabella carried out her plan. The attorney, named Moreau was, in the midst of a lunch when she drew near with Jacques standing a respectful pace behind her.
"Monsieur Moreau, a word regarding Ariadne's Thread Holdings " she remarked, her tone gentle yet her gaze firm.
Moreau's friendly facade gave way to shocked disbelief. His companion quickly took her leave. "I don't know what you mean " he protested loudly.
"Certainly " Isabella grinned, setting Olivia's photo down on the table—an image of him exiting a Luxembourg registry office. "However your lover could be intrigued by the records. Likewise the judge overseeing Osborne's posthumous… character review might take an interest."
Moreau covered his face with his hand. He was driven by desires, not bravery. "I merely processed the paperwork! The orders originated from Osborne's office. They were signed by him yet the guidance… it arrived via a route."
"Helena Helga " Isabella said.
A jittery twitch. Verification. "She designed it. Osborne was the figurehead.. There was…one more. A counselor. He dictated the moves. Claimed the outcome justified all actions, that history would solely recall the outcome."
"Siegfried " Isabella murmured.
Moreau leaned forward perspiring. "He became fixated on the concept of Osborne. The ideal container, for a manageable falsehood.. Near the conclusion Osborne became uneasy. The 'anomaly' he'd uncovered frightened him. He wished to retreat, to admit a portion to lessen the harm. That's when he passed away."
The parts fell into place. Osborne wasn't murdered by a foe. He had turned into a threat to his deception. Helena and Siegfried were tidying up ends.. Giovanni was the 'irregularity'—the tangible evidence that could dismantle it all.
As Isabella left the shaken lawyer, her phone buzzed. It was Giovanni, his voice strained, distant. "Isabella…the labyrinth. It's not just on me. It's here. In the land. And I think…I think I can feel where the center is buried."