“Customs and traffic data,” Von Dietz says as I scan. “That night, before the attempt on Princess Felicia, a delivery truck parked at the forest edge, near the French hunting cabin.”
“Registered to one of Ozzi’s holdings?” I ask.
He doesn’t blink. “A shell company tied to him, yes. GPS shows it idled there for hours, then vanished.”
“So, they carried the rifle through the tunnel,” Eva recaps, her face pale and her voice brittle. “And someone in Mount Evor helped them.”
We both fix on him with a question unspoken but deafening.
Say it already!I want to bark.Stop dragging it out. Stop torturing her!
Von Dietz exhales. “Whoever Ozzi’s mole is, it wasn’t Geoffroy or Julian Castellane.”
Eva freezes. Relief flickers across her face, battling disbelief. Unease surges through me. This feels too easy, too good to be true.
“Why?” I ask flatly. “What clears them?”
“Several things. First, your archive discovery.”
Color returns to Eva’s cheeks.
He turns to her. “Those papers show the duke intended to build a luxury resort on the lodge site.”
“That’s right,” she says.
I lean forward. “If he’d known about the tunnel, he wouldn’t risk bulldozing it or letting architects snoop.”
“Exactly,” Von Dietz agrees. “He would have protected it and not risked exposure.”
Eva nods. “He meant to push forward even against his main investor’s advice.”
“That investor has confirmed ties to Ozzi,” Von Dietz says.
Eva’s lip curls. “Of course he does.”
“Did Julian back his father’s plan, since you cleared him, too?” I ask.
“No documents confirm either way,” Von Dietz admits.
Eva smirks, flashing bitterness. “Julian never contradicted his father. I was the one who opposed the project.”
Von Dietz tilts his head. “May I ask why, Your Grace?”
She doesn’t hesitate. “It wasn’t viable. On paper, maybe. But knowing Geoffroy, I knew he’d sink the estate deeper.”
“Was your opposition known outside the family?” he presses.
I shoot him a glare sharp enough to cut glass.Watch yourself, spook. Implicate her, and you’ll see the nasty side of me.
He catches it and—shockingly—smiles. “Her Grace has been cleared, Monsieur Castellane. You’ll see why I asked in a moment.”
“I made no secret of my opposition,” Eva says evenly.
He appears satisfied. “Your husband applied for blasting near the lodge.”
Eva blinks. “I didn’t even know he’d filed applications for building permits.”
“Had those permits gone through,” Von Dietz says, “the Mount Evor tunnel entrance would’ve been obliterated.”
