The curtain fell on a night of awkward silence. The diary, the photo, and the key had left their minds in turmoil, and the thought that Ellie could give them answers made their hearts beat faster.
They picked Ellie up late in the afternoon. Gabriel took a deep breath, feeling the weight of the past two months fall on his shoulders, and making him feel like every mistake of the past now had to be righted.
"Ellie…" he began hesitantly, "we need to talk about Leo. What happened that night… and about the letter."
Ellie didn't answer at first. Dorella stood next to Gabriel, and their friends, Peter and Lily, waited a little further back. It was as if a kind of guard was forming around Ellie, protective but also strange.
"I know…" Ellie whispered, "I know a lot of things you don't know yet. Leo and I… had a relationship, but it wasn't like you imagine. I didn't want to hurt him. And I didn't want anyone else to hurt. That's why I kept a lot to myself," she said into the phone.
Gabriel felt his chest tighten. Is it true, then… We didn't know anything either?
Dorella, her heart beating fast, spoke up: "Ellie… we need to know the whole truth. Not just about Leo, but about Felicia too. Because she seems to know things that we don't."
Ellie was silent for a moment, then said, "Felicia… was in love with him, and when she realized he loved me, she felt betrayed. I called her and warned her to stay away from Leo. I told her I cared for him and that she needed to stop following him and calling him all the time. That was what he wanted, too. But that day… I didn't know what she was going to do."
Gabriel's heart beat faster. Everything was coming together slowly but surely. "E." was Ellie, but Felicia's movements had betrayed her true feelings and anger.
Peter, in his usual tone, commented cryptically, "Well, it seems that letters and photos and diaries never tell the whole story. Someone is always keeping something secret… or letting someone else find the pieces."
Lily looked at the phone and then at Gabriel: "Now we know why the letter was there… but what does that mean for us? Do we have to face Felicia?"
Ellie was silent and then she said. "It's her doing, but not without reason. It was all done out of hurt feelings. And the truth is that if we hadn't had the patience and the composure, no one would ever know the truth, for anything."
Dorella took Gabriel's hand. She looked into his eyes, and he felt a warmth fill him. Not just for the solution to the mystery, but for something else… something that grows inside me for Dorella.
This conversation didn't solve all the mysteries, but it brought them closer to the truth. Every moment, every word and every move showed how their relationships, emotional ties and doubts would play a role in how the case would end.
The box, the letter, the photo, and the diary had paved the way. And now, with Elli in front of them, the team was ready to move on to the final round of revelations.