Day 13

Luca reads a childhood letter in which Telma, hospitalized and convinced she would die, writes to their parents. The letter’s date precedes her disappearance by eleven months, stirring Luca’s memories of a strange summer, inconsistencies about Telma’s supposed appendicitis, and a growing sense that his parents misled him.

From his mother’s apartment, Luca sees their old garden and impulsively climbs into the current residents’ yard. Confronted by the homeowner, he proves his past connection with house details. The man then reveals that three weeks earlier a young woman and man, introducing themselves as “Telma and Luca,” toured the house and garden. The woman was very fair-haired; the man brown-haired and short. Their intense, hand-holding behavior seemed unlike siblings, suggesting a disturbing dynamic. Luca considers that the brown-haired man he chased in London might be the same person.

Back at the apartment, Luca searches for clothes for his hospitalized mother and discovers a taped box addressed from “him” to her: the stolen cookies. He realizes the blackmailer used them to poison his mother. At the hospital, he hands over the remaining cookies as evidence and insists on strict controls. He asks staff to check for any record of Telma’s hospitalization there ten years ago; none exists.

After brief, comforting texts with Liv, Luca returns to searching. He finds a thick Italian file of inheritance documents concerning the Milan house, recalling that after his uncle’s fatal accident, his father became sole owner. He questions the long-held story of drunken driving and wonders whether darker motives or family conflicts drove past events.

As fatigue sets in, Luca continues sifting papers until he discovers a red envelope hidden within the file, signaling another looming revelation.