Chapter 1
TRE QUARTI:
The Manuscript That Pleaded the Fifth
By Valeri Caronna & Vinny Bellucci
Summary for Inkitt
A manuscript arrives at Caronna Bellucci Publishing without an author, return address, or digital record.
The cover is blank.
The pages are blank.
Almost.
Every chapter has been blacked out with heavy legal redactions, leaving only the disclaimers, copyright notices, liability waivers, witness statements, and attorney warnings untouched.
According to the paperwork, the book should not exist.
According to the publishing records, it was never submitted.
According to the date stamped on the title page, it was printed twenty years in the future.
Valeri Caronna thinks it is a prank.
Until she pulls tarot cards over the missing text.
The cards reveal fragments.
Names.
Places.
Conversations.
Confessions.
The more she reads, the more she realizes the redacted manuscript is not fiction.
It is testimony.
Someone used a novel to hide evidence.
Someone used publishing contracts to conceal a witness statement.
Someone buried the truth beneath layers of legal language and family protection.
And according to the cards, the person being exposed is still alive.
Still powerful.
Still watching.
As the five families begin appearing inside the manuscript one chapter at a time, Valeri and Vinny Bellucci discover the most dangerous secret of all:
The book is still being written.
And every time someone reads it, another chapter appears.
Tone
Legal Mystery.
Tarot Noir.
Publishing Suspense.
New Orleans Gothic.
Family Secrets.
Slow-Burn Investigation.
Tre Quarti.
Chapter One
TRE QUARTI:
The Manuscript That Pleaded the Fifth
Chapter One
Cannoli Affidavit
Cancer
Scripture:
“For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.”
Luke 12:2
Five-Card Tre Quarti Tarot Spread
Bellucci:
The High Priestess
Caronna:
Justice
Romano:
The Hermit
Alto:
Page of Swords
Lipari:
King of Pentacles
The manuscript arrived on a Tuesday.
Nobody signed for it.
Nobody saw who dropped it off.
Nobody could explain how it got inside Caronna Bellucci Publishing.
Valeri discovered it sitting in the middle of the conference table.
The package was wrapped in plain brown paper.
No postage.
No shipping label.
No fingerprints.
Just a typed note.
FOR INTERNAL REVIEW ONLY.
Vinny looked at it from across the room.
“That’s never a good sign.”
“Nope.”
Valeri poked the package.
“Could be a bomb.”
Vinny nodded.
“Could be taxes.”
“Same thing.”
The room laughed.
Nobody touched it for another ten minutes.
Finally Vinny slid a letter opener beneath the paper.
Inside sat a thick manuscript bound with a black spiral spine.
No title.
No author.
No publisher.
Nothing.
Valeri opened to Chapter One.
The entire chapter was blacked out.
Every sentence.
Every paragraph.
Every page.
Solid black ink.
Only the legal disclaimer remained.
She read aloud.
“The following material may contain statements made by individuals living or deceased.”
Vinny frowned.
“Keep going.”
Valeri continued.
“Names may have been changed to protect parties currently under investigation.”
The room became quiet.
Very quiet.
She turned the page.
Another disclaimer.
Another warning.
Another legal statement.
Every chapter.
Every page.
The story itself was missing.
Only the warnings remained.
Deliberately.
Carefully.
Professionally.
Like a lawyer had gone through the manuscript with a flamethrower.
“What kind of idiot submits a blank book?” Brandi Bellucci asked.
Valeri didn’t answer.
She was staring at the first page.
Something felt wrong.
Not dangerous.
Not supernatural.
Familiar.
Like standing in a room where people had just stopped talking before you walked in.
The feeling settled over her shoulders.
Heavy.
Watching.
Waiting.
She slowly reached into her purse.
Vinny immediately sighed.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Valeri.”
“Vinny.”
The deck was already in her hands.
The room groaned.
She shuffled.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The cards slid across the conference table.
The High Priestess.
Justice.
The Hermit.
Page of Swords.
King of Pentacles.
Nobody spoke.
Valeri stared at the cards.
Then at the manuscript.
Then back at the cards.
A chill crawled up her spine.
For a moment she saw words.
Not on the page.
Behind it.
Like shadows moving beneath black paint.
A sentence appeared.
Only one.
Then vanished.
A witness was never supposed to survive.
Valeri froze.
“What?”
Vinny leaned forward.
“What did you see?”
She looked down.
The sentence was gone.
The page was blank again.
Nothing except legal language.
Her heartbeat quickened.
She turned another page.
Another flash.
Another hidden sentence.
Someone paid to change the story.
Gone.
Just as quickly as it appeared.
Now everyone in the room was staring at her.
“Valeri?”
She swallowed.
“The manuscript isn’t blank.”
Vinny folded his arms.
“What do you mean?”
“The words are still there.”
Silence.
“The ink is hiding them.”
“How do you know?”
Valeri slowly looked toward the tarot cards.
“Because the cards are reading the missing chapters.”
Nobody laughed.
Nobody made a joke.
Because deep down every person in that room felt it.
The manuscript had not arrived to be published.
It had arrived to be heard.
And somewhere beneath thousands of blacked-out words, someone was trying desperately to tell the truth.
Prayer
Lord,
If truth has been buried, bring it to light.
If lies have been protected, expose them.
Give us wisdom where others brought confusion.
Give us courage where others chose silence.
And if this manuscript carries the voice of someone who could not speak for themselves,
let us hear it.
Amen.
