Lucas: "Thank you for speaking with me, Mrs. Castillo. I’m trying to understand what might have happened to Maria and the missing Onyx painting. Can you tell me about the days leading up to the exhibition?"

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Elena: "Oh, those were tense times. Maria was on edge. She… she felt watched, somehow. And honestly, I did too. There was someone, actually—a man in a grey suit and a hat. We saw him outside the studio more than once."

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Lucas: "Did you confront him?"

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Elena: "No, he always disappeared before we could. But one morning, there was a note slipped under the door. No name, just a message: Some things are better sold than shown. After that, Maria got really jumpy. She wasn’t herself."

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Lucas: "That sounds threatening. Did she say who she thought might’ve sent it?"

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Elena: "She had suspicions, but she didn’t name anyone. Just kept saying it was about the painting—that it was more valuable hidden than exposed."

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Lucas: "Did she ever talk about a replica? Perhaps she mentioned making a second version of the painting?"

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Elena: [pauses] "No, she didn’t. I don’t know anything about a replica. To my knowledge, the only Onyx was the one in the gallery."

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Lucas: "And you don’t know why she might have disappeared that night?"

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Elena: [looks away] "I think… she needed an escape from everything. The attention, the pressure—it all became too much for her. But I wouldn’t know anything about a replica. That’s not something we discussed."

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Lucas: "So, just to clarify—you were only involved as her aunt, not in any gallery work?"

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Elena: [avoids eye contact] "Of course. I was there to support her, nothing more. I stayed out of the gallery and her projects. That was all Maria.