16 KiB
title: "La Plaza: The Falcones & the Morettis" date: 2025-10-25T07:52:53Z draft: false tags: ["crime fiction","mafia","family tree","noir"] showToc: true summary: "Two dynasties in Sicily collide: a funeral party for a dead Don, a gilded heir with a fatal flaw, and a whisper-soft romance that could start a war."
Last night I attended a ZiS event called "the Murder Mystery night".
The story was about two families. The Falcones, and the Moretti family.
Gold-embossed invitations arrive at La Plaza for a celebration of life honoring Salvatore Falcone, recently slain Don. All members of the Moretti family are invited to the party!
Family Trees
{{< mermaid >}}
%%{init: {"flowchart":{"htmlLabels": true, "nodeSpacing": 30, "rankSpacing": 35}} }%%
flowchart TB
subgraph falcone["Falcone — current generation"]
direction TB
Salvatore["Salvatore Falcone
dead boss"]
Serena["Serena
widow (bosswife)"]
Salvatore -- Married --> Serena
%% row: siblings
subgraph falcone_row1[ ]
direction LR
Sophia["Sophia
underboss"]
Massimo["Massimo
lawyer"]
Fabiola["Fabiola
financial
advisor"]
Aurora["Aurora
associate"]
end
%% row: next generation
subgraph falcone_row2[ ]
direction LR
Lorenzo["Lorenzo
fixer
(Sophia's son)"]
Michelangelo["Michelangelo
enforcer
(Massimo's son)"]
Antonio["Antonio
hitman"]
end
Sophia --> Lorenzo Massimo --> Michelangelo Fabiola -- Married --> Antonio end {{< /mermaid >}}
{{< mermaid >}}
%%{init: {"flowchart":{"htmlLabels": true, "nodeSpacing": 30, "rankSpacing": 35}} }%%
flowchart TB
subgraph moretti["Moretti family"]
direction TB
Benito["Benito
boss"]
Nicoletta["Nicoletta
bosswife"]
Claudia["Claudia
ex wife"]
Benito -- Married --> Nicoletta
Benito -- Divorced --> Claudia
%% row: children
subgraph moretti_row1[ ]
direction LR
Sergio["Sergio
underboss"]
Lucia["Lucia
associate"]
end
Benito -->|son| Sergio
Nicoletta -->|son| Sergio
Benito -->|daughter| Lucia
Claudia -->|daughter| Lucia
%% row: Lucia's crew
subgraph moretti_row2[ ]
direction LR
Violetta["Violetta
fixer"]
Santo["Santo
enforcer"]
end
Lucia --> Violetta
Lucia --> Santo
end
Enrico["Enrico
finantial advisor"]
Benito ---|younger brother| Enrico
{{< /mermaid >}}
Who’s Who (quick dossiers)
Falcone notes
- Salvatore Falcone (†) — Former Don, killed under mysterious circumstances.
- Serena — Salvatore’s widow; trades in charm and influence, now vying for power—especially against Sophia.
- Sophia — Eldest sibling, longtime underboss; disciplined, feared; sees herself as rightful heir after Salvatore.
- Massimo — Younger brother; justice-minded, hardened by his wife’s death.
- Aurora — Youngest; underestimated as naive or harmless, but observant.
- Fabiola — Ambitious financial brain; growth-focused, clashes with tradition.
- Antonio — Fabiola’s husband; trusted hitman with careless drinking and looser lips than he should have.
- Michelangelo — Massimo’s son; enforcer torn by guilt over his mother’s murder.
- Lorenzo — Sophia’s son; quiet fixer who tidies messes, unflappable.
Moretti notes
- Benito — Calculating, paranoid Boss; obsessed with securing the bloodline through his son.
- Nicoletta — Benito’s wife; once a prostitute, now regal and cunning.
- Sergio — Only son; appointed underboss young. All glitter, charm…and a crack in the armor: the game.
- Enrico — Benito’s younger brother; accountant; clever, restless for influence.
- Violetta — The family’s ice-cold fixer; keeps things “clean,” whatever it costs.
- Claudia — Benito’s ex-wife; elegant, humiliated but dangerous in refined ways.
- Lucia — Daughter of Benito and Claudia; proud, protective, hungry for attention from the core family.
- Santo — Lucia’s son; bold, admired and doubted in equal measure.
Aside from these characters, there were two additional characters. Falcon's priest, who had confessions from every Falcon family member, and a prostitute who had slept with many of the characters in the story, and had dirt on them!
World sketch: the Falcones make problems disappear and launder fortunes behind bright lights and polished floors; the Morettis flaunt neon glamour while doing the real work in shadows.
After the introduction, I assumed the role of Sergio, heir to Benito and his apparent son, as the story unfolded. All I knew was that on the night of the murder, I was not in Falcon's house, and that I was out in a casino with Aurora.
I didn't know how little I know about the story until the middle of the game, where everyone was starting to spill the beans! It was insane how clueless I was. LMAO
So, without further of do, let's dive riiiiiiiiiight in!!!! Weeeee haaaaa xD
Act I, the dinner
We arrived at the family party, dressed in colorful dresses, as it was supposed to be the celebration of life. Or that's what was written in our invitations.
The Falcons were in black, grieving a lost one, their beloved boss, Salvatore Falcone.
The clash was instant as they though we were disrespectful to wear such cloths. As Sophia, the organizer of the dinner, started to give us scary looks, Violetta came at her with no chill.
She said, "I know what the purpose of this dinner is, you are accusing us of murder! But shall not heed. This is an insider job, a betrayal, and we will uncover it."
The Falcones were not happy with any of it. Massimo, Michelangelo, Lorenzo, Antonio, and Serena went back at her for how dares she! They said Why would they take it so far to accuse them of accusing us of murder.
Violetta, our family’s ice-cold fixer, replied, "it is clear from our invitations, they are all crossed out on purpose. You want us to look bad, or someone from within is doing it with that intention".
They went quiet. They were just as confused. Sophia invited us to sit down and eat in calm. We acknowledged and grabbed bites to eat. When all were happy and satisfied, we geared up for round two of discussions.
While the game continued, the dinner also stood out. Every dish was delicious, beautifully prepared, and truly made the evening special. I want to give props to the organizer (won't name here out of privacy). Thank you again for such an amazing event!
Act II, the invitations
Sophia looked at us with her death smile and said, "I was involved with 9 invitations, the ones to our family, and nothing more."
The room went into a deep silence. What did she mean? Who made Moretti's invitations? Why were they crossed out? Why did it say it was a celebration of life, while it was a gathering of grief? Why did it ask Moretti's to wear colorful dresses, and not black like Falcones? Who was plotting this? Was this going to end in a bloodbath? Or will the families work it out?
The occasion was grim, but the outcome was immense. Either the two sworn families rip this thin bond once and for all, or they will come out as stronger allies, ruling the lands under their influence with no power to stop them.
Violetta then looked at Sophia with her dead eyes. Both families knew the fire was going to just grow stronger...
Act III, the evidence
Violetta asked Sophia for pictures of the crime scene. Sophia signaled Michelangelo to deliver, and he did.
There were four pictures and a dissection report. Two of the pictures were from the bullet marks that had exited Salvatore's body from the other side. The third picture was of Salvatore's dead body, fallen on the ground in front of the set of stairs. The report stated two shots were fired, one to the head and one to the chest. Both exited the body and were fatal. The body was pushed down the stairs. According to the last picture and the dissection report, the two bullets had different calibers: a 9mm Luger and .243 WIN.
Massimo got up from his sit, pointing to an article about her wife's death. He stated how this was similar to her death, and how she died "The Moretti way". "She was shot and pushed down the stairs. What other evidence do you need?" said Massimo.
Benito replied calmly, "But Salvatore didn't die the Moretti way. We use one bullet, and push the victim down afterwards. We never miss.". "Salvatore was facing away from the stairs, according to the image, we never execute like that. We are not cowards.", said Sergio with a collected tone.
Massimo wasn't convinced, but he knew they were right. He just could not forgive her wife's death.
The room went into silence again.
Violetta presented additional evidence: a picture of Salvatore with a police officer at a bar, alongside bank statements from Fabiola's accounting showing F&E laundering money for Salvatore. No one knew what F&E stood for, but Enrico and Fabiola were suspected. They remained silent, drawing suspicion, and eventually explained that the families were linked at Enrico and Salvatore's level, using the Falcones' casinos to clean cocaine profits, benefitting both sides. It was unclear if Benito knew or simply would not discuss it.
In the picture, it can be seen that a note was being passed to Salvatore. It was hard to read, but it said: "Be careful".
Serena pointed to Antonio, and he took out a piece of paper of the family's weekly report. It was stated that Sergio and Aurora had been seen together multiple times. But why? Sergio does live a lavish lifestyle. He regularly goes to casinos, sometimes suspiciously wins large amounts, and sometimes loses a fortune. When confronted about this, he just said he enjoyed the company. But what business did the heir to Moretti's have with the youngest of the Falcones?
Lorenzo and Michelangelo pushed this matter further. They claimed Michelangelo was tasked to get dirt on them, and to envolve Antonio if needed. In the back of a picture taken of the two of them (Sergio and Aurora) in the casino, it was written that this is abnormal behaviour, and that they should be careful with Sergio. Antonio's report also stated the same, that they should be mindful of Sergio. Sergio only mentioned that he was not at Falcones' that night, and that he was in a casino with Aurora; no further explanation was provided by him.
Aurora didn't budge either.
Sergio changed the subject swiftly. He pointed to the gun used for the murder and said, "Doesn't that look like Santo's gun? Where were you that night, Santos?". "I was at home, with my mother", Santos replied, and Lucia nodded.
It felt like this conversation was going nowhere. Sophia asked the priest and the prostitute to speak up.
Act IV, the confessions
The priest came into the room. He mentioned that Aurora had confessed to being in love with Serio. That Antonio had wittnessed he is cheating on Fabiola with Lorenzo, that Michelangelo was mad about finding out Fabiola was working with Morettis, and that Salvatore had know this for a long time. He mentioned how Salvatore had changed his will before his death from giving everything to his heir, Sophia, to whoever uncovers how he dies. He mentioned how Serena had heard "there was another heir to Salvatore's fortune", that she was paranoid now, that all the time he asked for an heir, he wanted a son, not a child.
The prostitute continued, "Benito ordered to kill her mistress before the child was born, but he didn't manage". She said how Sergio had told him after getting drunk that he did not like women, but used them to his advantage.
Claudia wasn't feeling well. She loved her daughter Lucia, but was she the mistress? Why did Benito leave her for Nicoletta? A former prostitute. Did he order them to kill her?
The prostitute then continued. "Sergio is not Benito's son". Violetta showed a piece of paper indicating that DNA results show he is indeed not Benito's son. Benito smiled. "Sergio is my son, even if not my blood. He slept with Aurora, this prostitute, Fabiola, and Sophia for our cause."
Sergio did not smile, or any changes in his face. He was ice-cold.
It was still not clear who plotted to kill Salvatore. Everyone was confused.
It was time for deduction.
Act V, the killer(s)
After a long discussion between all the family members, these were the conclusions.
It was evident that Serena was in her part of the mansion, far from Falcone. A different house. Antonio was chilling at his house with Fabiola. Massimo claimed he was at his office, working on cleaning family from some cases. Aurora was with Sergio in a casino. Benito, Lucia, Santo, Claudia, Enrico, and Nicoletta were at Moretti's. That left Michelangelo, Lorenzo, and Violetta. No one knew what they were doing or where they were.
Initially, Michelangelo and Lorenzo claimed they were following Sergio and Aurora, but the evidence showed they were there only for a fraction of the night.
If everyone was telling the truth, one or two of Michelangelo, Lorenzo, and Violetta were the killers. From the confessions the priest provided, Michelangelo had the most valid motivation for this killing. He was not happy about the family's side business with the killer of her mother. He was not happy that Salvatore did not care. But there were two different guns used. Did Lorenzo really help take out the head of the family? But why?
Lorenzo had affairs with Antonio, and he knew Fabiola was working with Enrico to launder money. It was the perfect plan. The two of them would kill Salvatore, make it look like Fabiola and Enrico killed the head of the family by making it look like "The Moretti" way. Then Lorenzo gets to Antonio, and Michelangelo would take his revenge. Sergio would also not get his hand on Salvatore's money, as with all ties broken, no one would suspect he was Salvatore's son. Nicoletta would also not talk, as she would lose everything if she confessed.
Although all evidence was against Lorenzo and Michelangelo, they did not confess. Violetta had to break it to them again. She said she was at Falcones on the night of the murder to get dirt on them. She said she was hiding in a closet, and that she saw everything. She said that she even has pictures and soundproof of all that happened. When asked why she didn't mention any of this earlier, she said she wanted to see how far they would go with this, and how much the lie, and what they had plotted. She also wanted to gather more information from whatever people said during these discussions. What a clever fixer! A true piece of treasure from Moretti's side.
It was over for Lorenzo and Michelangelo. Lorenzo burst into tears after all of this. He said that Sophia was not protecting the family as the underboss and heir. How could she lose her title if the fact about Sergio were known someday?
Sophia was just disappointed with all of this. She didn't budge.
The epilogue
Most people weren't sharing what they knew not to become sus! I didn't talk to everyone, but for example, the person who played Santo's role said his card stated he was cleaning his 9mm pistol on the night of the murder. He never mentioned this. Though this would through suspicion on him, when Lucia and other members vouched that he was at home with them, we would not have been misled by some random fact that his pistol was missing, or that one of the murder weapons looked like his. I think there was a lot of information that people either mispresented or decided not to. This ruined the flow of the story. I'm not sure if Violetta had to say she was hiding in the closet or not, but it was really late, and I think we were not sure who the killers really were, since people weren't presenting everything they knew.
Overall, this was the most fun event I have ever attended from ZiS. Everything was perfect, and the organizer was amazing. I would say the person who organized this event is the best of the tutors! They had also organized a game night where we played many fun games online, which was my second most favorite event! Thank you so incredibly much once again for the event!
{{< sigdl >}}