PART 5 — The File in the Sling
Marcus removed his glasses.
“My office credentials may have been compromised.”
Garrick seized the explanation immediately.
“Exactly. Someone is framing all of us.”
Evelyn closed the laptop.
“The forensic team will determine that.”
Marcus looked at me.
“You should not make assumptions, Victoria.”
It was the first time anyone had spoken my name that evening.
His tone was familiar.
Almost paternal.
For twenty-two years, Marcus had handled my trust documents, tax records, and voting rights.
After my husband Henry died, Marcus had been the one who helped me through probate.
He had sat beside me at the funeral.
He had told me Henry’s final business affairs were secure.
I wanted to believe him.
But prosecutors survive by noticing what people do when they think no one is watching.
Marcus had not looked surprised when my authorization code appeared.
He had looked frightened.
Sienna returned from the library carrying her damaged sling.
“I remember something.”
She turned the fabric inside out.
“The drive wasn’t the only thing hidden here.”
Using one hand, she pulled at a loose seam.
A tiny memory card dropped onto the table.
Garrick’s face changed.
Sienna saw it.
“You knew.”
“I have no idea what that is.”
“You searched the sling while I was in the kitchen,” she said. “You found the decoy drive.”
Miriam stood.
“That is enough.”
Commissioner Fletcher blocked her path.
“No one is leaving.”
Evelyn inserted the memory card into an isolated laptop.
Several folders appeared.
Bank records.
Internal emails.
Photographs of signed documents.
Then an audio file.
Sienna hesitated before pressing play.
Garrick’s voice filled the dining room.
“Tell me where you copied the accounts.”
Then came Sienna’s frightened reply.
“I already sent them.”
A loud crash followed.
Miriam’s voice came next.
“Not her face, Garrick. You have a board vote on Monday.”
No one moved.
The recording continued.
Garrick demanded a password.
Sienna refused.
Then another voice entered the room.
A male voice.
Calm.
Controlled.
Familiar.
“You were told to handle this quietly.”
I looked across the table.
Marcus Hale stared at the laptop.
His face had gone completely white.
May you like
The audio ended with Marcus saying five final words.
“If she talks, we all fall.”
