Chapter 10 - THE DEAD WOMAN'S FINGERPRINT
Hannah asked the lab to repeat the test.
They did.
Same result.
Claire Marlowe's right index fingerprint.
Gabriel stared at the sealed evidence bag as if his wife might somehow appear inside it.
"Someone preserved a print."
Hannah spoke first.
"Or lifted it."
Gabriel's expression hardened.
"From where?"
"Her belongings."
His eyes shifted toward the sealed room upstairs.
The blue cup had been broken.
Her books remained untouched.
Her mirror.
Her perfume bottle.
Dozens of surfaces could still hold old prints if carefully preserved.
But using Claire's fingerprint was not only forensic manipulation.
It was psychological.
Someone wanted Gabriel to feel haunted.
Someone knew exactly how to enter his head.
"Sebastian."
Hannah did not disagree.
But she asked the question Gabriel did not want.
"Why frame Claire?"
"Not Claire."
Gabriel looked at the false ID badge bearing Rebecca's name.
"They are building a chain."
Hannah followed his reasoning.
Rebecca connected to Mercer.
Rebecca connected to Claire.
Claire's print connected to the drug.
If authorities found the evidence in the wrong order, it could suggest Claire and Rebecca had been manipulating Eli's care before Claire died.
The dead could not defend themselves.
The missing were easy to blame.
Gabriel's phone rang.
A federal number.
He answered.
"Gabriel Marlowe?"
"Yes."
"Special Agent Lucas Grant, FBI Boston."
Hannah looked at him.
Gabriel put the call on speaker.
"What can I do for you, Agent Grant?"
"We need to speak regarding activity connected to Marlowe Harbor Logistics."
"Today?"
"Now."
Gabriel glanced at the FAILSAFE file.
Federal exposure package.
Someone had triggered part of it early.
"Come to my attorney's office."
"Which attorney?"
Gabriel paused.
"Daniel Keane."
Agent Grant was silent.
"Mr. Marlowe, Daniel Keane was found dead this morning."
Hannah's hand went to her mouth.
Gabriel's face did not move.
"Where?"
"His vehicle was recovered near Cape Ann."
"Cause?"
"That's part of what we need to discuss."
Gabriel ended the call after arranging a meeting at a neutral law office.
Hannah stared at him.
"Your lawyer disappears, then dies."
"And the FBI calls me within hours."
"Failsafe."
"Yes."
Gabriel opened the red binder again.
The federal exposure package was supposed to activate if he became noncompliant.
Maybe Phase Two was not two weeks away anymore.
Maybe finding the red room accelerated it.
They met Agent Grant that afternoon.
Gabriel brought an attorney from New York who had never worked for Marlowe companies.
Grant placed three photographs on the table.
The first showed Daniel Keane's car at the base of a rocky slope.
The second showed a burned laptop recovered from the trunk.
The third showed a ledger page.
Gabriel recognized it immediately.
Northstar Maritime.
His authorization code appeared beside multiple illegal shipments.
"These are forged."
Grant leaned back.
"That's a fast answer."
"Because I know my records."
"Your code is on them."
"Codes can be copied."
"Signatures?"
"Copied."
"Voice authorizations?"
Gabriel went still.
Grant pressed a button on a recorder.
Gabriel's own voice filled the room.
"Move the Northstar containers through Pier Nine before sunrise."
Gabriel's expression did not change.
The voice was perfect.
Hannah looked at him.
"That's not me."
Grant watched his face.
"Sounds exactly like you."
"I know what I sound like."
"So does whoever made this, apparently."
That sentence surprised Gabriel.
Grant was not convinced by the recording either.
The agent continued.
"Keane contacted us six weeks ago."
Gabriel leaned forward.
"About what?"
"He claimed you were running an unauthorized trafficking network through shell companies."
"He lied."
"Maybe."
Grant slid over another page.
"Then three days ago he requested emergency witness protection."
Hannah frowned.
"Why?"
"He said he had evidence that Gabriel Marlowe ordered his wife's death after she discovered financial crimes."
Gabriel did not blink.
Inside, something shattered.
"He said I killed Claire."
"Yes."
Grant watched him carefully.
"And this morning, Keane was dead."
The implication was deliberate.
Gabriel's attorney touched his arm.
Gabriel pulled away.
"What evidence?"
Grant studied him.
"A recording."
"Play it."
The attorney objected.
"Gabriel."
"Play it."
Grant pressed the recorder.
Claire's voice filled the room.
"If anything happens to me, Gabriel is responsible."
Gabriel went completely still.
The recording continued.
"He knows I found the harbor accounts."
"He told me I would regret going behind his back."
"I am afraid he will hurt me or Eli."
Then the audio ended.
Hannah felt sick.
Gabriel looked like he had been struck in the chest.
"That's her voice."
Grant nodded.
"Yes."
"But she never said that about me."
"How can you know?"
Gabriel closed his eyes.
Because despite everything Claire hid, he could not imagine those words.
Then Hannah remembered the fake Gabriel voice ordering containers moved.
"It could be synthetic."
Grant looked at her.
"Our lab is testing it."
Gabriel stood.
"Someone is building a case."
"Against you?"
"Around me."
He looked directly at Grant.
"My wife discovered a network inside my companies."
His attorney grabbed his sleeve.
"Do not continue."
Gabriel ignored him.
"Daniel Keane knew about a trust I created for my son."
Grant's face sharpened.
"What trust?"
"A succession structure."
"For what assets?"
"Legitimate ones."
"And the illegitimate ones?"
Gabriel gave him a cold look.
"Ask a better question."
Grant almost smiled.
"Fine."
He leaned forward.
"Who benefits if you go to prison or die?"
Gabriel answered without hesitation.
"Sebastian Rourke."
Grant's expression changed.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
Gabriel saw it.
"You know the name."
Grant closed the file.
"I know many names."
"You reacted."
"So did you."
"What do you have on him?"
Grant stood.
"This meeting is over."
Gabriel blocked the door.
His attorney swore softly.
Grant looked at him.
"Move."
"What do you have on Sebastian?"
Grant's eyes hardened.
"Move, Mr. Marlowe."
Gabriel did.
But as Grant passed, he said quietly.
"Ask him about the red ring."
The agent stopped.
Only for half a second.
Then he left.
Hannah stared after him.
"He knows."
Gabriel nodded.
"Yes."
Outside, Gabriel's phone vibrated.
A message from an unknown number.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LET THE FBI ARREST YOU.
A second message followed.
NOW PHASE TWO STARTS TONIGHT.
Then a photograph appeared.
Eli was sitting in the mansion library.
The photo had been taken less than one minute earlier.
May you like
Behind Eli, reflected in the glass cabinet, stood Sebastian Rourke.
