Chương 14
I had given a short statement about betrayal and financial misconduct.
I had never mentioned Lucie by name.
Everyone knew anyway.
"I lost two consulting jobs in one week."
She wiped at her face angrily.
"Nobody wanted the thief from Vance Mobilier touching their procurement accounts."
I stood.
"I didn't know that."
"Of course you didn't."
She turned away.
"I stopped trying to explain after six months because every interview became the same thing."
The words came faster now.
"Why did your husband accuse you?"
"Why didn't police charge you?"
"Why would he lie?"
"Why would his own sister lie?"
She looked back at me.
"And the best one."
"If you're innocent, why haven't you sued him?"
I could not answer.
She did it for me.
"Because lawsuits cost money."
Her laugh was small and broken.
"And you had all of it."
My phone remained in my hand.
The audio file waited.
I wanted to put it away.
Lucie pointed at it.
"Play the rest."
I did.
Paul's voice returned.
"I want out."
Margaux said, "Fine."
"Not fine."
"Then what do you want?"
"I want everything closed."
"The accounts?"
"Everything."
"That takes time."
"You have forty-eight hours."
"Or what?"
"I go to Alexandre."
Margaux laughed.
"You think he'll believe you?"
"I have records."
"Records you created."
"I have messages."
"You think that scares me?"
"It should."
A chair moved.
Then Margaux spoke again.
"You met Lucie at the hotel."
"Because she asked questions."
"Exactly."
"What are you talking about?"
"Nothing."
Her voice had changed.
I knew that tone.
It was the one she used when she had already decided something and did not want debate.
Paul understood it too.
"No."
Margaux said nothing.
"No, don't do that."
"Do what?"
"Don't drag her into this."
"She already dragged herself into it."
"Margaux."
"If Alexandre thinks Lucie is involved with you, he won't listen to anything she says."
Lucie went completely still.
Paul's voice became low.
"You took pictures."
"I had someone take pictures."
"You planned this before she even met me."
"I planned for problems."
"She's innocent."
"Then she should have stayed out of it."
The audio distorted briefly.
Then Paul said, "You're sick."
Margaux exhaled.
"Maybe."
The recording ended.
Neither of us moved.
The corridor continued around us.
A nurse pushed a cart past.
The vending machine hummed.
Arthur was still somewhere behind the imaging doors.
Lucie picked up the fallen cup.
Her hands were shaking.
"I need air."
I followed her outside but stopped several feet away.
She stood under the awning with her arms wrapped around herself.
Cars moved through the wet parking lot.
Nobody paid attention to us.
After a while, I said, "I believed what she wanted me to believe."
Lucie did not turn.
"Yes."
"I was waiting for proof you had betrayed me."
"Yes."
"So when it appeared, I didn't test it."
"No."
"I wanted it to be true."
That made her look at me.
I swallowed.
"Because if you were guilty, then I got to be angry instead of afraid."
Her expression shifted slightly.
I continued before courage disappeared.
"I had already been jealous of Paul."
Lucie's eyes narrowed.
"You never said that."
"I know."
"I asked you."
"I lied."
"Why?"
"Because jealousy made me feel stupid."
She looked away again.
"Congratulations."
"I deserved that."
"Don't make this easy for me."
"I'm not trying to."
"Good."
We stood in silence.
Then she said, "I did lie about the hotel."
"I know."
"I should have told you."
"Yes."
She nodded once.
"But I was afraid you'd call Paul immediately."
"I would have."
"You would have threatened him."
"Probably."
"He would have warned Margaux."
"Probably."
Lucie gave me a bitter half smile.
"You haven't changed completely."
"No."
That answer seemed to matter.
A message arrived from Claire.
E-14 security archive located.
Possible badge/camera correlation.
I called her.
"What did you find?"
"We had hallway cameras back then."
"I remember."
"The raw video is gone."
My hope collapsed.
"But the old security vendor retained motion logs and access snapshots for insurance disputes."
"What is an access snapshot?"
"Single frames attached to after-hours door events."
"Do we have one?"
"Several."
"From the day Lucie's login was used?"
"Yes."
Claire paused.
"Margaux was at the workstation."
My pulse jumped.
"Can you prove it?"
"I can prove she entered E-14 at 8:41 p.m."
"And the login?"
"8:46."
"Anyone else?"
"No other badge entry for twenty-seven minutes."
"Could someone already have been inside?"
"Possible."
"So not proof."
"Not alone."
She sounded pleased about something.
"What?"
"There's a mirror."
"What mirror?"
"The wall opposite the office."
I almost lost patience.
"Claire."
"The access snapshot caught the open door."
She slowed down.
"And the mirror reflects the workstation."
My grip tightened.
"Can you see who is sitting there?"
"Yes."
Lucie turned toward me.
"Who?"
Claire's voice softened.
"Margaux."
I closed my eyes.
"Send it to Henri."
"Already did."
"Preserve the original."
"Obviously."
"And don't tell anyone."
"I know."
Then Claire added, "There's something else."
I waited.
"The timestamp matters."
"Why?"
"Because five minutes after that login, an external drive was mounted."
"Do we know what was copied?"
"Not yet."
"Could that be how she took files?"
"Possibly."
"Or planted them."
"Possibly."
I heard keys clicking.
"Alexandre, there are deleted system logs from the same night."
"Deleted by whom?"
"Admin credentials."
"Whose?"
"Yours."
I almost laughed.
"Of course."
"Before you panic, your credentials were used from E-14 too."
"So she had my password."
"Apparently."
I looked at Lucie.
She heard enough to understand.
"Can we recover the deleted logs?"
Claire hesitated.
"Some."
"Do it."
"I am."
"Anything about Sorelle?"
"Yes."
That changed her tone.
"The company was created using Margaux's personal email as the recovery address."
I blinked.
"How did investigators miss that?"
"They didn't have access to the original registration backup."
"How do you?"
"Because she used our office scanner to upload the incorporation documents."
A bitter laugh escaped me.
"She left everything everywhere."
"No."
Claire corrected me.
May you like
"She left pieces everywhere."
"What's the difference?"
