Chương 6
"Why not?"
"Because she was your sister."
Claire said it without cruelty.
That was worse.
"And because when the discrepancy surfaced, Lucie's credentials were attached to the account changes."
"I want the raw logs."
"We archived the old system."
"Can we recover them?"
"Probably."
"How long?"
She gave me a look.
"Longer if you keep asking me how long."
I almost smiled.
Almost.
"Do it quietly."
Claire did not move.
"How quietly?"
"No one outside this room knows."
"That is not an answer."
"Quietly enough that Margaux doesn't hear about it."
Her eyebrows rose.
"What happened?"
"I don't know yet."
"Alex."
"I don't know yet."
That was true, and saying it aloud felt unfamiliar.
For years, certainty had been my preferred form of armor.
Claire stared at me a moment longer, then opened her laptop.
"All right."
She stopped typing.
"But if this becomes a criminal matter, we preserve everything and we bring counsel in."
"Agreed."
"And you don't touch the records yourself."
"Why?"
"Because you are emotionally involved and technically incompetent."
I looked at her.
"You could have stopped after emotionally involved."
"I could have."
By eight thirty, the office had filled with ordinary Monday noise.
Phones rang.
Someone argued about a damaged marble table.
A delivery driver came through reception carrying a box of pastries because his dispatcher had missed two deadlines the week before and apparently believed butter could restore commercial trust.
I stood by my window and watched employees arrive carrying umbrellas, helmets, backpacks, and coffees.
Nothing about the building looked corrupt.
That bothered me more than if alarms had been sounding.
Claire sent me a message.
Found archived permissions export.
Need thirty minutes.
Then another message arrived from Margaux.
You forgot Dad's transfer.
I did not answer immediately.
Two minutes later, she called.
"Hey."
Her tone was light.
"You didn't send it."
"I'm in meetings."
"You always schedule it."
"Alex, they need payment today."
"Why today?"
A small silence.
"For his care."
"Yes, but why specifically today?"
"Because that's when they bill."
"Send me the invoice."
She did not answer.
"Margaux?"
"They don't really do individual invoices."
I turned away from the window.
"A private residence charging forty-seven hundred euros a month doesn't issue invoices?"
"I mean they do, obviously."
"Then send me one."
"Why are you being weird?"
"I'm asking for paperwork."
"You've never asked before."
"Maybe I should have."
That landed.
Her breathing changed.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
"Did someone say something to you?"
"About what?"
"I don't know."
"Then why would you ask?"
She laughed, but it was brittle.
"Okay, this is ridiculous."
"Send the invoice."
"When?"
"Later."
"Today."
"Fine."
She hung up.
I kept the phone against my ear after the call ended.
Claire appeared in the doorway.
"You look terrible."
"Thank you."
"I found something."
She closed the door behind her.
On her laptop was a spreadsheet exported from our old enterprise system.
Rows of account changes filled the screen.
She enlarged several entries.
"These are vendor banking updates."
I recognized Lucie's username.
"There."
"Yes."
Claire tapped the screen.
"Lucie's credentials authorized the change."
"That's what the audit showed."
"Right."
"Then what am I looking at?"
"The originating device."
I leaned closer.
"What about it?"
"Lucie's login was used from a workstation on the executive floor."
My office floor.
"She worked upstairs sometimes."
"Not that week."
"How do you know?"
"I checked building access."
Claire opened another file.
"Her badge didn't enter headquarters for six days."
My mouth went dry.
"She could have logged in remotely."
"Not from this device."
Claire pointed to an internal terminal identifier.
"This was workstation E-14."
I knew that number.
Margaux had used the small office opposite mine.
It had originally been a meeting room before she convinced me she needed private space for campaign planning.
"E-14 was Margaux's desk."
"Yes."
Claire looked at me.
"And before you ask, workstation location records are not perfect proof of who was sitting there."
"But someone used Lucie's login from Margaux's computer."
"Correct."
I stood upright.
"Can we prove the time?"
"To the minute."
"Was Margaux in the building?"
"Her badge entered at eight twelve."
"And left?"
"Seven forty-three that evening."
"What about me?"
"You were in Geneva."
I knew that already.
"What about Lucie?"
"Her badge activity shows Lyon Part-Dieu the night before."
Claire hesitated.
"Then nothing at headquarters."
"She was at the hotel with Paul."
Claire looked at me.
"I know what you accused her of."
I did not respond.
She closed one file and opened another.
"There's more."
Three payment approvals appeared.
All three carried my electronic authorization.
"I approved these."
"Your account approved them."
"Same thing."
"No."
Claire shook her head.
"That distinction is why we are sitting here."
She highlighted the authentication method.
"These approvals used your old four-digit mobile confirmation code."
I stared at the numbers.
"How would anyone have that?"
Claire gave me an irritated look.
"I have no idea."
I did.
Three years earlier, Margaux frequently accompanied me to openings, supplier dinners, and trade exhibitions.
When I drove, she answered messages from my phone.
When I was in presentations, she sometimes handled routine approvals after asking me verbally.
I had treated access like convenience.
"What was the code?" Claire asked.
I told her.
She stared at me.
"That is your mother's birthday."
"Yes."
"Alexandre."
"I know."
"No, I don't think you do."
She leaned back.
"Your passwords were basically family trivia."
"I said I know."
She watched me for another second.
"All right."
She reopened the transfer file.
"Now look at this."
The first two transfers went to Sorelle Conseil.
The third went to a holding account in Luxembourg.
"That one was part of the two hundred thousand?"
"Yes."
"Where did it go after that?"
"We couldn't trace it beyond the original investigation."
"Can we now?"
"Maybe."
"Why maybe?"
"Because banks are not vending machines for information."
Claire shut the laptop slightly.
May you like
"If we want records, we need legal authority, cooperation, or a legitimate internal claim."
"Could company counsel request them?"
