Chương 4
Garrison shifted slightly.
Renner caught it.
“What?”
Garrison looked uncomfortable.
“He found it.”
Renner turned back to Marcus.
“You found the foreign material?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“That’s not important right now.”
“To me, it is.”
Marcus looked past him toward Tessa, who had returned with gloves, evidence bags, numbered markers, and a small camera.
“Your security chief is doing the important part.”
Renner’s mouth tightened.
Natalie stepped between them before the exchange could become another contest of authority.
“Marcus, what did you mean when you said the airplane isn’t safe to touch?”
“There may be more than one modification.”
Garrison nodded slowly.
“If someone wanted this to mimic cascading faults, they could have created a second trigger.”
“Or three.”
Renner looked irritated.
“Based on what evidence?”
“Based on not assuming the person who did this was careless.”
Marcus walked toward the nose of the aircraft.
Tessa called after him.
“Stop.”
He did.
“I need everyone to stay where they are until I document positions and establish who has touched what.”
Marcus nodded.
“That makes sense.”
Her expression softened by a fraction.
“Thank you.”
She photographed the access area from multiple angles.
She photographed the surrounding floor, the fasteners, the tool used to remove them, the technicians who had stood nearby, and the temporary maintenance cart.
Then she had Garrison identify each person who had worked directly on the aircraft since the previous evening.
There were twelve.
Two were no longer on site.
One had gone home at midnight.
The other had left forty minutes before Marcus arrived.
Tessa stopped writing.
“Who?”
Garrison checked the maintenance roster.
“Evan Cole.”
Natalie looked up.
“Why did he leave?”
“Said his wife was sick.”
“What does he do?”
“Electrical systems technician.”
Nobody spoke for a moment.
Marcus disliked the way suspicion moved through a room.
It was fast and lazy.
People grabbed the first shape that fit.
“Don’t decide it’s him.”
Tessa looked at Marcus.
“No one has.”
“Half the room just did.”
A few people looked away.
Tessa glanced around and seemed to agree without saying so.
“Did Cole work on this bay?”
Garrison checked again.
“Not according to the task log.”
“Did he have access?”
“Yes.”
“So did a lot of people.”
Marcus said it quietly.
Renner folded his arms.
“You’re very invested in preventing conclusions.”
“I’m invested in preventing bad ones.”
Natalie studied him.
“That sounded personal.”
Marcus looked at her.
“It was professional.”
Tessa finished documenting the panel and instructed Garrison to remove the shim using clean insulated tweezers while she recorded the process.
The piece came free without resistance.
It was smaller than Marcus expected, rectangular and hand-cut, with one edge slightly burred.
Tessa sealed it in a transparent evidence envelope.
“There’s residue.”
Marcus leaned closer.
A faint gray smear marked one side.
Garrison saw it too.
“Conductive compound.”
“Maybe.”
Marcus pointed with one finger but did not touch.
“Send it to a lab before calling it anything.”
Renner gave him a long look.
“You talk like someone who’s been cross-examined.”
Marcus met his eyes.
“I talk like someone who learned what happens when people decide what evidence means before they know what it is.”
Natalie went still.
Garrison looked from one man to the other.
The question about Marcus returned to the room.
This time nobody asked it.
Tessa sealed the envelope and logged the time.
“Now we search the aircraft.”
Marcus shook his head.
“Not like that.”
Tessa’s eyebrows rose.
“How would you do it?”
“Start with every system that showed a fault.”
Garrison was already moving toward the diagnostic workstation.
“Fuel control, environmental, flight management, starter-generator, hydraulic monitoring.”
“Anything in common?”
“Power reference.”
“Not enough.”
Marcus stepped beside him.
“What physical routing do they share?”
Garrison pulled up a wiring schematic.
The screen filled with colored lines and component codes.
One of the junior engineers, Priya Shah, moved closer.
“The left equipment spine.”
Marcus looked at her.
“Which section?”
She zoomed the diagram.
“Forward avionics rack through center service conduit.”
Garrison frowned.
“That run was inspected at three this morning.”
“By who?”
Priya checked the record.
“Evan.”
The silence returned.
Marcus shut his eyes for half a second.
“Who else?”
Priya scrolled.
“Me.”
Tessa turned toward her.
Priya’s face changed.
“I was with him for most of it.”
“Most?”
“He went inside the forward rack while I checked continuity from the cabin access point.”
“How long was he alone?”
“I don’t know.”
“Estimate.”
“Three minutes.”
Garrison stared at the schematic.
Priya’s voice sharpened.
“He didn’t do this.”
Nobody answered.
She looked at Garrison.
“Come on.”
“I didn’t say he did.”
“You’re thinking it.”
“I’m thinking we need to check the rack.”
Priya turned toward Marcus.
“You started this.”
Marcus did not defend himself.
Her eyes were bright with anger.
“Evan trained me.”
“I’m not accusing him.”
“Everyone keeps saying that while putting his name next to everything.”
Tessa stepped in.
“Priya, I need you to stay calm.”
“That phrase has never made anybody calm.”
Alvarez muttered it from behind them.
Nobody laughed this time.
Priya crossed her arms tightly.
“He has a two-year-old son.”
Renner frowned.
“I’m not sure how that’s relevant.”
“It means his wife really could be sick.”
Marcus looked at Priya.
“What time did he say she called?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did he get a phone call?”
She paused.
“I think so.”
“You think?”
“He checked his phone.”
“Did it ring?”
Priya’s expression shifted.
“No.”
Tessa made a note.
Marcus immediately regretted asking in front of everyone.
He could see suspicion hardening again.
“Could have been a text.”
Priya nodded too quickly.
“Exactly.”
Natalie turned toward Tessa.
“Can you verify when he left?”
“Badge records and parking cameras.”
“Do it.”
Tessa walked toward the office.
Renner followed her.
Marcus watched them go and then looked at Garrison.
“Forward rack.”
Garrison nodded.
This time, he did not argue.
The team moved toward the nose of the aircraft.
Marcus remained where he was.
Natalie noticed.
May you like
“You’re not coming?”
“Your security chief told everyone to stay put.”
