Chương 3
“Why?”
Carla looked at the floor.
“Because nobody had a reason to.”
Daniel felt the weight of that answer.
Not because it was unreasonable.
Because it was normal.
Most systems were built around responding to problems, not searching for hidden ones.
A document could sit untouched for years because everyone believed the important moment had already passed.
“What was in the financial report?” Daniel asked.
Maria answered this time.
“We don’t know.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You said it was in the folder.”
“It was listed in the folder inventory.”
“But nobody knows what it contained?”
“Not exactly.”
Daniel leaned back.
“That’s impossible.”
“No,” Maria said.
“It’s a records issue.”
“That’s a very convenient phrase.”
Maria’s expression hardened slightly.
“I understand why you’re frustrated.”
“No, you understand why I’m accused.”
“That isn’t fair.”
“Neither is finding my name on a transfer request I didn’t create.”
Nobody responded.
The silence was not agreement.
It was the uncomfortable kind where everyone had a point and nobody liked hearing the others.
Maria closed the folder.
“We’re going to need access to your office.”
“You already searched it.”
“We need a formal review.”
Daniel looked at Carla.
“Did you know about this?”
“No.”
The answer came immediately.
Too immediately.
Daniel noticed.
Carla noticed that he noticed.
Their eyes met.
Neither one looked away.
“What?” Carla asked.
“Nothing.”
“You don’t believe me.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Daniel felt irritation rise.
He wanted to deny it.
Instead, he stayed quiet.
That was the problem with knowing someone for years.
You recognized their defenses before they finished building them.
Carla looked down at her hands.
“I didn’t know they would search your office.”
“But you knew something was happening.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
She took a breath.
“Since yesterday morning.”
Daniel stared at her.
“Yesterday morning.”
“Yes.”
“And you waited until today?”
“I was trying to confirm something.”
“What?”
Carla reached into her bag and pulled out her phone.
She opened a photo.
Then she placed the screen on the table.
Daniel looked at it.
It was a picture of a printed email.
The image was blurry.
The text was small.
But one line was clear.
Patterson Archive Transfer Request.
Daniel looked closer.
The sender information had been cut off.
“Where did you get this?”
Carla hesitated.
“Marcus sent it to me.”
The name changed the room.
“You said Marcus left two months ago,” Maria said.
“He did.”
“Then how did he send it?”
Carla looked at the phone.
“He emailed me.”
“When?”
“Last night.”
Daniel stared at her.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Carla’s face tightened.
“Because the email said not to.”
“That is not a good enough reason.”
“I know.”
The admission came quietly.
No defense.
No excuse.
Just regret.
Daniel looked away.
Outside the office window, a maintenance worker pushed a vacuum through the hallway.
The machine made a low humming sound that traveled through the glass.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
It was a strange thing to notice during an investigation.
A person cleaning a hallway.
Someone doing ordinary work while another person’s future was being questioned a few feet away.
Daniel wondered how many times that happened every day.
How many lives changed quietly while other people continued carrying boxes, making calls, and wiping tables.
“What did Marcus say?” Evan asked.
Carla unlocked the phone again.
“He said the Patterson file was incomplete.”
Maria looked at her.
“That’s all?”
“No.”
Carla swallowed.
“He said someone inside the department knew about it.”
Daniel felt his shoulders tense.
“Who?”
Carla looked at him.
“He didn’t say.”
“Of course he didn’t.”
“He said he couldn’t trust email.”
Daniel gave a short, humorless laugh.
“That’s ironic.”
Nobody smiled.
Carla continued.
“He asked me to meet him.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
Maria immediately shook her head.
“No.”
Carla looked at her.
“No?”
“You cannot meet with someone connected to an active review without informing us.”
“I was going to.”
“When?”
Carla did not answer.
Maria sighed.
“This is exactly why people make investigations harder than they need to be.”
Daniel almost argued.
Then he stopped.
Because part of him knew she was right.
People under pressure hid information because they were afraid.
Then the hiding created the exact suspicion they were trying to avoid.
It was a pattern he had seen hundreds of times.
Seeing it from the inside felt different.
“When and where?” Daniel asked.
Carla looked at him.
“What?”
“When did Marcus want to meet?”
“Daniel.”
“Tell me.”
She shook her head.
“You’re not hearing me.”
“No.”
He looked at the phone.
“I’m hearing you.”
His voice became quieter.
“I’m just tired of everyone deciding what I’m allowed to know.”
Carla’s expression softened.
Only slightly.
“Seven thirty.”
“Where?”
“The old diner on Fifth.”
Daniel knew the place.
It had been there for decades.
The kind of restaurant where nobody cared if someone sat alone for two hours with a cup of coffee.
“Are you going?”
Carla looked at Maria.
Then at Daniel.
“I don’t know.”
That answer bothered him more than yes or no.
Because it sounded like someone who wanted to go but was afraid of what they would find.
Maria stood.
“This meeting is not happening without oversight.”
Carla looked annoyed.
“You mean without permission.”
“I mean without protection.”
“For who?”
Maria did not answer.
That was enough.
Daniel noticed the question had landed because it was also the one he had been avoiding.
Protection was always offered to someone.
The question was who deserved it.
A few minutes later, Daniel walked back toward his office with Evan following behind him.
The hallway felt different now.
Not because people knew more.
Because Daniel knew less.
That had always frightened him more.
At his office door, Evan stopped.
“Mr. Mercer.”
Daniel turned.
“What?”
Evan held the tablet against his chest.
“There is something else you should know.”
Daniel waited.
“The transfer request wasn’t signed yesterday.”
“When was it signed?”
Evan looked at the screen.
May you like
“Six months ago.”
Daniel felt the hallway disappear around him.
