The Carter signature is sufficient for the initial transfer. Once the audit is complete, the remaining documents must be removed from the archive.
Alexander felt his stomach tighten.
The email appeared to implicate Margaret directly.
But something was wrong.
The message had no original email headers, no verifiable sender information, and no digital signature. It could have been genuine, altered, or fabricated.
He photographed every page.
Then he found a second envelope taped to the inside of the drawer.
It contained a photograph of two people standing outside a restaurant.
One was Margaret Hale.
The other was Daniel Carter.
Between them stood a young man whose face Alexander recognized immediately.
His uncle, Thomas Whitmore.
Thomas had died in a boating accident eleven years earlier.
Alexander turned the photograph over.
Someone had written three words on the back.
THOMAS KNEW EVERYTHING.
He stared at the message.
His father had never mentioned Thomas’s involvement in the Carter scandal.
As Alexander returned the photograph to its envelope, his phone rang.
An unknown number.
“Hello?”
A distorted voice answered.
“Did you find the file?”
“Who is this?”
“Someone who doesn’t want you to make the same mistake your father made.”
Alexander moved toward the exit.
“What mistake?”
“Trusting the wrong person.”
“Tell me your name.”
The caller ignored him.
“Look at the photograph again. Your uncle wasn’t the only Whitmore who knew about the transfers.”
The call ended.
Alexander immediately looked at the photograph.
For the first time, he noticed something in the background.
A dark car was parked across the street.
Its license plate was partially visible.
He enlarged the image on his phone.
Then he recognized the vehicle.
It belonged to Victoria Hale.
