Chapter 9 The Office Everyone Turned Toward
No one spoke.
For several long seconds, the only sound inside the boardroom came from the faint hum of the air conditioning.
Every pair of eyes settled on one man.
Richard Dawson.
He remained seated.
Hands folded.
Face pale.
But he did not panic.
Instead, he slowly leaned back in his chair.
"I suppose," he said quietly, "this looks bad."
Captain Whitaker took one step forward.
"It does."
Richard looked at Marcus.
"I didn't hack your system."
Marcus didn't answer.
Laura Bennett rotated her laptop so everyone could see the forensic report.
"The remote session originated from Executive Office 14B."
"The authentication token belongs to Richard Dawson."
"The device was connected to the corporate network at 10:46 this morning."
Richard shook his head.
"That's impossible."
Laura remained calm.
"The logs disagree."
Marcus stood.
"Richard."
"Yes?"
"When did you arrive today?"
"Around eight."
"When did you leave your office?"
Richard thought for a moment.
"About ten-thirty."
"For coffee."
Marcus nodded.
"Were you alone?"
"I think so."
"You think?"
Richard frowned.
"I wasn't paying attention."
Marcus walked toward the windows.
"I've known you for fourteen years."
Richard said nothing.
Marcus continued.
"You've never forgotten a detail."
"You remember birthdays."
"Contract numbers."
"Vehicle identification codes."
"You once corrected me on the serial number of an engine we'd sold five years earlier."
He turned.
"So forgive me if I find 'I wasn't paying attention' difficult to believe."
The room remained silent.
Whitaker addressed Laura.
"Can someone fake those logs?"
Laura answered honestly.
"Yes."
"But not easily."
"Could someone physically enter his office?"
"Certainly."
"Could they use his workstation?"
"If they had credentials."
Richard immediately seized on that.
"There."
"Someone framed me."
Marcus folded his arms.
"Maybe."
Richard blinked.
"You believe me?"
Marcus answered quietly.
"I believe evidence."
"Nothing more."
Jonathan's phone buzzed.
He looked down and frowned.
"Our internal security team is here."
Marcus nodded.
"Send them in."
A moment later, two investigators entered.
Neither wore suits.
Both carried evidence cases.
Their badges identified them as members of the Corporate Integrity Division.
Whitaker raised an eyebrow.
"You weren't kidding."
Marcus smiled.
"No."
The older investigator introduced himself.
"Samuel Ortiz."
He looked around the room.
"We've secured Office 14B."
Richard looked relieved.
"Good."
"Then you'll see I wasn't there."
Samuel nodded.
"We did."
Richard smiled.
"Forensics confirmed it?"
Samuel looked directly at him.
"No."
"They confirmed someone was."
The smile disappeared.
Samuel placed several photographs on the conference table.
The first showed Richard's office.
Nothing unusual.
The second showed his desk.
Again...
Nothing.
The third caused everyone to lean forward.
A tiny black device.
Smaller than a thumb drive.
Connected between the computer and the network cable.
Whitaker frowned.
"What is that?"
Laura answered immediately.
"A hardware implant."
Jonathan's expression darkened.
"Someone installed a packet interceptor."
Laura nodded.
"It records authentication credentials."
Richard looked genuinely shocked.
"I've never seen that before."
Samuel believed him.
He had spent thirty years interviewing suspects.
Fear and surprise were different emotions.
Richard looked frightened.
Not calculating.
Marcus studied Richard carefully.
"Tell me about yesterday."
Richard hesitated.
"What about it?"
"Everything."
Richard sighed.
"I had meetings until six."
"Dinner with a supplier."
"Then I went home."
Marcus asked another question.
"Did anyone ask to use your office?"
Richard frowned.
"No."
Then...
He stopped.
His expression changed.
Jonathan noticed.
"What?"
Richard looked toward the ceiling as if replaying his memory.
"There was..."
"A cleaning contractor."
Marcus narrowed his eyes.
"When?"
"Late yesterday."
"I left something upstairs."
"When I came back..."
"...one of the maintenance workers was inside."
Jonathan immediately asked,
"Our staff?"
Richard slowly shook his head.
"No."
"I'd never seen him before."
Laura was already typing.
"Can we identify the contractor?"
Samuel answered.
"We outsource overnight maintenance."
Jonathan turned to his assistant.
"I want every contractor list from the past month."
"Immediately."
Just then, Marcus's assistant hurried into the room.
"Mr. Ellington."
Marcus looked up.
"What is it?"
She handed him a tablet.
"The media found something."
He read silently.
Then passed it to Whitaker.
The headline read:
Exclusive: Anonymous Source Claims Ellington CEO Staged Lamborghini Incident for Publicity
Whitaker frowned.
"That was fast."
Laura looked over his shoulder.
"The article was published..."
She checked the timestamp.
"...forty-three minutes before the confrontation ended."
Everyone froze.
Marcus smiled.
"There it is."
Whitaker looked confused.
"There what is?"
"The real plan."
Jonathan understood instantly.
"They prepared the story before today's events."
Marcus nodded.
"They expected me to look guilty."
Whitaker slowly pieced it together.
"The false dispatch."
"The cyberattack."
"The media article."
Marcus continued.
"They weren't independent."
"They were synchronized."
Laura frowned.
"So someone expected the stop to end very differently."
Marcus nodded.
"They expected officers to arrest me."
Richard whispered almost to himself,
"My God..."
Marcus turned toward him.
"What?"
Richard looked genuinely horrified.
"They wanted you in jail."
Jonathan stared.
"Why?"
Richard answered without thinking.
"Because the bylaws."
Everyone looked at him.
Richard realized what he had just revealed.
Marcus remained calm.
"Go on."
Richard swallowed.
"If the CEO is arrested..."
"...even temporarily..."
"...the board automatically appoints an interim chief executive."
Whitaker's eyes widened.
"And who would that have been?"
Richard closed his eyes.
"...Me."
Silence.
Heavy.
Uncomfortable.
Marcus finally nodded.
"So now we know."
Richard looked desperate.
"I swear I didn't know."
Marcus believed one part of that.
Richard hadn't organized the operation.
But someone had intended to use him.
Like Officer Collins.
Another pawn.
Laura's phone rang.
She answered.
After only twenty seconds, she looked up.
"Captain."
"What now?"
"The maintenance contractor."
"They identified him."
Jonathan asked,
"Employee?"
Laura shook her head.
"No."
"The identity documents were fake."
Marcus wasn't surprised.
"And the face?"
Laura zoomed in on a surveillance still.
The image was blurry.
The man wore a baseball cap.
A surgical mask.
And company coveralls.
Impossible to identify.
Then Laura enlarged one corner of the frame.
On the man's left wrist...
A distinctive tattoo emerged from beneath his sleeve.
A black chess piece.
A Knight.
Marcus stared at it for several seconds.
His expression changed.
Not with fear.
Recognition.
Jonathan noticed immediately.
"You've seen that before."
Marcus nodded slowly.
"Yes."
Whitaker leaned forward.
"Where?"
Marcus answered in a quiet voice.
"Seven years ago."
"The day Harold Ellington died."
The room fell silent once more.
Because until that moment...
Everyone had believed Harold Ellington had passed away from a heart attack.
May you like
Marcus no longer sounded so certain.
End of Chapter 9
