te Gall

old paper, and a faint, lingering trace of whiskey, but to me, it smelled like the truth. It was a world

anded facts. We started with the original investigation file, which I had managed to

gle wire transfer to an offshore account? In your name? An amateur move. Someone committing a crime this big, someone smart enough to

ned just a little. It was the first time anyone had looked at the

'discovered' in my old desk. "Bought with cash from a convenience store two blocks from your apar

ed, the memory of his scathing accusation still shar

r brother is an arrogant bastard, but he's not a detectiv

ectural talent. The scandal wasn't just a business problem for him; it was an opportunity. It allowed him

the money that went into the fake account in my

board. "Too traceable. She's smarter than that. We're looking for something else. A su

mella's known expenditures with company payroll. For weeks, it was a dead end. She had been careful. Her

memories. Emmitt was questioning me about the days lead

the ordinary. Anyone new hanging

ushed through it. I remembered the long nights I'd spent in the office, finalizing the details of the bid. I remembered Car

. "About the bid. She framed it as professional curiosity. She said she wanted to u

nd of qu

al innovations. The very things that made our bid unique. The things the c

a on the phone, her voice low and tense. She was talking about her 'sick

"She was always talking about a sick au

nter's stillness came over

know. I just a

Nichols was an only child from a small town. Both of her parents were

r for where her money was going. Or,

it. Small, structured cash deposits into a regional bank account under her mother's maiden name. Always just under

here it was. The money. Not in one clean, obvious wire t

al. This wasn't just a theor

g out to touch the paper, as if its realit

income that coincides with the scandal. But it doesn't prove it came from Crestone Holdings. For that

d the name of the riva

, a glint of challenge in his eyes