Ava nods her head innocently, and I can’t read the situationbetween these two. But GhostEye has legal access to these logs; that’s all I need to know.
Ava explains. “The platform records every login by time and IP. His login from the night Zoe died came from Mount Hamilton.”
“Okay…” I let the information settle.
I guess many civilians don’t realize their digital footprint can be an alibi. Then again, given Andy’s past, maybe he doesn’t want people to think he has a sexual appetite anymore.
But we need to lock this down airtight if I can scratch Andy off. “You’re sure he was in Mount Hamilton? He could have logged in from anywhere with data. Right?”
“You’re right to ask.” Enzo takes off his glasses and combs his fingers through his hair. “Because, for example, he could use a VPN or Tor for anonymity. But we tracked usage patterns on this site, as well, so we’re solid on location.”
It takes me a second to follow, but they cross-checked it. But then I have another thought.
“What about if someone else logged in using his credentials?” I ask.
Just then, Anton’s hand lands on my thigh, and he squeezes it. Heat flickers through me.
I glance over to him, and his features say he’s impressed, proud. I smile at him knowingly; he’s the mentor who told me to never stop asking questions until there are truly none left to ask.
Maybe the nice thing I can do for Anton one day is play student-teacher in the bedroom.
I offer Anton a smile, but hurry back to business. I can’t get distracted by six-foot-five sexy men today. Today is dedicated to Zoe Marshall.
As if reading Anton’s pride, Ava compliments me. “You should come work for GhostEye…”
My cheeks heat because though she’s younger than I am, she’s world-class at what she does, and I’m just a minnow. It’s a hell of a vote of confidence coming from her.
I laugh lightly. “One case at a time…”
She continues, “We knew someone else logging in was a possibility, but such a person would need his device and his biometrics because the login at that time used fingerprint verification, and there’s no password override.”
Enzo folds his hands on his desk. “We also confirmed user behavior. He logs in every Friday night at eight-thirty. Gabriel went over to Mount Hamilton and gathered intel on the family. Andy’s dad has bowling on Friday evenings, and his mom works. Guess it’s what Andy does when he has the place to himself.”
And that’s why these guys are the best in the world at what they do. I can learn from this. They, like Anton, like me now, don’t stop asking questions until there are no more to ask.
Only, I still have one. “This one hundred percent confirms that Andy has an alibi?”
Ava sighs. “Annoyingly, no. Maybe ninety-nine percent…”
Enzo chimes in. “There is the smallest chance he was at the quarry because IPs aren’t pinpoints. For the ISP to give us enough additional data to track down to Andy’s house? We’d need a subpoena.”
This is all leaning heavily into Andy not being at the quarry, but one percent is still enough to keep the thread open.
I can’t cross off Andy.
“Now the bigger issue,” Ava says, clicking into a secondfile. “Is Ingram’s bodycam image from the time Andy was pulled over.”
My heart fills my throat because this detail either makes Ingram a liar or it doesn’t. Anton shifts closer, leg warm along the length of mine.
“You said that Andy claimed the stop was less than a week ago, and Ingram said it was just days after Zoe’s death,” Ava confirms.
I nod slowly, sensing something big is coming.
Ava puts her elbows on the table, leaning toward me. “Well, here’s the thing. That timestamp, the white numbers in the corner of the image? That’s been altered.”
All the air leaves my lungs.
Enzo chimes in. “You were right to get a digital copy of the full footage from the case management system, so we didn’t rely on his printout. The metadata confirms Tarmigan’s story. Not Ingram’s.”
