“The financial records linking you to McClane Mining’s secondary ledger did not originate from any system associated with the company.”
I frown. “Then where thehelldid they come from?”
“That…” she replies, “… is where your friend Ghost becomes relevant.”
A slow breath leaves me.
Of course he does.
“He traced the architecture of the transactions backward,” she continues. “Server metadata. Original timestamps. IP routing patterns. Whoever built the digital trail assumed that layering enough shell accounts would obscure the origin.”
“And it didn’t,” I say.
“No,” she agrees. “It did not.”
She turns another page, taps a line with the end of her pen. “The receiving account. The one where the fabricated deposits were routed through. It is not new.”
My stomach drops. “Say that again.”
“It is an account previously identified in ongoing investigations into the Hidden Hand Alliance.”
For a moment, the room feels too damn small.
“They used Jonas,” I say slowly.
“They used his records,” she corrects. “Your Mr. McClane kept meticulous documentation of extortion payments. Secondary ledger entries. Off-book transfers.”
My jaw tightens.
“They inverted them?”
“Yes.”
The word lands with precision.
“They took evidence of their own crimes…” she continues, “… and repurposed it to construct a case against you.”
I let out a low breath that feels like it scrapes something raw on the way out. “That’s… bold.”
“It is effective,” she replies calmly. “Or it would have been, had your associate not identified the original data structure.”
I shake my head once, disbelief threading through the exhaustion. “Ghost doesn’t miss anything.”
“No,” she says. “He does not.”
She flips to the next section of the file. “He traced the source servers. None of them is tied to McClane Mining infrastructure. None of them is tied to you. The digital signature aligns with patterns previously attributed to Alliance financial laundering operations.”
“So, he took that to you.”
“He took it to Chief Moretti,” Diane says. “She took it to the detective handling your case.”
My gaze lifts. “And?”
“He read the entire file, every page, before making any decision.”
I study her face, searching for the part she hasn’t said yet. “And what decision did he make?”
Her expression shifts slightly, the smallest softening. “He is moving to dismiss the charges.”
