Chapter 4
1459 Words
The Vienna case dated back three years. A private jewellery collection held in a converted bank building near the Ringstrasse. The theft had occurred during a temporary exhibition loan, when several items were transferred between vaults inside the same structure. No external transport. No public access. No alarms triggered.
She scanned the security overview first.
Aegis Continental.
She moved on without marking it. The repetition no longer surprised her. What mattered now was how the firm appeared in the documentation. She read the audit language closely, noting phrasing rather than conclusions.
“System integrity verified.”
“No deviations from expected access behaviour.”
“Full compliance with established protocols.”
The sentences appeared in other reports almost word for word. Chloe placed the Vienna audit beside the Zurich one and compared them line by line. Different authors. Same structure and same conclusions.
She turned to the personnel appendix.
Names this time. Not just companies.
She slowed down.
In Vienna, a senior consultant named Markus Eder had overseen the audit. Chloe copied the name into her notebook, then flipped back to Zurich.
Different consultant.
She checked Monaco.
It was different again.
The consistency was not in the individuals. It was in the method.
She closed the Vienna file and leaned back in her chair, eyes still on the desk. Her reflection stared back at her faintly from the dark glass of the monitor. She ignored it and reached for the next document.
The system notification chimed softly.
INDEX UPDATE — RECEIVED
She opened it.
A spreadsheet filled the screen. Columns of names, firms, dates, and locations. The Records Office had done thorough work. Chloe scrolled slowly, filtering mentally as she went.
Security firms first.
Aegis Continental appeared in nine cases.
Meridian Global Services appeared in six.
Two cases involved smaller regional firms with no overlap.
Logistics firms next.
Helios Transport Solutions appeared in eleven cases.
Eleven!
Chloe stopped scrolling.
She clicked into the Helios profile. The firm was registered in Switzerland, with subsidiaries across Europe and Asia. Specialised in “high-sensitivity asset transport and handling.” She read the mission statement, then skipped past it.
She opened the personnel roster.
It was a long list and hundreds of names.
She filtered by senior project managers.
A shorter list appeared.
She cross-referenced it with the dates of the thefts.
Three names surfaced repeatedly, each associated with multiple projects near the affected sites.
Chloe wrote them down carefully.
She did not connect them yet.
Her phone rang.
This time, it was an internal number.
“Martinez,” she said.
“IT Security,” a man said. His tone was flat, “You’re pulling a significant volume of archival data.”
“Yes,” Chloe said.
“There are questions about scope,” he said.
“I’m within authorisation,” she replied.
“That authorization is advisory,” he said.
Chloe paused, then replied, “Would you like to escalate this?”
There was a brief silence.
“No,” he said. “Just documenting.”
“Document away,” Chloe said with a little anger in her tone.
The call ended.
She placed the phone face down and returned to the screen.
The interruption confirmed something she had already suspected. Her activity was being noticed but that was acceptable...useful, even.
It meant she was no longer invisible inside the system.
She opened a new document and began mapping timelines more precisely.
Not discovery times. Not audit dates.
She focused on access windows.
When systems were tested.
When staff rotated.
When contractors entered and exited.
She overlaid the data across cases.
Patterns emerged slowly, not clean lines but clusters.
Temporary conditions, transitional states and moments when responsibility diffused.
She highlighted those sections and printed the pages.
The printer whirred softly behind her.
As she waited, she stood and stretched her back, rolling her shoulders once. She had not finished eating the sandwich. She picked it up, took another bite, and set it down again. Food was an afterthought.
She returned to the desk and spread the printed pages out, aligning them by date.
Her pen moved steadily.
She circled one period in particular.
Late June, across multiple years.
Not always the exact same week, but close enough to draw her attention.
She looked up at the ceiling, calculating.
Summer staffing reductions. Increased travel. Senior personnel on leave.
Predictable gaps.
...
Her phone vibrated again.
This time, it was a message.
Kovač: You’re drawing too much attention.
She typed back.
Chloe: Good.
A reply came quickly.
Kovač: They’re asking why you’re focusing on vendors instead of suspects.
She considered her response, then typed.
Chloe: Vendors have access but suspects don’t, yet.
She locked the phone and set it aside.
The door opened without a knock.
Deputy Director Fournier stepped inside.
Chloe stood immediately.
Fournier raised a hand. “Don’t.”
She closed the door behind her and looked around the room. The papers. The files. The printed timelines.
“You work quickly,” Fournier said.
“I work thoroughly,” Chloe replied with a faint smile.
Fournier walked to the desk and picked up one of the printed sheets. She read it without saying anything, then set it down.
“You’re pushing beyond advisory,” she said.
“I’m analysing data,” Chloe said. “Within authorised access.”
“That access was granted on the understanding that this remained preliminary,” Fournier said.
“It still is,” Chloe replied.
Fournier looked at her.
“You’re narrowing your focus,” she said.
“Yes,” Chloe said.
“To what?” Fournier asked.
Chloe did not answer immediately. She reached for her notebook and turned it toward Fournier.
Three firm names were written on the page.
“These entities appear near every incident,” Chloe said. “They are not suspects. They are infrastructure.”
Fournier studied the page.
“Circumstantial,” she said.
“Everything is at this stage,” Chloe replied quickly.
“You understand the implications,” Fournier said. “Accusing multinational firms without evidence.”
“I’m not accusing anyone,” Chloe said. “I’m only identifying points of common access.”
Fournier was silent for a moment.
“You’re aware that Aegis Continental provides security consultation to Interpol facilities,” she said.
“Yes,” Chloe replied.
“And Meridian Global Services has contracts with multiple government agencies,” Fournier continued.
“Yes,” Chloe said again.
Fournier held her gaze.
“You’re stepping into sensitive territory,” she said.
“I stepped into it when you granted access,” Chloe replied.
Fournier exhaled slowly.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“Time,” Chloe said. “And permission to continue without interference.”
“You already have that,” Fournier said.
“For now,” Chloe said. “I want it formalised.”
Fournier considered this request before she gave an answer.
“You’ll keep this contained. No external outreach and no field contact” she said.
“Agreed,” Chloe said.
“And if you’re wrong?” Fournier asked.
Chloe did not hesitate.
“Then I’ll close it myself,”
Fournier nodded once.
“You have forty-eight hours,” she said. “After that, this either escalates or ends.”
She turned to leave, then stopped.
“Uhuh...One more thing,” she said.
“Yes?” Chloe replied.
“If you’re right,” Fournier stated, “this won’t stay quiet.”
“I know,” Chloe said.
Fournier left without another word.
Chloe sat back down and reopened the Vienna file.
She returned to the logistics appendix and read it again, slower this time. She focused on names that appeared routine, administrative, forgettable.
She cross-checked them against the Helios roster.
One name matched.
Not a senior manager. Mid-level. Operations coordinator.
Appeared in Vienna. Then Zurich. Then Singapore.
Chloe underlined it.
This time, the emphasis was deliberate.
She checked the dates.
Always present during the preparatory phase. Never during discovery.
She wrote the name again, separate from the others.
She did not draw a box around it.
Her screen chimed.
Another message from Records.
Index complete. All subcontractors included.
Chloe opened the attachment.
She scanned until she found the name again.
It appeared once more, this time linked indirectly through a third-party vendor.
She closed the document and leaned forward, elbows on the desk.
This was not proof.
But it was no longer a coincidence.
She opened a new file request and began drafting a focused query. Limited, specific and narrow enough to avoid alarms.
She paused before sending it, fingers hovering over the keyboard.
Then she sent it.
Outside the glass walls of the office, people moved through the corridor, unaware.
Inside, Chloe Martinez stayed exactly where she was and kept working.
- Writer
