Chapter 5 - THE WARNING LEFT BY A DEAD MAN
Daniel Donnelly had died in what police described as a single-vehicle accident.
His car left the road during a storm.
He was twenty-nine.
Cora had been twenty-four.
For three years, she had accepted the official explanation.
Until now.
She sat across from Wesley in his office.
Her hands trembled.
“Daniel told me there was a vulnerability in the reconciliation layer.”
Wesley listened.
“He said it could be used to make transactions appear legitimate when they weren't.”
Cora swallowed.
“He wanted Harrow to fix it.”
“What happened?”
“They refused.”
Wesley's expression darkened.
Cora continued.
“Daniel started keeping records.”
She looked down.
“He said someone was using the system to hide money.”
Wesley leaned forward.
“Who?”
Cora shook her head.
“He never told me.”
A pause.
“Then he died.”
Silence.
Wesley looked toward the harbor.
He had spent months believing the system failures were a technical problem.
Now he suspected something far worse.
Someone had deliberately manipulated the software.
And the man who understood it best had died before he could expose the truth.
Wesley looked back at Cora.
“Did Daniel leave anything behind?”
She hesitated.
May you like
Then whispered:
“A notebook.”
