Chapter 13 - The Man in My House
Victor sat behind Thomas’s desk when police surrounded the property.
He held the original security server.
The off-site backup protected the driveway footage.
But the server contained Thomas’s private research files.
Victor threatened to destroy them.
I asked to speak with him through the office intercom.
The detective refused at first.
Victor requested me by name.
“Diane,” he said when the line connected.
“Your husband understood that companies survive through difficult choices.”
“My husband understood you were a thief.”
“He built technology he was too sentimental to use.”
“You murdered him because he said no.”
“Martin murdered him.”
“You paid for the answer.”
Victor laughed quietly.
“You sound like a prosecutor.”
“I sound like a widow who finally knows why her husband died.”
He wanted safe passage in exchange for the server.
The files included experimental identification technology worth billions.
The board had no complete copy.
Thomas had kept it offline.
I looked toward the security map.
The office had no exterior door.
Only one window.
Victor believed he had trapped himself with valuable evidence.
He did not know Thomas as well as I did.
A concealed fireproof cabinet stood behind the bookshelf.
The research files were copied automatically whenever the server entered emergency mode.
I entered the emergency code from the remote console.
The office lights turned red.
The cabinet locked.
The server began copying.
Victor saw the progress bar.
He threw the machine against the floor.
The transfer continued through an internal cable.
Then he noticed the hidden garage camera feed on the monitor.
His own face was being recorded.
Police entered after the copy completed.
Victor raised a gun.
The detective ordered him to drop it.
He looked toward Thomas’s chair.
Then toward the shattered server.
For a moment, I believed he would fire.
Instead, he lowered the weapon.
Powerful men often appeared fearless only while escape remained possible.
Victor was arrested.
Inside his coat, officers found Lily’s hospital bracelet.
He had planned to present it as proof that he controlled the trust’s beneficiary.
The bracelet was plastic.
The trust was legal.
May you like
The child was human.
Victor had confused symbols with ownership.
