"Your deputy didn't leave because he suddenly remembered another meeting."
The chief said nothing.
She continued.
"Someone warned him that the evidence had arrived."
Then she looked toward the interior hallway.
"And I intend to find out who."
The administrator was sitting on the edge of a narrow bed when the protection team entered her room.
She was still wearing the black dress from the gala. Her shoes rested beside a chair, and an untouched cup of tea stood on the bedside table. She held her phone with both hands, staring at the image that had arrived only minutes earlier.
It showed her walking through the hotel service corridor toward the federal agent.
The photograph had been taken from behind. There was no visible sender's name, only a message beneath the image.
You should have kept the records where they belonged.
The administrator looked toward the arriving investigator.
"Am I going to be arrested?"
He shook his head.
"Not for coming forward with information."
She swallowed.
"They told me the police would say I stole everything."
"Who told you?"
She hesitated. "My supervisor. He said the foundation could prove I'd accessed confidential financial records."
The investigator sat across from her and listened while she explained. She had copied documents available to her through her accounting duties after discovering discrepancies she believed needed independent review. She hadn't broken into offices or taken records from unrelated systems, but the people managing the foundation had