Chapter 8: Dawn at the Precinct
The gray light of dawn was just beginning to bleach the edges of the downtown skyline when Julian walked back into the precinct lobby. He held a secure encrypted flash drive containing Sarah’s journal scans and the gallery’s telemetry data. Officer Marcus was already at his desk, nursing a paper cup of black coffee, looking as though he hadn't slept a wink.
“Mr. Vance,” Marcus said, looking up as Julian approached the partition. “You look like a man on a mission. Word came down from downtown an hour ago. Our cyber unit pulled the server logs remotely using the telemetry packets you provided last night. The lockdown command originated from Ms. Moretti’s administrative terminal, exactly as you stated.”
Julian set the flash drive down on the metal desk. “It goes deeper than unlawful imprisonment, Officer. That terminal access was part of a larger pattern of corporate intimidation. This second drive contains financial records and personal journals from my late wife, Sarah Vance. They detail systemic fraud, embezzlement, and evidence connecting the foundation’s leadership to suspicious financial transactions.”
Marcus picked up the flash drive, studying it skeptically before looking back at Julian. “Accusations against the Vance Foundation are heavy cargo, Mr. Vance. That organization funds half the cultural institutions in this state, including several endowments associated with city hall. If we open a full forensic financial audit based on personal journals and digital logs, it’s going to trigger a public storm.”
“I’m aware of the storm,” Julian said, his voice unwavering. “And I’m standing right in the eye of it. My wife died on a mountain pass three years ago under suspicious circumstances—circumstances that match the corporate cleanup patterns outlined in these documents. I want a formal investigation opened into Sarah’s death, alongside the charges of child endangerment against Lydia Moretti.”
Marcus tapped the flash drive against his coffee cup, weighing the professional risks. In law enforcement, high-profile cases involving generational wealth were political minefields. Yet the digital evidence was clean, and the child endangerment charge was already ironclad based on gallery security footage and server timestamps.
“We can bring Ms. Moretti in for questioning by noon based on the lockdown logs,” Marcus said slowly. “As for the financial audit and the cold case review of Mrs. Vance’s accident, that will require a federal magistrate’s sign-off. We’ll need formal depositions from you, forensic accounting verification, and an airtight preservation order to keep the foundation from wiping their servers.”
“The preservation order needs to be served immediately,” Julian urged. “Eleanor Vance and Lydia Moretti move fast when they realize they’ve been cornered. If we give them twenty-four hours, every hard drive in that gallery vault will be scrubbed clean.”
May you like
Marcus nodded, reaching for his desk phone. “Consider it done. We’ll execute the search warrant on the Vanguard Gallery by nine o'clock this morning.”
***
