Chapter 4
The cold air of the study seemed to drop another ten degrees as Detective Miller swiped across his tablet screen, displaying the incriminating metadata. The glowing blue light illuminated the anxious faces of the two uniformed officers standing near the doorway.
"The log shows a secure network handshake using your device's unique MAC address, Mrs. Vance," Miller said, his tone professional yet apologetic. "It bypassed the local firewall and accessed the master database where scanned copies of the estate documents are archived. Whether the physical paper is missing or not, the unauthorized digital extraction of confidential corporate files is a serious felony."
Julian looked at the screen, his analytical mind immediately dissecting the technical impossibility of Amy executing such a sophisticated breach while simultaneously nursing an infant and preparing a five-course meal for eight high-society guests.
"That data stream requires administrative clearance credentials," Julian argued sharply, stepping closer to the desk. "Credentials that only two people in this entire household possess: myself, and my mother, Eleanor Vance. A guest-tier device cannot access that server partition."
Miller sighed, slipping the tablet back into his coat pocket. "The access protocol used a master override key, Julian. According to the system logs, the override was executed using the primary administrator profile—your mother's profile. However, the secondary routing tunnel was anchored to your wife's smartphone IP."
Amy shook her head frantically, tears spilling over her eyelashes and tracking down her pale cheeks. "I don't even know what an IP address is! I barely use my phone for anything other than calling my mother and taking pictures of Lily. Why would I do this? What possible reason could I have to steal from my own family?"
"To secure a private financial parachute," a cold, refined voice echoed from the doorway.
Eleanor stepped into the study, her posture rigid, her dark dress absorbing the amber light. She looked at Amy with a mixture of profound disappointment and chilling satisfaction.
"I tried to protect this family from her opportunistic nature," Eleanor said, addressing Detective Miller directly. "When I discovered the missing physical documents earlier this evening, I checked the security audit logs out of an abundance of caution. I never imagined she would target her own child's future."
Julian clenched his fists, taking a threatening step toward his mother before catching himself. "You framed her, Mother. You used your own admin credentials to route the data through Amy's device while she was trapped in the kitchen serving your guests."
"That is a severe accusation, Julian," Eleanor replied, her voice unwavering. "One that carries legal consequences. Detective, do your duty."
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Miller looked between mother and son, hesitating before placing a heavy hand on his belt holster. "I have to bring Mrs. Vance down to the precinct for questioning, Julian. It's procedural, but the digital evidence is currently binding under state cyber-crime statutes."
As the officer stepped forward to take Amy's arm, the baby in the carrier let out a piercing cry, startling everyone in the room. At that exact moment, the study's fax machine—an old machine kept for legacy legal filings—slid to life, spitting out a single sheet of thermal paper.
