Chapter 13 - The Wrong Person in the Frame
When investigators showed Selena the image, she didn't look surprised.
“I used that terminal to print the cabin manifest,” she said. “My own login had frozen.”
“Did Harold give you his credentials?” Rachel asked.
“No. The session was already open. That was careless, and I'll own it.”
Her answer made the inquiry harder, not easier. Multiple people had used a privileged workstation. The logs alone could not establish who entered the false security note.
David insisted that Selena receive a fair review. She had preserved evidence, but good actions later did not erase the need to examine earlier access.
A forensic specialist reconstructed the event sequence from server backups. The security flag had been created at 6:14 a.m., before Selena arrived at the airport. The account's activity included a unique authentication confirmation from Harold's company phone.
Rachel showed Patricia the result. “We can establish the device and time. Harold can still explain whether it was authorized or compromised.”
Patricia looked exhausted. “Every layer makes this worse.”
“Every layer makes it clearer,” Rachel replied.
Harold was invited to respond. He admitted that he'd entered the flag to create a reason for reassignment, but claimed Elliot had threatened to pull financial support if the airline embarrassed him.
“Did he tell you to mark a child as a fraud risk?” Rachel asked.
“No. That was my idea.”
“Why?”
Harold stared at the table. “Because the system wouldn't allow an involuntary move without a reason.”
That answer traveled through the room like a cold draft.
A false allegation had been reduced to a dropdown shortcut.
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And when Rachel asked how Elliot knew the child was traveling alone, Harold gave a name nobody expected.
“His mother told him.”
