Claire almost laughed. Ethan had created so many stories they were starting to collide.

Natalie opened a drawer by the bed and took out a folder Ethan had asked her to carry — corporate documents, account numbers, copies of passports. One passport was Ethan’s, under his real name.

Another used the false identity from the bag in Lauren’s closet. The third belonged to a man none of us recognized. Natalie held it toward the camera.

“Who is this?”

Martin leaned closer to the tablet. The photograph showed a gray-haired man in his late fifties. His name was Victor Hale.

Claire’s expression changed at once. She knew him. Victor had been the insurance investigator assigned to the Mercer archive fire — and the person who removed the supplemental report from the official file.