The two guards in the study were there to prevent interference with evidence while officers arrived, not to conduct a private trial.

“Where is Pearl?” I asked Desmond as soon as I entered.

“Safe with the nurses.

She asked for Captain.”

“Then tell me what we actually know.”

Tessa Wu spread a chain-of-custody log across the granite table.

A storage cabinet behind a removable wall panel in an executive records room had been found during an authorized audit.

Inside were external drives, foundation records, and copies of old household surveillance archives.