Chapter 3 - Names in the Dark.
The video had no sound, but Gabe did not need sound to understand what he was seeing.
Victor Hale unlocked the property room while Cole stood behind him with his hands in his pockets.
They disappeared off camera for eighteen minutes.
When they returned, Cole was holding something small and black.
Emily's phone.
Harold immediately copied the footage onto a secure drive and locked the original access log.
"If Victor realizes we saw this, he can delete permissions," Harold said.
"Can he delete the footage?" Gabe asked.
"Not without leaving a trace."
"Then make the trace expensive."
Harold almost smiled.
Dana did not.
She looked frightened enough to leave the basement twice before choosing to stay.
Gabe called Lena and sent her the relevant timestamps.
Within ten minutes, she confirmed Victor Hale had worked for Maddox Development Group for seven years before becoming the hospital's vice president of external relations.
"He moved from Richard Maddox's payroll to the hospital board's payroll," Lena said.
"Same circle, different building."
Gabe leaned against the basement wall.
"Find Emily's phone."
"If they took it, they probably destroyed it."
"Emily backed up everything."
There was a pause.
"How do you know?"
"Because when we were kids, she lost a school project once and cried for three days."
Gabe looked toward the ceiling as if he could see through six floors of concrete to the room where she slept.
"After that, she copied everything twice."
Lena started checking cloud services connected to Emily's known accounts.
Meanwhile, Gabe returned upstairs.
The three young men had not come back.
But someone else had.
A tall man in a gray suit stood outside Emily's door holding a bouquet of white lilies.
He introduced himself as Daniel Kessler, attorney for Maddox Development Group.
Gabe stared at the flowers.
"Those aren't welcome."
Kessler lowered them slightly.
"Mr. Maddox asked me to express concern for your sister."
"Which Mr. Maddox?"
The lawyer's smile thinned.
"Richard."
Gabe stepped between him and the room.
"His son expressed himself already."
Kessler's eyes sharpened.
"Cole is shaken by what happened."
"He looked cheerful ten minutes ago."
That landed.
Kessler glanced toward the glass.
"I understand emotions are high."
Gabe hated sentences designed to make anger sound irrational.
"My sister is unconscious."
"Exactly why speculation could be harmful."
"To who?"
Kessler did not answer directly.
Instead, he held out a business card.
"The family would like to cover every medical expense."
Gabe looked at the card but did not take it.
"In exchange for what?"
"Nothing."
"Then why are you here before her doctor has even spoken to me twice?"
Kessler's jaw tightened.
"I am trying to help."
"Help by telling your client to stay away from this floor."
The lawyer set the lilies on a hallway table.
"You should be careful about making accusations."
Gabe's voice remained quiet.
"You should be careful about leaving evidence in hospital basements."
For the first time, Kessler's face truly changed.
His pupils shifted.
His shoulders stiffened.
It lasted less than a second.
It was enough.
He left without another word.
Five minutes later, Lena called.
"I found Emily's cloud account."
"Anything useful?"
"More than useful."
Gabe walked away from the nurses' station.
"Tell me."
"She uploaded a folder Friday night at 10:39."
"Three minutes before she called me."
"Exactly."
"What's in it?"
Lena inhaled slowly.
"Forty-eight pages of internal transfers, shell vendors, and property payments."
Gabe closed his eyes.
"Maddox?"
"Every road leads there."
Then Lena's voice dropped.
"But that's not the worst part."
Gabe opened his eyes.
May you like
"What is?"
"Emily named the folder FOURTH MAN."
