The cab stopped outside Sebastian's apartment building just before six in the evening.He remained seated for a moment after Evelyn opened her door. "Are you coming?" she asked."I need to make a call."She looked at the phone in his hand. "Paula?""No. Robert."Evelyn closed the door again and waited.Sebastian dialed the number.Robert answered on the third ring. "Mr. Kane.""I need the soil sampling as soon as possible.""I already contacted the laboratory.""When will we have results?""If they prioritize it, preliminary results tomorrow evening."Sebastian looked through the window at the old apartment building. "Do it.""I will.""And Robert?""Yes?""Do not give the seller any information about what we find."There was a brief silence."I assumed that was understood.""It is now."Robert chuckled softly. "You are becoming careful.""I have good reasons."They ended the call. Sebastian finally stepped out of the cab.Evelyn remained on the pavement. "You are really going home?"

Sebastian did not touch the notebook.The old black cover remained on the corner of his desk while the new document stayed open on his laptop. The sentence he had typed looked deceptively simple.Edward Gray requested reactivation of Custodial Account 417 three days before he disappeared.He read it again, then added the exact date from Arthur's document. Below it, he created three more lines.Known fact: Edward submitted the request.Known fact: The request referenced Agreement 19-G.Unknown: Why the account needed to be reactivated.He stopped typing. Evelyn watched from the other side of the desk. "You are making a distinction.""I should have done it earlier.""Between what you know and what you think?"Sebastian nodded. "It is easy to turn a possibility into a fact when you write it down often enough."She glanced at his father's notebook."Especially when you have been using that notebook for everything."Sebastian looked at it. "I was.""You do not have to stop using it.""I kn

Sebastian closed the spreadsheet on his laptop and leaned back in the chair.The numbers were not impressive enough to make headlines, but they were good enough to make him pause.He had spent six hundred dollars on a municipal equipment debt that almost everyone else had considered worthless. The first confirmed sales had brought in seventeen thousand three hundred dollars, and several components were still waiting for buyers.That was not wealth. It was proof.He looked at the figures again, then at the folder containing the remaining inventory.Six hundred dollars had turned into more than seventeen thousand without him borrowing money, gambling on a stock, or relying on someone else to rescue him.He had found the opportunity, negotiated it, organized the inventory, contacted buyers, and closed the deals.The system had shown him where to look. He had done the rest. A knock sounded against his room.Sebastian looked toward it. “Come in.”The door opened, and Evelyn walked inside c

By noon, Sebastian had made three decisions.The first was to request certified copies of every relevant Hartwell access record through the proper legal channel.The second was to stop treating Lot 19 as a side project and decide whether it deserved his money.The third was to take Evelyn's advice and eat lunch before either of them started another argument.They were sitting in a small restaurant two blocks from Union Trust when Evelyn pushed her plate aside and looked at him. “You are staring at your phone again.”“I am checking a payment.” He answered.“You have checked that payment four times.” She raised her brows at him.“It is an important payment.”“It is four thousand eight hundred dollars.” She said. Sebastian put the phone face down. “Exactly.”Evelyn smiled. “You really are enjoying this.”“What?” He asked raising his brows at her.“Watching the numbers grow.”He considered the question. “Yes.”There was no shame in his answer.A few months ago, seeing a balance increase

Arthur was waiting when Sebastian and Evelyn arrived at Union Trust the following morning.He looked tired after he had spent several hours staring at records that refused to make sense. “You were right to come early,” Arthur said.Sebastian placed his coat over the back of a chair. “What did you find?”Arthur opened his laptop. “The authorization code associated with your employee credentials was used at 4:18 p.m. on the twenty-third.”“I know.”“There is something else.” Arthur brought up another screen. “At exactly 4:18:07 p.m., the same authorization code was used to access the compliance server from another terminal.”Evelyn leaned forward. “Seven seconds?”Arthur nodded. “Same credentials. Different terminal.”“Where was Sebastian's terminal?”“In the main Hartwell operations office.”“And the second one?”Arthur hesitated. “Legal administration.”Sebastian's eyes narrowed. “Whose office?”“Victor Lang's department.”Evelyn looked at Sebastian.He remained silent.Arthur continue