Ethan’s Last Case
Chapter 05 - Ethan’s Last Case
Ethan had not been assigned to investigate Veridian.
He chose it.
At the time, Adrian’s company was a small payment-security startup with impressive growth and almost no profits. Ethan noticed that several Veridian vendors shared addresses with companies tied to an old healthcare fraud case.
He opened a preliminary inquiry without telling Grant.
That decision violated procedure.
It also explained Adrian’s accusation that Ethan had been investigating their father.
Grant had prosecuted the healthcare case fifteen years earlier. One defendant, Marcus Vale, claimed Grant suppressed evidence protecting a wealthy hospital network. The allegation was investigated and dismissed.
Ethan did not trust the dismissal.
He believed someone had used Grant’s name to authorize confidential settlements after the case closed.
The digital signatures were real.
Grant swore he had never approved them.
Father and son argued.
Ethan accused Grant of protecting his reputation.
Grant accused Ethan of mistaking suspicion for courage.
Three days later, Ethan died.
For years, Grant carried the final argument like a sentence.
“I thought he was trying to prove I was corrupt,” Grant told Elena. “He was trying to prove someone had stolen my credentials.”
“Who?”
“Veridian’s first legal adviser.”
Maya opened an old personnel file.
The adviser was Adrian’s uncle, Charles Cole.
Charles had worked in the prosecutor’s office during Grant’s healthcare case. He knew the signature system, the confidential vendors, and the identities of protected witnesses.
He later helped Adrian build Veridian using the same shell companies.
Ethan traced the connection.
The hidden card in his watch likely contained the evidence.
The lab called shortly after midnight.
The card was damaged but readable.
It held encrypted files, photographs of ledgers, and a thirty-eight-second audio recording.
Maya played it.
Wind rushed across the microphone.
Ethan’s voice said, “You used my father’s authorization.”
Adrian answered, “Your father used it first.”
“That’s a lie.”
A second man spoke in the background.
Charles.
“Give us the drive, Ethan.”
There was a struggle. Glass broke.
Ethan said one final sentence.
“Elena will know what you are.”
The recording ended.
Elena pressed both hands over her mouth.
Adrian had met her after Ethan’s death knowing exactly who she was.
His courtship had not begun with attraction.
It began with threat assessment.
Grant looked as if he might collapse.
Maya stopped the recording.
“The audio does not prove murder,” she said. “But it proves Adrian lied about the last time he saw Ethan.”
Elena stared toward the terrace doors.
The skyline beyond them was beginning to brighten.
“What does the blood prove?”
May you like
Maya’s expression hardened.
“That depends on whose it is.”
