Chapter 7 - THE DEVICE THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
Anna read Leonard Price's statement three times.
“I refused to install the device that was supposed to replace it.”
She looked at Martin.
“What device?”
He continued reading.
“An unauthorized control module delivered to the maintenance hangar forty-eight hours before departure.”
Anna felt suddenly cold.
“Control module for what?”
“The aircraft's fuel monitoring system.”
Martin lowered the document.
“Leonard believed it could interfere with the warning system.”
“Could it cause an explosion?”
“Possibly. But we need the technical records before making that conclusion.”
Anna sat down.
For three years, she had believed the crash resulted from negligence, followed by a cover-up.
Now the possibility of deliberate interference was becoming harder to dismiss.
“Who ordered it?”
Martin turned the page.
The delivery authorization had been signed by someone using the initials A.M.
Anthony Moretti.
Anna closed her eyes.
She remembered Vincent's father at a family dinner shortly before the trip.
He had looked at her pregnant stomach and said, “Children change a man's priorities. Sometimes not for the better.”
Vincent had laughed awkwardly.
Anna hadn't.
“Does Vincent know?” she asked.
“Not yet.”
“Then tell him.”
Martin hesitated.
“Anna, there is another detail.”
He pointed to the final paragraph.
Leonard had reported the device to his supervisor.
The supervisor told him to stop asking questions.
Two days later, Leonard's access badge was deactivated.
But someone else used that badge after midnight.
The night before the flight.
Anna looked at the access log.
The entry lasted seventeen minutes.
Enough time to reach the aircraft.
Enough time to alter equipment.
“Who used it?” she asked.
“We don't know.”
“Cameras?”
“The recording was overwritten.”
Anna leaned back.
“Of course it was.”
Martin didn't smile.
“There's one possibility. The hangar's exterior loading camera was operated by a separate security contractor. Its records may have survived.”
They obtained a preservation copy through the contractor's successor company.
That afternoon, Vincent joined them in a private office.
Anna hadn't spoken to him since the meeting with Margaret.
He looked exhausted.
“Sophia admitted my father warned her about the aircraft,” he said.
Anna stared.
“Before departure?”
“Yes.”
“Then she knew there was danger.”
“She knew there was a maintenance concern. She says she didn't know the aircraft would fail.”
Anna's expression tightened.
“And you believe her?”
“I believe I need evidence.”
She looked at him for a moment.
That was a different answer from the man who had always defended Sophia without hesitation.
Martin played the recovered security footage.
The image was grainy.
A loading-bay door opened shortly after midnight.
A person wearing a dark maintenance jacket carried a rectangular case into the hangar.
The individual kept their head down.
Anna leaned forward.
“Can you see the face?”
“No,” Martin said.
The figure returned seventeen minutes later.
This time, the case appeared lighter.
Vincent studied the screen.
“Pause.”
Martin stopped the video.
The person's wrist was visible beneath the jacket.
A metal watch caught the light.
Vincent leaned closer.
His expression changed.
“What?” Anna asked.
“That watch.”
“It could belong to anyone.”
“No.”
Vincent's voice became quiet.
“My father gave Daniel a limited-edition watch on his fortieth birthday. The bracelet had a distinctive black clasp.”
Anna looked at the screen.
A dark clasp was visible.
“Are you certain?”
Vincent nodded slowly.
“I'm certain about the watch.”
Nobody spoke.
Finally, Anna said, “That doesn't prove Daniel was wearing it.”
Vincent looked at her.
“No. It doesn't.”
Martin replayed the footage.
Near the exit, the figure turned slightly.
A narrow strip of red fabric appeared beneath the jacket collar.
Daniel often wore red scarves.
Vincent stood abruptly.
“I need to speak with him.”
Anna rose too.
“Not alone.”
Vincent looked surprised.
She continued.
“If Daniel was involved, he may panic. And if he wasn't, someone wants us to think he was.”
Vincent studied her.
“You still think someone could be manipulating this?”
“I've spent three years learning that appearances can be very expensive.”
They found Daniel at the company's aviation warehouse.
He was sorting records when they arrived.
Vincent placed a still image from the footage on the table.
“Is this you?”
Daniel looked at it.
His face drained.
“Where did you get that?”
“Answer me.”
Daniel sat slowly.
“Yes.”
Anna felt her stomach drop.
Vincent gripped the table.
“You were inside the hangar the night before the crash?”
“Yes.”
“Doing what?”
Daniel stared at his hands.
“Trying to undo something.”
Vincent went still.
“Undo what?”
Daniel's voice cracked.
“Dad told me to replace the fuel-control unit. He said it was part of an insurance demonstration.”
Anna frowned.
“An insurance demonstration?”
“He wanted to create a documented equipment failure during a ground test. It would support a claim against a supplier.”
Vincent stared.
“You believed him?”
“At first.”
“What changed?”
“Leonard told me the module wasn't approved. He said it could shut down critical monitoring without warning.”
Anna felt her pulse quicken.
“So you removed it?”
Daniel nodded.
“I thought I did.”
Vincent's voice sharpened.
“What does that mean?”
“I went to the hangar and removed the case Dad told me had been installed. But when I opened it later, the module inside was a standard spare.”
Anna stared.
“Someone switched them.”
Daniel nodded.
“I realized the dangerous device might already be on the aircraft.”
“Why didn't you stop the flight?” Vincent demanded.
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Before boarding. I told Dad the equipment records were wrong.”
“And?”
Daniel looked at Vincent.
“He told me you'd already approved the flight.”
Vincent shook his head.
“I never heard about any of this.”
“I know that now.”
Anna felt anger rise.
“Then why let the plane leave?”
Daniel's eyes filled.
“Because Dad threatened to report me for falsifying the records. I was afraid of prison.”
Vincent turned away.
His brother had protected himself.
Anna had nearly paid with her life.
After a long silence, Daniel reached into a storage cabinet.
He removed a small velvet box.
Inside lay the expensive watch Anthony had given him.
Vincent stared.
Daniel pushed it toward Anna.
“I kept it because Dad insisted I wear it that night. He said it would help security recognize me.”
Anna looked at the black clasp.
Then she noticed something scratched along the inside of the band.
A short serial number.
Martin compared it with the hangar's access log.
The number matched a watch-based security credential issued under Daniel's name.
But the credential record showed one more entry.
The same watch had opened a restricted equipment room at 5:42 the next morning.
Daniel stared at the timestamp.
“That wasn't me.”
Vincent looked up.
“Where were you?”
“At home. My wife can confirm it.”
Martin checked the employee access records.
Only two people had authorization to enter that room at that hour.
Anthony Moretti.
And Sophia Carter.
Anna looked at Vincent.
For the first time, he didn't defend either of them.
Then Martin opened the equipment-room inventory.
One object had been removed at 5:42 a.m.
An identical unauthorized fuel-control module.
May you like
And beside its release was a handwritten notation:
Install before passenger boarding. Priority authorization: V.M.
