Miller nodded.
AGENT MILLER:
"Please bring the original. Don't send photographs or copies until we've examined it."
Rebecca stood.
REBECCA:
"All right."
Arthur looked at Miller.
ARTHUR:
"Agent, are you suggesting someone arranged for me to be at that station?"
Miller did not answer immediately.
AGENT MILLER:
"We're investigating that possibility."
Arthur stared at him.
ARTHUR:
"Then the officer..."
MILLER:
"We don't know whether he was connected to the other individual."
ARTHUR:
"But somebody knew I would be carrying those documents."
Miller nodded slowly.
AGENT MILLER:
"That's what concerns us."
Arthur looked toward the window.
He had spent decades believing that retirement would allow him to leave behind the dangerous parts of his professional life.
Now it appeared that something from his past had followed him into the present.
***
At headquarters, Vance received another phone call.
The caller's number was hidden.
He answered after several rings.
OFFICER VANCE:
"Hello?"
UNKNOWN CALLER:
"Did you recover the envelope?"
Vance froze.
OFFICER VANCE:
"Who is this?"
UNKNOWN CALLER:
"Answer the question."
Vance looked around the empty room.
OFFICER VANCE:
"I don't know what you're talking about."
UNKNOWN CALLER:
"Don't play games with me."
OFFICER VANCE:
"I said I don't know."
UNKNOWN CALLER:
"The serial card. Did you get it?"
Vance's expression changed.
He lowered his voice.
OFFICER VANCE:
"Listen, things went wrong."
UNKNOWN CALLER:
"What do you mean?"
OFFICER VANCE:
"The FBI showed up."
There was a long silence.
UNKNOWN CALLER:
"How much do they know?"
Vance rubbed his forehead.
OFFICER VANCE:
"They took the documents."
UNKNOWN CALLER:
"All of them?"
OFFICER VANCE:
"I don't know."
UNKNOWN CALLER:
"You were supposed to secure the identification card."
OFFICER VANCE:
"I didn't have time."
UNKNOWN CALLER:
"Did you lose it?"
Vance closed his eyes.
OFFICER VANCE:
"Maybe."
The caller's voice became colder.
UNKNOWN CALLER:
"Do you understand what you've done?"
OFFICER VANCE:
"I told you the FBI arrived."
UNKNOWN CALLER:
"Listen carefully. You didn't speak to me. You don't know me. And you never received that call."
OFFICER VANCE:
"What?"
UNKNOWN CALLER:
"Delete this number."
The call ended.
Vance stared at his phone.
For several seconds, he remained motionless.
Then he looked toward the conference room door.
He realized that his problems were no longer limited to an internal police investigation.
Someone outside the department had known exactly what he was supposed to retrieve.
And that person was now afraid.
***
At the hospital, Arthur was beginning to understand the danger.
When Rebecca returned with the letter, Miller examined it carefully.
The document appeared official at first glance.
It carried a government-style heading, a reference number, and a date.
But something was wrong.
Miller compared it with an authentic document from the retirement office.
The formatting was slightly different.
The contact number did not match the official directory.
And the signature belonged to someone who had left the department more than a year earlier.
AGENT MILLER:
"Mr. Whitmore, this letter wasn't issued by the retirement administration."
Arthur stared at the paper.
ARTHUR:
"What?"
AGENT MILLER:
"It appears to be a counterfeit document."
Rebecca looked shocked.
REBECCA:
"Someone forged a government letter?"
MILLER:
"That's what the preliminary examination suggests."
ARTHUR:
"But why?"
Miller placed the letter beside the pension authorization.
AGENT MILLER:
"Someone wanted you to attend a specific appointment carrying specific documents."
ARTHUR:
"And somebody was waiting at the station."
MILLER:
"Possibly."
Arthur looked toward the missing identification card.
ARTHUR:
"Then the entire incident may have been planned."
Miller remained silent.
He knew that they were approaching a much larger investigation.
The officer's actions had exposed something that might otherwise have remained hidden.
But they still needed to establish who had arranged the counterfeit letter, who had been waiting at the station, and why the restricted credential was so important.
AGENT MILLER:
"Mr. Whitmore, there's something else."
Arthur looked at him.
AGENT MILLER:
"We checked the three serial numbers returned by dispatch."
ARTHUR:
"And?"
Miller opened a second folder.
AGENT MILLER:
"Two of them match records connected to the missing equipment investigation."
Arthur's face became pale.
ARTHUR:
"Which two?"
Miller pointed to the document.
AGENT MILLER:
"Serial numbers 94-117 and 94-203."
Arthur stared at the page.
Then he looked up.
ARTHUR:
"That's impossible."
MILLER:
"Why?"
Arthur took a breath.
ARTHUR:
"Because those two units were supposed to have been destroyed together."
Miller nodded.
AGENT MILLER:
"According to the official inventory, they were."
Arthur's eyes narrowed.
ARTHUR:
"Then somebody has been using the wrong destruction certificates."
Miller leaned forward.
AGENT MILLER:
"Can you explain?"
Arthur looked at the serial numbers again.
ARTHUR:
"Yes."
He paused.
ARTHUR:
"But if I'm right, this investigation is much bigger than a stolen pension envelope."
Miller waited.
ARTHUR:
"Those units weren't ordinary equipment. They were part of a restricted transportation monitoring system. If they were transferred illegally, someone could have gained access to information that should never have left federal custody."
Miller closed the folder.
AGENT MILLER:
"Then we need to know exactly what you remember about those units."
Arthur looked toward Rebecca.
His daughter was visibly frightened.
He gently squeezed her hand.
ARTHUR:
"I'll tell you everything."
But before he could continue, Miller's phone vibrated.
He read the message.
His expression changed immediately.
AGENT MILLER: