The airline's ground security manager was also present.
Daniel exited the cockpit.
He approached Ethan.
"Mr. Miller."
Ethan looked up.
"Yes?"
Daniel hesitated.
"I want to apologize for what happened earlier."
Ethan said nothing.
Daniel continued.
"I should have verified the alert before questioning you."
"Yes, you should have."
"I understand that now."
Ethan looked at him.
"Captain, I wasn't upset because you asked to see my ticket. That's reasonable. I was upset because you decided I was dangerous before checking whether the information was true."
Daniel lowered his eyes.
"I understand."
"I hope you do."
Olivia watched quietly.
The airline's ground manager approached.
"Mr. Miller, we will conduct a formal review of the incident. We would also like to provide you with written confirmation that the security alert did not apply to you."
"Thank you."
The manager handed him a document.
Ethan read it carefully.
Then he placed it in his backpack.
He was ready to leave.
But Olivia stopped him.
"Before you go, I would like to arrange a meeting with our investigation team."
Ethan looked at her.
"About AeroCore?"
"Yes. Your research may be relevant to an ongoing investigation."
He thought for a moment.
"All right."
The meeting took place the following morning.
Ethan entered a secure conference room with Olivia.
Several investigators were waiting.
A large screen displayed maintenance records, financial documents, and technical reports.
One investigator introduced himself as Special Agent Michael Turner.
He explained that the agency had been examining suspicious maintenance documentation connected to AeroCore.
The company had been accused of submitting inaccurate records to several clients.
Some aircraft components had been marked as inspected even though the required inspection had not been independently verified.
The agency suspected that the irregularities were connected to a larger financial scheme.
Ethan listened carefully.
Then he opened his laptop.
"I may have something useful."
He showed the investigators his technical comparison.
The document contained several maintenance record references.
One of them matched a component that appeared in the agency's investigation.
Michael leaned forward.
"How did you identify this?"
"I was comparing communication failures reported by different operators. I noticed that the maintenance dates didn't match the equipment service records."
"Did you access any restricted database?"
"No. Everything came from public documents and technical information supplied during my research."
Michael looked at Olivia.
"This is important."
Ethan opened another file.
"This is the original version of the document I submitted to the foundation."
He compared it with the forwarded copy.
The forwarded copy had been altered.
Several paragraphs had been removed.
A technical warning had been changed into a statement that suggested Ethan had obtained information from unauthorized sources.
The investigators exchanged looks.
Michael asked:
"Who made these changes?"
"I don't know."
"Did you send this version to anyone?"
"No."
Olivia examined the document metadata.
The modification history showed that the file had been edited by an account associated with AeroCore's external communications department.
Michael closed the laptop.
"We may now have evidence that someone deliberately misrepresented your submission."
Ethan felt a chill.
"So the alert on the flight..."
"May have been connected to that effort," Michael replied.
The investigation expanded.
The agency contacted the airline and requested the original operations notification.
It also examined the contractor account that had submitted the alert.
The contractor's employee initially claimed that the message had been generated automatically.
But investigators found that the message had been manually edited.
A name had been added.
A security description had been changed.
And the report had been sent to the captain without the normal verification code.
The employee eventually admitted that he had received instructions from a supervisor.
That supervisor worked for an administrative company contracted by AeroCore.
The supervisor claimed that the instructions had come from an executive at AeroCore.
The executive denied involvement.
But the financial records told a different story.