At 10:30 that night, Marcus was still inside the command center.
Most of the investigators had gone home, but Parker, Collins, and Rebecca remained. They were comparing the access logs from the encrypted meeting file with the department's internal communication records.
Parker enlarged the report.
"General, the administrative account accessed the meeting file twice."
"When?"
"Three days before the park incident, and again on the morning of the incident."
"Who was logged in?"
"That's the problem. The account was shared by several members of the deputy commissioner's office."
Marcus leaned forward.
"Can we narrow it down?"
"Possibly. The first login came from a workstation assigned to Linda Foster, the commissioner's executive assistant. The second came from a device registered to Richard Hale's private office."
Collins frowned.
"Could someone have used the account without his knowledge?"
"Yes," Parker replied. "That's why we need more evidence."
Marcus looked at the access timestamps.
The second login occurred less than twenty minutes before Daniel Hale approached him in the park.
"Find out whether the information was downloaded, printed, or forwarded."
Rebecca checked another screen.
"We found a forwarding record."
"To whom?"
"An encrypted external account."
Marcus looked toward her.
"Can you identify the recipient?"
"Not yet. The account was created using a temporary service, but the recovery information points to a consulting company."
"Westbridge?"
Rebecca nodded.
Marcus walked toward the window.
The pieces were beginning to connect.
A confidential meeting location had been accessed from the commissioner's office. The information had been forwarded to a company linked to the Hale family. Daniel Hale had received instructions shortly afterward. And the officer had arrived with a plastic bag already prepared.
It was no longer reasonable to treat the park incident as an isolated act.
"General," Collins said, "there's something else."
Marcus turned.
"What?"
"We recovered a deleted conversation from Daniel Hale's phone. It includes a message sent approximately thirty minutes before the encounter."
He displayed the text.
THE MAN IN THE NAVY JACKET IS HERE. MAKE SURE HE DOESN'T LEAVE.
Marcus read it slowly.
"Who sent it?"
"The sender used an encrypted account. But we have a partial routing record."
Parker looked at the screen.
"The message passed through a private wireless network registered to Westbridge Strategic Solutions."
Marcus nodded.
"That company again."
Rebecca opened another document.
"We found the company's registration details. Its listed director is Richard Hale's brother-in-law. But the beneficial ownership records are incomplete."
"Then find the actual owner."
"That may take time."
"Take it."
The room fell quiet.
Marcus thought about the confidential source who had arranged the meeting. The source had not arrived. The message had warned him not to come alone. Someone had known the location, the time, and the clothing he would be wearing.
He picked up his phone and opened the last message from the source.
There was no new reply.
"Has anyone located our original source?" he asked.
Collins shook his head.
"Not yet. The phone has been inactive since the afternoon of the incident."
Marcus looked at Parker.
"Treat the source as potentially compromised. Find out whether anyone has contacted their family."
Parker nodded.
Suddenly, Rebecca's computer produced a notification.
"General, there's an incoming message from an unknown sender."
"Open it."
A single image appeared.
It showed Marcus sitting on the park bench, photographed from a distance. The timestamp was from the morning of the incident.
Beneath the photograph were seven words:
YOU WERE NEVER SUPPOSED TO LEAVE ALIVE.
Collins stood.
"That's a direct threat."
Marcus looked at the image.
"Save it. Preserve the original metadata."
Parker immediately began tracing the sender.
But Marcus was already looking at something else.
In the background of the photograph, a dark sedan was parked near the eastern entrance.
He recognized the vehicle.
It had appeared in another surveillance image from the previous week.
"Enlarge that car."
Rebecca zoomed in.
The license plate was partially visible.
"Can we identify it?"
"We'll try."
Marcus examined the photograph.
The vehicle was registered to a company connected to a private security contractor.
The name was Victor Shaw.
Marcus looked at Collins.
"Find out where Shaw has been."
Collins nodded.
"Yes, sir."
Parker looked at the threatening message.
"General, someone is watching us."
Marcus closed the photograph.
"Then let's make sure they don't know what we have."
He returned to the evidence board.
The message had changed the nature of the investigation.
The people behind the operation were not merely protecting their positions.
They were prepared to threaten, intimidate, and possibly kill anyone who could expose them.
Marcus knew that the next move would be dangerous.
But he also knew that stopping now would leave every previous victim without justice.
He turned toward the team.
"We continue."