Laura paused.
"But there is a name that appears repeatedly in the administrative records."
"Whose?"
Laura placed another document on the table.
A department employee named Martin Cole.
He worked in the pension distribution coordination office.
His responsibilities included processing beneficiary schedules and communicating payment information to authorized financial institutions.
Reeves looked at the name.
"Does he have access to the distribution database?"
"Yes."
"Could he access beneficiary information?"
"His position allows limited access."
Reynolds leaned forward.
"Has he been interviewed?"
"Not yet."
"Then we need to establish whether his access was legitimate."
Laura nodded.
"That's the next step."
She opened a second file.
It contained a list of internal system access events.
Several entries had been highlighted.
One was dated seven months earlier.
Another was dated four months earlier.
The most recent entry was from the morning Walter collected his pension.
Reeves looked at the screen.
His expression changed.
"Captain, look at the last entry."
Reynolds moved closer.
The record showed that Walter Harrison's beneficiary information had been accessed at 8:14 a.m.
The payment had been collected at 9:02 a.m.
The incident involving Vance had occurred several hours later.
Reynolds looked at Laura.
"Who accessed the record?"
Laura checked the details.
"Martin Cole."
Reeves immediately looked toward Reynolds.
"That needs to be verified."
Reynolds nodded.
"Contact the office. Preserve the access logs and all associated communications."
Laura agreed.
But before she could leave, another investigator entered.
He was carrying a sealed document envelope.
"Captain, we received a response from the pension authority."
Reynolds turned.
"What is it?"
The investigator placed the envelope on the table.
"Additional information concerning the Row 94 beneficiary protection protocol."
Reeves opened the document.
He read the first page.
Then the second.
His expression became increasingly serious.
Reynolds watched him.
"What does it say?"
Reeves looked up.
"Captain, the protection system wasn't introduced simply because of ordinary theft risks."
"Explain."
"It was introduced after the original pension fraud investigation uncovered evidence that certain beneficiaries had been deliberately targeted."
Reynolds frowned.
"Targeted by whom?"
"That's still under investigation."
Reeves turned another page.
"But the document includes an incident summary involving a group of retired municipal employees."
Reynolds leaned closer.
The report described a series of suspicious encounters.
Several elderly pension recipients had been approached shortly after withdrawing their benefits.
In some cases, their money disappeared.
In others, the beneficiaries reported being threatened or intimidated.
The original investigation had discovered that information about payment schedules had been circulating outside the authorized distribution network.
The protection system was created to help identify and document further incidents.
Reynolds slowly closed the document.
"Why wasn't this information included in the original dispatch?"
Reeves answered.
"Because the incident alert was triggered through the beneficiary protection system after Walter activated his transmitter."
Reynolds nodded.
"Then we need the complete history."
Reeves looked at him.
"There is one more detail."
"What?"
"The original investigation was never fully closed."
Reynolds stared at him.
"What do you mean?"
Reeves turned the document around.
A list of unresolved financial irregularities appeared on the screen.
At the bottom was a reference to an internal case number.
And beside it was the name of the department employee responsible for coordinating the remaining records.
Martin Cole.
Reynolds looked toward Laura.
"Find him."
Laura immediately picked up her phone.
But the next piece of information would make the investigation even more complicated.
Because when she contacted the pension distribution office, she discovered that Martin Cole had not reported for work that afternoon.
His supervisor had received a message claiming that he was taking emergency leave.
And nobody at the office could confirm where he was.
THE MISSING EMPLOYEE
At 7:15 p.m., investigators located Martin Cole's home address.
It was a small apartment complex approximately twenty minutes from the transit station.
A team was sent to verify his whereabouts.
They found his vehicle parked outside.
His apartment was locked.
There was no immediate indication of forced entry.
A neighbor reported seeing him leave shortly after noon.
He had been carrying a black briefcase.
The neighbor also remembered that Martin had appeared unusually nervous.
Investigators contacted his supervisor.
The supervisor confirmed that Martin had requested access to the pension distribution system earlier that morning.
He had claimed that he needed to correct several beneficiary records.
However, the supervisor could not explain why those records had been accessed outside the normal processing schedule.
Laura listened carefully.
"Did anyone approve the changes?"
The supervisor checked his records.
"No."