Chapter 10 - The Blank Signature
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"I know you did, Emily," General Vance said, his voice low and serious. "I was there when you logged the initial conflict statement six months ago."
"Then why is the Inspector General opening a formal inquiry?" I asked, my fingers trembling as I flipped to the second page of the file.
"Because of what is currently sitting in the central digital archive," Vance explained.
Attached to the report was a printout of my official recusal form pulled directly from the Army's secure procurement database. My name was typed clearly at the top, but the signature block at the bottom was completely blank.
"Someone went into the military server," I gasped, staring at the blank line. "They deleted my signed document and replaced it with an unexecuted draft!"
"Precisely," Vance nodded. "And whoever did it was incredibly thorough. The digital audit trail shows that the file was modified using your personal administrative credentials on Thursday night at 7:31 p.m."
I stared at the timestamp in absolute disbelief. "Seven-thirty-one p.m.? But I signed the final contract approval at 7:18 p.m. and checked out of the building six minutes later!"
"If this complaint stands," Vance warned, "the entire five-hundred-million-dollar contract will be voided due to procedural fraud. And you will face a court-martial for ethics violations."
"Mommy?"
Liam walked out from the hallway, clutching his stuffed dinosaur, sensing the sudden shift in energy. "Is the Army man sad?"
I forced a calm smile, kneeling down to face my son. "No, baby. The General and I are just discussing work. Why don't you go finish your block tower?"
Liam hesitated, then nodded and walked back to his toys.
May you like
I stood back up, my mind racing at lightspeed. "Sir, I logged out at 7:24 p.m. The main security desk has a physical sign-out sheet. Officer Miller greeted me on my way to the parking lot."
"Then Officer Miller is our primary witness," Vance said grimly. "Because whoever tampered with that file at 7:31 p.m. was still inside the building."
