Chapter 3
The forensic examination started two days later.
Ethan’s attorney objected immediately.
Not because Elena intended to publish anything.
Because the silver drive was registered to Caldwell Development.
Rebecca solved the problem by proposing a neutral examiner and mirrored forensic copy, with access limited until ownership and relevance were determined.
Ethan resisted.
That made the judge less sympathetic to him.
By Friday afternoon, the neutral examiner had possession.
The dictaphone was easier.
It contained forty-three audio files.
Most were mundane.
Meeting reminders.
Project addresses.
Names.
Short spoken notes Ethan apparently recorded while driving.
The recordings covered a period beginning four years earlier and ending several months before the divorce.
There was no dramatic confession.
No voice saying, I committed a crime.
Rebecca considered that good.
“Real evidence is usually boring.”
Elena listened to three clips.
Ethan reminding himself to call an architect.
Ethan listing numbers connected to a project.
Ethan saying:
“Harbor closing Friday. Update spousal packet before bank review.”
Elena paused the file.
“What spousal packet?”
Rebecca wrote down the timestamp.
“We find out.”
Another recording:
“Move Wexler reserve before Elena sees quarterly.”
Elena looked at her.
Rebecca did not react.
“Again, we don’t guess.”
Elena hated that sentence more every day.
The hard drive remained encrypted.
The forensic examiner identified the encryption system as enterprise-grade.
It was not something an ordinary password cracker would resolve quickly.
But the device serial number produced a useful fact.
Caldwell Development purchased it twenty-eight months earlier.
Six weeks before Ethan filed for divorce.
Elena stared at the date.
“Why hide a company backup under our floor right before filing?”
Rebecca answered honestly.
“There are innocent explanations.”
“Name one.”
“A secure offline backup.”
“Under my office floor?”
“His office.”
“In my house.”
Rebecca gave her a look.
“Do you want analysis or agreement?”
Elena almost smiled.
“Both.”
“You hired the wrong lawyer.”
They requested Caldwell Development’s asset records.
Ethan’s counsel refused voluntarily.
Rebecca prepared a subpoena based on the pending property dispute and potential relevance to undisclosed marital assets.
That evening, Lila contacted Elena again.
This time through her own attorney.
Not Ethan’s.
Rebecca read the letter.
Lila wanted to provide documents she believed might relate to the drive.
Elena looked at her.
“What documents?”
“She doesn’t say.”
“Why?”
“Her attorney says she wants assurance they’ll be treated confidentially until relevance is established.”
Elena leaned back.
“So she knows something.”
“Maybe.”
The meeting was scheduled for Monday.
Before leaving, Rebecca replayed the dictaphone entry.
Update spousal packet before bank review.
Then she looked at the serial-number purchase date.
Drive purchased six weeks before divorce.
Spousal paperwork being updated.
Financial records Ethan did not want Elena to see.
Three facts existed now.
They still did not form a conclusion.
But Elena could finally see the outline of a question.
May you like
Had Ethan hidden the drive because the marriage was ending?
Or had the marriage ended because of something hidden on the drive?
