Chapter 6 - The Unseen Evidence
The maintenance corridor on the 52nd floor was dim and quiet.
Elias walked briskly down the hallway, carrying a yellow cleaning bucket and a mop as cover. He wore his old blue janitor’s shirt over his white dress shirt, allowing him to blend seamlessly into the building’s background.
Two private security guards stood outside Julian Vance’s corner office suite.
"Hey, Carter," one guard said, glancing up from his phone. "What are you doing up here? Executive floor is on lockdown until after the board meeting."
"Mr. Vance spilled coffee on his oriental rug during his 6:00 AM strategy meeting," Elias replied smoothly, holding up a bottle of carpet stain remover. "He told the facilities director he wanted it cleaned before the board members arrived, or somebody's getting fired."
The guards exchanged a look, groaned, and stepped aside. "Make it fast. He’s down in the cafeteria getting breakfast."
Elias swiped his master keycard, stepped inside the luxurious executive office, and locked the door behind him.
He moved quickly to the large oil painting hanging behind Julian’s desk. Swinging the frame open, he revealed the heavy steel wall safe equipped with a digital keypad and a glossy glass biometric fingerprint scanner.
Elias pulled a small jar of fine graphite powder and a soft camel-hair brush from his pocket. Gently, he dusted the surface of the scanner glass. A crisp, perfectly clear thumbprint materialized under the black powder.
He pressed a strip of clear lifting tape firmly over the glass, smoothed it out, and carefully peeled it back. The impression of Julian Vance’s right thumb was transferred perfectly onto the adhesive.
Elias pressed the tape over a synthetic gelatin pad he had prepared, then pressed the pad against the scanner surface.
BEEP-BEEP-CLICK.
The heavy steel bolts inside the safe retracted with a satisfying mechanical thud. The door swung open.
Inside lay stacks of bearer bonds, offshore bank tokens, and a thick black leather notebook marked Personal Accounts.
Elias pulled out his smartphone, rapidly photographing every single page of the ledger. The pages contained detailed records of wire transfers made to three key Sterling Global board members—Arthur Pendelton, Marcus Thorne, and Eleanor Vance—totaling over twelve million dollars in bribes paid to guarantee their votes against Adelaide.
Just as Elias finished photographing the final page, the door handle of the office rattled violently!
"Who locked this door?!" Julian Vance’s angry voice boomed from the hallway outside.
Elias didn't panic. He closed the safe, swung the oil painting back into place, tucked his phone and gear into his pocket, and grabbed his mop.
The office door burst open, and Julian Vance stepped inside, flanked by his two security guards.
"What the hell are you doing in my office?!" Julian barked, his face red with fury.
Elias looked up, holding his mop, his expression completely blank and docile. "Just cleaning the coffee stain off your rug, sir. Like the facilities manager asked."
Julian looked down at the rug, then at Elias's blue uniform, letting out a contemptuous sneer. "Get the hell out of here. And if I see your ugly face on this floor again, you’re fired."
"Yes, sir. Right away, sir," Elias said humbly, bowing his head as he pushed his cleaning cart past the billionaire and out into the hallway.
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Once he reached the safety of the service elevator, Elias pulled out his phone and sent a single text message to Adelaide:
I have everything. It’s time.
