Chapter 4 - The Backup Camera
Charlotte snatched the email.
"This is fake."
Nora backed away.
Amina didn't.
"Then the server logs will prove that."
"My account was compromised."
"Then the server logs will prove that too."
Charlotte tore the page once down the middle.
Leila flinched.
Amina simply looked at Marc.
"Preserve every mailbox. No deletions. No password resets."
Marc nodded.
Charlotte laughed bitterly. "You walk into one boutique and suddenly you think you own the family."
"No," Amina said. "I think records are easier to trust than people who hit employees."
Antoine rubbed both hands over his face.
"Nora, what left after midnight?"
"Limited pieces. Handbags. Jewelry. Sometimes archive samples."
"Who signed them out?"
"The paper forms said management transfer."
"Which manager?"
Nora hesitated.
"Usually your father. Sometimes your wife."
Charlotte lunged toward her.
"Liar."
Antoine stepped between them.
"Enough."
For the first time that night, Charlotte looked shocked by him.
Amina asked Marc for security footage.
His eyes dropped.
"There is a problem."
"What problem?"
"The internal archive only retains fourteen days."
"I know."
"And the off-site mirror was disabled in February."
Amina's expression changed.
"Who authorized that?"
Marc opened the access log.
A name appeared.
ANTOINE BEAUMONT.
Charlotte let out a breath that almost sounded relieved.
Antoine stared at the screen.
"I never did that."
Amina studied him.
He looked back at her.
"I swear to you."
"Swearing is not evidence."
Then Leila spoke from behind them.
"There might be another camera."
Everyone turned.
She pointed toward the ceiling near the old jewelry alcove.
"The building owner installed one during the renovation. Staff couldn't access it."
Amina looked up.
May you like
Then she smiled for the first time.
"The building owner can.
