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After clearing out the office, Henry didn't forget to instruct his secretary. "Yulian, bring my guest a—" he paused and turned. "Coffee? Or tea?"
"Coffee, please."
"Yulian, a coffee for my guest. Knock before you come in." With that, Henry shut the office door.
He closed all the blinds, pulled down a projection screen, and switched on the projector. Returning to his desk, he began operating the computer.
"I didn't expect Tony Stark to send you to me," Henry said, "so I didn't prepare any hard copies. I'll walk you through everything via the projection. If there's anything you want printed afterward, let me know."
He paused, then looked up. "How many people know you came to see me?"
"In New York, only one of Tony Stark's secretaries. Here—your receptionist, your secretary, and the people who just left."
"Good. Then it's fine." Before continuing, Henry added, "Everything you hear today—I won't acknowledge it once you walk out that door. Don't ask, don't confirm. Understood?"
"Understood."
Henry tapped a few keys. The first image appeared on the screen—a newspaper clipping.
Jack Reacher didn't sit. Instead, he chose a position that gave him a clear, direct view of the screen. "This is the news about Howard Stark's car accident."
"Correct," Henry said. "A brilliant scientist and successful businessman with deep ties to the military—and numerous classified projects. On the night of December 16, 1991, Howard Stark and his wife both died in a car accident."
Reacher asked, "Tony Stark doubts the accident? Doesn't he have people who could investigate something like this?"
"He does," Henry replied. "And every report concludes the same thing—it was an accident. Cause: a defective brake system."
In truth, Tony hadn't handed over all the materials. Henry only had what he'd gathered on the West Coast.
But Henry hadn't played by the rules.
He had hacked into Tony Stark's virtual host on the supercomputer Hollywood Kid and found a neatly organized archive—S.H.I.E.L.D. reports, forensic autopsies, and prosecutor-certified death records.
He displayed them one by one.
"And because of that defect," Henry continued, "Tony bought the company that designed and manufactured the braking system. Fixed the flaw himself—then sold it at triple the price. A fine example of capitalist morality."
Reacher ignored the jab. "What made Tony suspicious enough to reopen the case—and request assistance from Military Police?"
"That," Henry said, "starts with why he made me CEO of Stark Pictures. Officially, it's a job. In reality, I've been monitoring things on the West Coast for him."
He proceeded chronologically, laying out everything he had uncovered regarding the Stark family.
Photos and supporting materials appeared on the screen. Audio recordings played where available.
Midway through, Yulian entered with coffee. With a single keystroke, Henry blanked the projection—keeping her out of the mess entirely.
What Henry presented was largely his own intelligence. As for the East Coast, most of it came from the pre-organized files Tony had conveniently left on that hackable system.
After some time, Henry finished.
"That's everything we currently know," he said.
"But as you've probably noticed—not all of it is backed by solid evidence. Some are hearsay. Some are personal deductions.
"And the worst part? Even the evidence that looks credible could be fabricated—to mislead or deceive.
"We don't know what's real and what's not. So when you investigate, be careful not to trip any alarms—assuming there is a conspiracy behind this."
After hearing a mountain of information, only to be told it might all be unreliable, Reacher didn't show it—but he was clearly processing.
Henry's reasoning was simple: if this was the Jack Reacher he knew—sharp, perceptive, methodical—then more information, even flawed, would still be useful.
Even false leads carried intent. Patterns. Motives.
Reacher would sort it out himself.
Reacher asked, "If you suspect a conspiracy, do you have any suspects?"
Henry pointed upward. "One percent of the U.S. population."
"That's too vague," Reacher said, frowning for the first time.
Henry answered seriously, "Do you know how many times Tony Stark has faced poisoning attempts and assassinations since taking over Stark Industries? None of that is public.
"And that's just the confirmed attempts. The suspected ones are even more numerous.
"That's why his security detail now consists of people he recruited off the street—people he personally trusts.
"In fact, if not for the collapse of the Red Empire just days after Howard Stark's death—drawing the attention of major players northward—Stark Industries might not have survived at all.
"Whether it was Obadiah Stane or Tony Stark himself pulling the strings, they were surrounded by wolves.
"Just like the Arden family now. Two leaders gone overnight. If you know anything about recent events, you'll know exactly what happened to them."
Reacher looked straight at him. "Was that you? The Arden couple?"
"Yes," Henry replied calmly. "They turned themselves into vampires. Which means their deaths leave no trace.
"Legally speaking, without complete surveillance footage as evidence, they're not dead. They're missing."
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