"Who opened the Alpha archive?" Elena Kovac asked, keeping her voice low as she stood beside the locked security terminal, one hand resting against the edge of the desk while the other held a small evidence envelope between two fingers.
Luca Bianchi did not answer at once, for his attention had settled upon the faint scratches surrounding the archive lock, and when he finally looked at Elena, his expression had hardened with the kind of caution that came from having once promised himself that no hidden breach would ever pass beneath his notice again. "Someone who knew exactly which records mattered," he said quietly, stepping closer to inspect the panel without touching it, "and someone who knew how to make the system believe the access was legitimate, which means this was not an accident and it certainly was not the work of some frightened junior guard."
