out of her wet clothes.

Ruiz placed a tablet on the examination bed.

“Your husband called emergency services fourteen minutes after you fell,” she said.

Fourteen minutes.

Long enough to fly away from the location, compose himself, and telephone Mara first.

Richard’s emergency call had been a performance.

He claimed Amelia became excited by the view, unfastened her own belt, and stepped too close to the open door.

He said he tried to catch her but lost his grip.

His voice broke in all the correct places.

Then Ruiz played the call Richard had made to Mara three minutes earlier.

“Amelia has been in an accident,” he said.

“Activate the spousal transfer immediately.”

Mara asked whether Amelia had been found.

Richard paused.

“There’s no possibility she survived.”

He had not asked for a search team.

He had not asked Mara to call Amelia’s family.

His first concern was control of the estate.

Ruiz stopped the recording.

“We can arrest him now,” she said.

“But Mara believes he has arranged an emergency meeting with your board tomorrow morning.

If he presents the forged document, we gain direct evidence of attempted financial fraud in addition to the recording and video.”

Amelia looked at Jonah.

“He’ll try to take the company before I’m officially declared dead.”

“He already is,” Jonah replied.

Richard spent that evening becoming a grieving widower.

He released a statement through his public-relations team describing Amelia as the love of his life.

He spoke about their unborn child and asked the public to respect his privacy while rescue teams searched the coast.

He allowed photographers to capture him leaving the helipad with tears on his face.

Behind closed doors, he called board members and warned them that Amelia’s disappearance could send the company’s stock into panic.

He claimed she had signed a continuity directive granting him temporary authority in a crisis.

Several directors refused to speak with him.

Others listened because they were frightened.

By morning, Richard believed urgency would accomplish what the forged document could not.

He summoned the board to Amelia’s headquarters and arrived wearing a dark suit with no tie.

His eyes were red, carefully so.

He carried the decoy folder beneath one arm.

Mara waited at the end of the conference table.

The board members sat in silence as Richard placed Amelia’s supposed authorization in front of them.

“My wife built this company with her father,” he said.

“Her final concern would have been protecting it from instability.”

A director named Samuel Price examined the signature.

“This document was never disclosed to the board.”

“Amelia wanted it kept private unless an emergency occurred.”

“She has not been declared dead.”

Richard’s grief disappeared for half a second.

“You know as well as I do that no one survives that fall.”

Mara watched him carefully.

“You sound certain,” she said.

“I was there.”

“Yes,” Mara replied.

“You were.”

Richard pushed the folder toward her.

“As Amelia’s husband, I am directing you to certify this document.”

Mara opened it slowly.

A nearly invisible symbol appeared when she placed one page beneath a small ultraviolet light.

The digital watermark matched the copy Richard had transmitted to the financial consultant.

“This document was a decoy,” she said.

Richard stared at her.

“That is Amelia’s signature.”

“No.

It is a signature you