Chapter 16 - The Photographic Evidence
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The projector hummed to life, throwing a massive, high-definition image onto the white wall at the end of the boardroom.
It was the photograph I had taken in our master bedroom.
Owen and Dana were clearly visible in the background, hastily scrambling among the tangled sheets, but absolutely nobody in the room looked at the bed. Every single executive eye in the room fixed with laser focus on the mahogany nightstand in the foreground.
Enlarged to the size of a billboard were the two crystal champagne flutes, the expensive bottle, and the open blue folder heavily stamped with Halcyon Medical’s internal, highly restricted seal.
Naomi used a laser pointer, highlighting the precise details on the screen.
"As you can clearly see, gentlemen," Naomi stated crisp and loud, "the folder is wide open, displaying the highly confidential bidder rankings and internal price ceilings for the surgical equipment contract."
The laser pointer moved slightly to the right.
"And resting exactly two inches away from these sealed documents is an engraved vendor identification badge clearly belonging to Ms. Dana Vale, an active, competing bidder for this exact forty-million-dollar contract."
Owen’s expensive labor attorney visibly winced, scribbling furiously on his legal pad.
"That could be absolutely any document!" Owen shouted, slamming his hand on the table, desperate to plug the massive hole in his defense. "It's blurry! It's a setup! Claire probably printed fake papers and planted them there while we were distracted!"
I sat perfectly still, not rising to the bait, letting his hysterical, baseless accusations hang pathetically in the silent room.
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"Mrs. Mercer did not print fake papers, Owen," Naomi replied calmly, picking up a thick stack of printed documents from the table. She slid them down the mahogany surface toward Owen’s lawyer.
"We don't just have the photograph," Naomi continued, her voice taking on the lethal precision of an executioner. "We have the irrefutable digital footprint."
