Chapter 5 - THE PERSON WHO PRINTED RACHEL'S NAME
The current seal D-91042 had been printed at 03:58 the morning Rachel found it.
Printer location:
Secure Seal Room, Pier Four.
The user account:
M. REED
Rachel stared at the record.
Mason's attorney did too.
Mason immediately said:
“I didn't print it.”
NCIS checked.
At 03:58 Mason was on the opposite side of the installation.
Medical clinic entrance camera.
He had cut his palm unloading chain the night before and was getting it cleaned before shift.
Badge scan.
Camera.
Nurse.
He could not physically have operated the seal printer.
Rachel hated the little flicker of relief she felt.
Mason saw it.
“Don't.”
She looked at him.
“You thought I wanted it to be you?”
“Yes.”
“I wanted the easy answer.”
Mason laughed without humor.
“So did I.”
Someone had used Mason's credentials.
Not his password.
The secure printer required a proximity token.
Mason's token had been in his locker.
Locker camera showed no direct view of the door.
Two people entered the locker bay before 04:00.
Ethan Ford.
And civilian systems contractor Caleb Price.
Ethan had a reason.
His shift started at four.
Caleb maintained the pier manifest terminals and secure printer network.
Both volunteered interviews.
Ethan's fingerprints were on the locker handle.
Because his locker sat beside Mason's.
Caleb said he entered to reboot a wall switch controlling the printer network.
Work ticket existed.
Time:
03:46.
Why was he called?
A user reported the seal printer offline.
Who?
Ticket creator:
PORT-RECOVER.
The same shared account used seven months earlier to move Pallet Six.
Pierce stared at the screen.
“That account should have been retired.”
Hale said:
“It was supposed to be.”
Supposed to.
Rachel was starting to hate that word.
The printer CCTV had one blind spot.
The camera faced the door.
Not the press.
At 03:49 Caleb entered.
At 04:01 he left.
No other person entered.
Rachel looked at Pierce.
“So Caleb printed it.”
Pierce did not answer.
Caleb carried a laptop bag.
Could have contained Mason's token.
Could also have simply repaired a network switch.
Forensics found no seal material in his bag.
Then Caleb asked to provide something voluntarily.
A screenshot from the ticketing system.
03:43.
Anonymous message attached to the printer outage:
Need Carter template before first shift. Reed authorization.
Caleb said:
“That is why I opened the print service.”
Rachel felt her stomach tighten.
“Who sent it?”
“Shared operations queue.”
“Did you print?”
“No.”
“Then how was the seal produced?”
Caleb looked confused.
“Remote queue.”
The Pier Four printer could accept pre-authorized jobs from one logistics terminal inside the warehouse.
That terminal had no camera.
At 03:56 someone queued:
D-91042 / R. CARTER
At 03:58 Caleb's restart brought the printer online.
The machine automatically completed the waiting job.
Caleb may never have touched the seal.
Then Rachel remembered the current surveillance footage.
The person who attached D-91042 wore a high-visibility vest.
Caleb wore one every day.
So did forty people on the pier.
Then technical enhancement found one better detail.
The person fastening the seal used the left hand.
Caleb was right-handed.
Ethan was left-handed.
Mason turned toward Ethan immediately.
Ethan's face went pale.
Rachel saw it.
Then Ethan said:
“I printed a Carter seal before.”
Everyone stopped.
“When?”
Pierce asked.
“Not today.”
“How long ago?”
Ethan looked toward Rachel.
“Seven months.”
Pallet Six.
Rachel's original seal had not been printed only once.
May you like
There had been a second one.
And Mason had never known.
