Chapter 3 - The Marks Beneath the Metal
The engine slowed until the final blades stopped rotating.
Martin Cole immediately ordered everyone away from the turbine.
“No one touches anything,” he said.
Director Crane frowned.
“You just proved the engine works. Why are we stopping?”
Martin pointed at the three bolts Ethan had marked.
“Because those bolts were recently moved.”
A security officer stepped closer.
“They could have loosened during operation.”
“No,” Ethan said. “The scratches are too clean.”
Martin crouched beside the housing and examined the metal beneath a magnifying lamp. Thin silver lines surrounded each bolt head.
Fresh tool marks.
The bolts had not vibrated loose. Someone had deliberately turned them, then stopped before removing them completely.
Director Crane looked around the hangar.
“Who had access to this engine?”
Martin opened the maintenance log.
“More than thirty people during the past two days.”
“Then check the cameras.”
A security technician hurried toward the control station. Minutes later, recordings from the hangar appeared on a large monitor.
The footage showed engineers entering and leaving throughout the night. Cleaning crews moved equipment. Security guards completed inspections.
Nothing seemed unusual.
Then Ethan noticed the time display jump forward by eleven minutes.
“Go back,” he said.
The technician ignored him.
Ethan stepped closer.
“The recording skipped.”
Martin turned toward the screen.
“Replay the section from 2:14.”
The technician rewound the footage.
At exactly 2:14 in the morning, the image froze for half a second. When it resumed, the maintenance ladder beside the engine had changed position.
Eleven minutes were missing.
Director Crane’s expression hardened.
“Someone deleted part of the recording.”
The security supervisor checked the system log.
“That should be impossible. Only executive-level access can remove archived footage.”
Everyone slowly looked toward the director.
Crane immediately became defensive.
“Several administrators have executive access. This proves nothing.”
Ethan returned to his toolbox and removed a small magnet. He placed it beneath the engine panel and pulled out a tiny black fragment.
Martin took it carefully.
It was part of a rubber glove.
“Whoever loosened the bolts tore their glove,” Ethan said. “A piece was trapped behind the panel.”
The security supervisor placed the fragment inside an evidence bag.
Director Crane ordered the hangar sealed.
“No one leaves until we know who did this.”
At that moment, alarms sounded near the eastern entrance.
A maintenance vehicle had crashed through a security gate.
The driver jumped out and ran toward the runway.
Martin recognized him immediately.
It was Daniel Ross, one of the engineers who had signed the final inspection report.
Security officers chased him between two parked aircraft.
Ethan watched the man disappear into the darkness.
Then he noticed something inside the abandoned vehicle.
A silver case sat on the passenger seat.
Stamped across its lid was the logo of Ethan’s father’s old workshop.
Ethan’s face changed.
May you like
His father’s workshop had been closed for three years.
And no one was supposed to possess that case.
