Chapter 162: Until Tomorrow

Irial nodded.

Marek watched Eren’s expression while they continued.

There was no excitement in it.

Eren was the type of person who would probably spend more time trying to prove a discrepancy harmless than announcing that he had found one, which Marek preferred. If they were going to involve themselves even this much, he did not want someone seeing crime in every column.

After nearly half an hour, Eren leaned back. “These documents don’t prove that anyone stole money.”

Irial seemed disappointed, although she nodded.

“Some of the revisions could be normal,” Eren continued. “Service reports change. Quantities can be corrected. The payment amount remaining the same doesn’t automatically mean the revision was false if the contract is structured around fixed service packages or another basis I haven’t seen.”

Marek felt slightly relieved.

Then, Eren returned his attention to one of the pages.

“I’d still want to know why the same type of revision appears under different providers, especially when the quantities change after the payment has already been posted. I’d also want the original supporting records and approval trail before saying anything more.”

Marek’s relief disappeared.

“So there’s something wrong?” Irial asked.

“I said there are questions. Not necessarily bad ones.”

Irial pointed toward another section. “These services were supposed to include clinic support, medicine distribution, patient transport, and several mobile treatment programs.”

“Have you seen the facilities?”

“Some.”

“Did what you saw match these figures?”

Irial did not answer for a few seconds. “Not always.”

Marek frowned. “What do you mean?”

“One clinic was reporting service capacity far above what I saw when I visited. I wasn’t there to inspect them, so I didn’t pay much attention at first. Another provider kept reporting patient transport support through several clinics, but employees in one facility complained that transport had been unavailable for days.”

Eren shook his head. “Complaints still aren’t proof.”

Irial acknowledged that as she nodded lightly.

“Do you have service logs?”

“No.”

“Clinic records?”

“Not outside what was attached to the payment schedules.”

“Public reports?”

“Only some.”

Eren nodded while thinking.

Marek already knew what would come next. “No.”

Everyone turned toward him.

Kellan frowned. “What?”

“We’re not going to Lantern Verge,” he said and looked at Eren. “You looked like you were going to say something.”

Eren did not reply, but his face already said it all.

Kellan pointed at his own face. “How does someone look like they’re about to go to Lantern Verge or whatever?”

Silas answered from beside him. “Exactly like that.”

“Shut up.”

Marek ignored them and looked toward Eren. “You need information outside the records, right?”

“Yes.”

“And where are the clinics?”

“Lantern Verge.”

“Then, find another way.”

Eren sighed. “Newton, I’m not asking us to investigate the entire district. If she wants to know whether these service figures make sense, somebody eventually has to compare the records with what exists there.”

“Somebody, huh?”

“Yes.”

“Great. Let’s find them.”

Irial spoke before Eren could answer. “I can go.”

Marek turned toward her. “Then, why do you need us?”

“Because the last time I carried these records alone, several men tried putting me inside a vehicle.”

Fair.

Rhovan, who had been listening without interfering, finally said, “You don’t have to decide this today.”

Marek glanced toward him.

Rhovan did not have the usual grin on his face. He meant it.

For once, Marek was grateful.

He turned back toward Irial and said, “For now, Eren can review copies of whatever you already have. We document which ones he receives, nobody changes anything, and the originals stay somewhere safer. If your sister receives another threat, you tell the CMS before you tell us. We can help you find somewhere else for her to stay if she agrees.”

Irial nodded.

“We’re not confronting your employer. We’re not asking around about missing public money. We’re not accusing a contractor because several schedules look strange.”

“I understand.”

“If there’s a way to verify some of these records without putting everyone’s name into this issue, we’ll think about it.”

Marek emphasized the last part. He was only willing to think about it. That was as far as he wanted to go.

Irial seemed prepared to accept the arrangement, and Eren began asking which documents she could safely provide copies of without losing the originals. Silas started writing down the order in which the records had been handled, while Rafe checked the public information attached to several clinic names.

Marek remained seated near the end of the table.

He should have felt better after limiting what they agreed to do.

But he did not.

Someone had already tried kidnapping Irial. Whoever sent the message to her sister knew which records she copied and knew where her sister lived. That meant the people involved had access to information Marek did not understand yet, while his group knew almost nothing about them.

He had chosen Newton Machiavelli because he wanted enough distance between himself and Marek Vale to search for his father without exposing everything else attached to the name.

Now, he was sitting in a CMS building with unauthorized financial records spread across a table. ‘This is exactly the kind of thing I should stay away from.’

Irial’s communication device vibrated while Eren was asking about another payment schedule.

She stopped answering.

Marek noticed her expression change after she read the message. “What happened?”

Irial did not reply at first. She opened something on the screen, and the hand holding the device began trembling enough for Marek to notice from across the table.

Rhovan stood from his seat.

Irial turned the screen toward them. Her sister had forwarded a message from an unknown account.

There was a photograph attached to it showing the entrance of a residential building. A woman who Marek assumed was Irial’s sister stood near the doorway, carrying several bags and looking for something inside one of them.

She had no idea someone had taken the photograph from across the street.

Underneath it was one sentence.

SHE HAS UNTIL TOMORROW.