Chapter 7 - The Flaw in the Manifest
By three o’clock the next morning, the library at the Lake Forest estate had been turned into a command post. Stacks of physical accounting ledgers covered the long tables, alongside open laptops and secure drives.
Elena sat in her usual chair, reviewing documents with a magnifying glass, while Sarah Vance and two forensic auditors cross-referenced digital transfers. Isabella sat near the fire, scanning digitized shipping receipts from the Ligurian port records.
“Look at this,” Isabella said suddenly, holding up her tablet.
Matteo walked over immediately, leaning over her chair. “What did you find?”
“The altered files Julian gave to the regulators show a major shipment leaving Dock 4 in Genoa on August 12th, 2022,” Isabella pointed to the entry. “Marked with your digital authorization.”
“That’s the core entry in their claim,” Sarah noted from across the room.
“Except Dock 4 in Genoa wasn't open in August 2022,” Isabella said, looking up at Matteo. “My grandfather took me to the Genoa yards every summer when I was young. Dock 4 had a structural crane failure in July of that year and was closed for repairs for six months.”
The room went completely silent.
Sarah stood up from her chair. “Are you certain?”
“Check the municipal port records for Liguria,” Isabella suggested. “The dock wasn't operational on that date. Whoever forged the digital manifest used an old template and forgot to check the actual port logs.”
Matteo looked at Isabella, a quiet awe washing over him. He took her hand, pressing a brief kiss to her knuckles. “That’s the opening we needed.”
Elena let out a short laugh from her chair, tapping her cane against the floor. “A Carter helping us untangle a mess again. Excellent.”
Sarah was already typing rapidly on her laptop. “If Dock 4 was out of service, the manifest is a physical impossibility. The entire document set falls apart.”
“Not yet,” Matteo cautioned, his tactical instincts taking over. “If we release this now, Julian and Vance will claim it was a clerical error and alter their filing. We let them present the forged documents at the public shareholder meeting tomorrow. We let them commit to the record.”
He turned to Sarah. “Contact the Chief Inspector of the Ligurian Maritime Authority. Get a certified, notarized statement delivered by morning.”
“On it,” Sarah said, moving toward the hallway with renewed focus.
Left near the fireplace, Matteo looked down at Isabella. “You just changed the entire direction of this battle.”
May you like
“I just remembered an old detail,” she smiled, stepping closer. “Though I think you look better as a strategist than a stressed executive.”
“After tomorrow,” Matteo murmured, pulling her close, “I’ll be whatever you need me to be.”
