The digital examiner recovered metadata from Arthur’s laptop.
The forensic accountant reconstructed the vendor payments.
One workstation repeatedly appeared in the logs.
It belonged to Travis.
Even more important, the examiner found evidence that a saved
authentication token connected to Mason’s company credentials had been
copied to another machine before Mason’s arrest.
After Mason entered prison, those credentials continued to appear in
payment activity.
The transactions were not random.
Several moved through shell vendors.
One trail ended with payments toward gambling debts associated with
Travis.
Another trail led to a consulting company tied to Reed Industrial
Supply’s former controller.
Mason stared at the report for nearly an hour.
Three years.
Three birthdays.
Three Christmas mornings.
His father’s final illness.
His father’s death.
All of it had passed while Mason carried the label thief.
Naomi placed the report between them.
“This is enough to reopen questions.”
