“Anyone know your access code?”
“No.”
“Anyone handle your wallet recently?”
Jordan hesitated.
The investigator caught it. “Who?”
“Sergeant Pierce.”
“Full name.”
“Staff Sergeant Nolan Pierce. Two days ago. We were checking issue cards. My wallet fell out when I moved a crate. He picked it up.”
“How long did he have it?”
“Seconds.”
“Was your card visible?”
Jordan pictured the moment. Pierce had joked about Jordan carrying too many receipts. He had flipped the wallet once before handing it back.
“Yes.”
The investigator wrote it down without changing expression.
“Pierce on the patch roster?” Jordan asked.
No answer.
He did not need one.
Later, Harlan was brought back into the room. He looked exhausted.
“Pierce was on the team,” he said before Jordan could ask.
The investigator shot him a warning look.
Harlan ignored it. “He also helped install the temporary card reader during the exercise.”
Jordan stared at him.
The room went very still.
The investigator asked Harlan to explain.
During the readiness exercise, the supply cage had used a portable reader because the main system was being updated. Pierce had assisted the civilian technician who configured it. Harlan had assumed the temporary equipment had been cleared afterward.
“Apparently,” he said, “one encoder stayed in the team locker three days longer than it should have.”
“Could it duplicate a card?”
The investigator did not answer directly. “We’re determining that.”
Jordan understood enough. His physical access card did not have to leave his wallet overnight if someone had copied its credential earlier.
The accusation that had felt impossible now had a shape.
