The inquiry’s phone record arrived in a sealed envelope addressed to Nora. She opened it at the clinic table while Sera waited with the original message reference.
“The prepaid phone was associated with a contractor account,” Nora said. “The account belongs to Central Shield Facilities.”
Eli leaned forward. “The contractor Rook removed.”
“Yes. The record links the phone to the account. It doesn’t identify who used it to send the tip.”
The phone had been purchased with a group of devices for field work. The contractor’s inventory listed it under a general equipment pool, not a named employee. The message had passed through the public contact service at the time Sera had recorded. The inquiry had not yet obtained a complete assignment history for the device.
“They planted the accusation,” Eli said.
“They may have,” Tessa replied. “The phone connection is a fact. The sender and the instruction are still questions.”
“Vela was inside a sealed gate. Someone named her anyway.”
