Pierce’s face went pale.

He grabbed his phone, dialing a number rapidly before pressing it to his ear.

“This is Pierce,” he said when the call connected. “Did you get the digital ledger from the Aspen Land Rover dealership?”

He listened, his eyes locked on Claire’s journal.

“Yes,” Pierce said, his voice dropping an octave. “Check the cancellation signature on the fourteenth. It should be under the name Arthur Vance, or signed with his corporate credential.”

The room was silent except for the faint hum of the security monitors and the howling wind outside.

“We have it,” Pierce said into the phone. “The victim recorded the entire sequence in her personal journal. The digital signature on the cancellation matches the IP address of Vance’s personal tablet.”

He paused, listening to the person on the other end.

“I don’t care,” Pierce snapped. “Call the judge back. Tell him we are upgrading the charge from reckless endangerment to first-degree homicide. We have premeditation. We have physical tampering recorded by the victim.”

He hung up the phone and threw it onto the desk.