“The police had no trouble identifying Gareth’s car outside my home.”

“A minor trespass,” Eleanor replied, her voice remaining level.

“My lawyers will have that thrown out by tomorrow morning.”

“He is confessing to bank fraud, Eleanor. He is talking about Panama.”

There was a brief pause on the line.

The only sound was the faint hum of the air conditioning unit above my head.

“Gareth does not understand the transactions,” Eleanor said, her tone hardening slightly.

“He signs what he is told to sign.”

“He seems to think you made him do it.”

“What Gareth thinks is irrelevant,” she said.

“We both know what really matters here.”

I leaned against the cold concrete wall of the observation room.

“The flash drive,” I said.

“You are a smart woman, Madeline,” Eleanor said.

“A retired auditor. You know exactly how much that data is worth to the state.”

She paused, letting the silence hang between us.

“And you know what it will cost you if you try to use it,” she added.

“Is that a threat?”

“It is a statement of reality,” Eleanor said.