File:: Malion_ivory_p_i.002.rar ...

Ivory stood, his hand drifting to the holster beneath his coat. He walked to the wall and tapped the plaster. It sounded hollow. He used a heavy letter opener to pry away a strip of molding, revealing a silver-cased recording device that had clearly been there for years.

As the realization hit him—that his entire career had been a staged performance for an unknown audience—his monitors flickered. A third file began to download automatically: Malion_Ivory_P_I.003.rar . File: Malion_Ivory_P_I.002.rar ...

The notification sat on Detective Malion Ivory’s screen like a digital ghost: File: Malion_Ivory_P_I.002.rar . Ivory stood, his hand drifting to the holster

Ivory, a private investigator known for finding things that didn't want to be found in the neon-slicked alleys of New London, didn't recognize the sender. The file size was tiny—too small for video, just enough for a few documents or a single, high-resolution audio clip. He used a heavy letter opener to pry