<h4>Chapter 117: Damning evidence...</h4>


    <strong>Rhett</strong>


    The three of us stood in Headmistress Vale’s office, staring at theputer screen in stunned silence as the security footage yed.


    Headmistress Vale dimmed the lights and hit y.


    The screen on her wall came to life. A wide, fisheye view of the deserted ssroom corridor from nearly three weeks ago, panned across the screen. It was the day we had sent all the students back to their dorm rooms because of the snow rogue’s threat.


    There was no denying what we were seeing; the person in the footage was clearly Charis moving through the corridors.


    The timestamp showed that she arrived at her ssroom around 19:22. First, she scanned the empty hallway, palmed her ess card, and the ssroom lock shed green.


    Once she was inside, the camera angle switched to the room feed: she went straight to her desk, opened her school bag, and rifled through it, retrieving something. She closed the bag, checked the wall clock and left.


    In the next clip, the time was 19:31, and this time around, she was standing in front of theputerb. First, I wanted to mention how it was unlikely for anyone to move from the ssroom area to theb in nine minutes, but I kept my cool.


    Any information that may prove Charis’s innocence shouldn’t be shared carelessly.


    She essed theputerb, repeating the same process she had used in her ssroom. She walked in, passed the first row of terminals and went to thest machine by the window.


    We watched as she sat and used theputer. She muttered to herself as her hands flew over the keyboard, a habit I have never noticed. At 19:41, she rose to her feet, looked around once and left. Then the footage ended.


    Vale clicked off the video and turned the lights back on.


    Her gaze met ours coolly.


    "There’s no doubt that’s him," she said quietly. "I know Eamon is your friend, and you always want to protect him, but this is pure evidence. You can see for yourself. He essed his ssroom and used theputer."


    Everything Vale said was the truth. The evidence they had on her was enough to expel her, and after she’s expelled, she’d be handed over to the Civil court for trial.


    But before that, she’d be indicted for impersonation and by the time all of this is over, given that she’s an adult already, we might be talking a minimum of ten years in jail.


    Something about the whole situation felt wrong. A part of my mind kept insisting that Charis wasn’t capable of pulling this sort of thing, but I couldn’t ignore that she’d also hidden her true identity for more than two months.


    I closed my eyes, trying desperately to recall what had happened that day.


    "Wait!" I said suddenly. "That was the day I resumed school, and we were in the ref when the lockdown started. The student council came in to inform all the students to return to their hostel. You remember right?" I turned to ter and Kael.


    They nodded in agreement.


    "After all the students left, Eamon lingered for a bit because Marcus was talking to him. After that, I’m sure he went to my room and stayed there until nighttime. Because that’s where we met him. We had a couple of long meetings and finished at nearly midnight. I’m not trying to say he’s perfect, but Eamon is my brother, and he won’t do this. He can’t."


    "Well, the videos don’t lie," Vale shrugged dismissively, pulling out a stack of printed papers. "And neither do these."


    She slid three sheets across her desk towards us. "There are also printed logs of search histories and timestamps showing browsing activities that came from Eamon’sputer session, but we would present that during the hearing. What interested me most is this."


    She nodded at the three sheets on her desk.


    ter reached for one of the sheets. Kael hadn’t said a word since we came in. His hands were buried in his coat pockets. I took the two sheets and tried to read them.


    <strong>User: riggs.eamon</strong><strong>Station: LAB-1C-27</strong><strong>Login: 19:32</strong><strong>Logout: 19:41</strong>


    Query history:


    Faculty Directory (cached)


    Enrollment Roster – Year One (restricted)


    Student Services Portal (admin)


    Printer Queue b)


    Export: CSV (students, Y1)


    The time stamps matched the footage. Everything was too goddamn neat as if it were a crimemitted by a professional rather than Charis.


    "These show someone essing the student database, downloading personal information, and uploading it to an external server," Vale exined with relish. "All during the timeframe when Mr. Riggs was supposedly in his brother’s room."


    "He doesn’t have admin rights," I insisted. "No first-year does. Not even a ss Alpha."


    Vale’s mouth curved into a smirk. "You’re right. Which is why this is so interesting." She tapped a line lower on the page. "Temporary elevation, and it happened within three minutes. Exactly the window used to view and export."


    "Then who approved it?" Kael asked tly.


    "Auto-approval by a staff token cached from thest session on the machine," Vale replied. "A token that should never have been there in the first ce. Let’s say it was maybe from a distracted technician who left theb while still logged into an admin ovey. Or, possibly..." Vale paused and opened her hands. "Someone very clever who nted a ghost token to be usedter."


    "And how do you know all of these?" ter asked. "You’ve got to beputer literate to..."


    "I asked theputer literates," she didn’t allow ter to finish, "Of course, they told me, and I’m only reciting word for word everything they said."


    "This is impossible," Kael said, shaking his head. "Eamon wouldn’t do this."


    "The evidence suggests otherwise," Vale replied coldly. "She essed the ssroom to pick up the ess card in her bag, then went to theb, opened a restricted portal and uploaded the entire year one data on the inte."


    "I’m telling you, Eamon cannot do this," ter said with a sigh. "He’s not dull or stupid, but the expertise... c’mon... he’s incapable of doing it."


    "Evidence can be fabricated," I countered, adding to ter’s argument. "Anyone with administrative ess could have nted this information."


    "Someone could have worn his shape on camera. This could also be an illusion or even patched footage. Why would he want to sell students’ information? Does it make sense to you, ma?" ter asked.


    "But theb’s fingerprint reader registered his palm vein pattern when he logged in, and it says it’s him. What other proof do you want?" Vale asked.


    "He didn’t do it," Kael shook his head again. "He would never."


    "Are you suggesting I’m framing an innocent student?" Vale asked with raised eyebrows.


    "I’m suggesting that someone is," I said firmly. "And until we know who really did this, you can’t just assume Eamon is guilty."


    "The inquiry board will determine his guilt or innocence," Vale said with finality.


    My blood ran cold at the mention of the inquiry board. Those proceedings were notoriously thorough. They would investigate every aspect of Charis’s background, conduct medical examinations, and verify her identity documents. If she faced an inquiry board, her true identity would be discovered within hours.


    "What happens next?" I asked quietly, though I dreaded the answer.


    "Standard protocol. He’ll face an inquiry board next week to determine the appropriate punishment. But until then, he’ll remain in detention."


    "A full week?" ter protested. "That’s too much for someone who hasn’t been proven guilty of anything."


    "It’s necessary to prevent any potential flight risk or evidence tampering," Vale replied smoothly.


    I felt panic rising in my chest. A week in detention followed by an inquiry board would destroy everything. Not only would they discover Charis’s true identity, but they might also uncover the mate bond and everything else we’d been hiding.


    "You cannot keep her in detention, Headmistress Vale. I’m exercising my authority as a sitting member of the Academy’s board," I said, meeting Vale’s eyes. "Section Seven, Subuse (d) says: a board scion may request provisional release of a student into monitored custody if the student’s presence is deemed necessary for ongoing safety considerations. I’m asking for his release."


    "Nicely quoted, Alpha Thatcher," Vale nodded with a quirky smile on her lips. "And as you know, the same use requires a 24-hour holding window for questioning and preservation of evidence. What the interrogation team gets from him would determine if he’ll be released or not."


    My heart sank. She had anticipated this move and was prepared for it.


    "Furthermore," Vale continued, "given the serious nature of these charges, I’ll be rmending to the board that we conduct a full background verification on Mr. Riggs. His enrollment documents may contain discrepancies that need to be investigated."


    That was a threat.


    She wasn’t just going after Charis for the alleged data theft; she was nning to expose everything.


    "I think we’re done here," Vale said, gathering up the evidence. "Boys, I have work to do. I can allow you to visit your friend tomorrow. So, until then, you’re dismissed."