Part 5
Priya held up one finger, signaling me not to interrupt.
“Why?”
Evelyn asked.
“I need to understand what happened.”
“So do I.”
“You registered it?”
“Yes.”
“For what purpose?”
“Training.”
I frowned.
“What kind?”
“Cybersecurity simulations.”
Margaret began typing rapidly.
Evelyn continued.
“About four years ago, IT ran phishing tests using look-alike domains. We registered several.”
That was plausible.
Disturbingly plausible.
“Who controlled the domain afterward?”
“IT security.”
“Which person?”
“Originally?”
“Yes.”
“Gavin Price.”
I knew the name.
Former director of information security.
He had left the company two years earlier.
“Could emails be sent from it?”
“During simulations, yes.”
“Could someone have sent an email that looked like it came from my office?”
Another silence.
“Yes.”
“Without your knowledge?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know Joanne received one?”
“No.”
This time, I believed the surprise in her voice.
Priya messaged me privately.
Ask who had admin credentials.
I did.
“Gavin did. Nathan requested temporary access once for a phishing exercise involving procurement.”
“When?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Could you find out?”
“I can check my archive.”
“Don’t.”
She went quiet.
“Mason?”
“We’re reviewing it centrally.”
Now concern entered her voice.
“What happened?”
I looked at Joanne’s letter.
“Someone responded to Joanne Parker pretending to be me.”
Evelyn did not speak.
Then she said something I did not expect.
“Oh, God.”
Not theatrical.
Barely audible.
“You didn’t send it?”
“No.”
“You didn’t know?”
“No.”
A long breath.
“I should have followed up.”
“Why?”
“Because she wrote again.”
I froze.
“When?”
“A few weeks later.”
Margaret stopped typing.
“What did the second message say?”
“I don’t remember exactly.”
“Where is it?”
“I archived it.”
“Did you forward that one?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Evelyn’s voice was quiet.
“Because Nathan told me the first complaint had been investigated and found unsubstantiated.”
“So you closed the second one yourself.”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell me?”
“No.”
There it was.
Not the conspiracy I had imagined during the night.
May you like
Something more ordinary.
And in some ways more troubling.
