Chapter 5 - The Sister's Confession
Before I could digest the discovery, the conference room door opened, and an agent poked his head in.
"Agent Lin, Marin Mercer just arrived in the lobby with her defense team. She’s demanding to speak with the lead investigator before her husband’s arraignment."
Lin looked at me. "Do you want to step out?"
"No," I said, my voice cold and focused. "I want to be in the observation room behind the two-way glass."
Three minutes later, Marin walked into the interrogation room.
She looked completely different from the glamorous woman in the silk dress at the gala. She wore a rumpled coat, her eyes were red and swollen from crying, and her designer handbag was clutched tightly in her lap like a shield. She was accompanied by a senior partner from a top Norfolk defense firm.
Agent Lin sat down across from her, placing the forged safety document face-up on the table.
"Mrs. Mercer," Lin began calmly. "We were about to call you in regarding your role as Vice President of Operations at Mercer Defense."
Marin’s lawyer immediately raised a hand. "My client is here merely as a family member attempting to facilitate full cooperation. She had no direct knowledge of engineering specifications."
Lin slid the paper closer to Marin. "Then perhaps you can explain why your signature is on this quality assurance seal for the Gettysburg batch?"
Marin stared at the paper. Her breath hitched.
"Greg told me it was just a paperwork delay!" Marin blurted out, ignoring her lawyer’s subtle nudge to remain silent. "He said the military specifications were unnecessarily strict! He told me the commercial seals met basic safety guidelines and that if we waited for the titanium shipment from Germany, the company would go bankrupt!"
"Your husband lied to you, Mrs. Mercer," Lin stated coldly. "And by signing that document, you authorized the installation of sub-standard seals on a guided-missile cruiser. A cruiser that suffered a catastrophic bulkhead failure six months later."
"It wasn't my fault!" Marin shouted, her voice rising in panic. "We needed the contract money! Dad was pushing us to expand the business! He kept telling Greg that if we didn't show a twenty-percent growth every year, we weren't real entrepreneurs!"
Behind the two-way mirror, I felt a sharp pang in my chest.
Our father's toxic demand for constant achievement hadn't just broken me—it had pushed Marin into committing a federal felony just to keep his approval.
"Do you know who was below deck when those brass seals melted, Marin?" Agent Lin asked softly.
Marin put her hands over her face, sobbing hysterically. "I didn't know Maya was on that ship! I swear I didn't know she was assigned to the Gettysburg!"
"So if it had been someone else's sister, someone else's child, it would have been acceptable?" Lin pressed mercilessly.
May you like
Marin had no answer. She collapsed into her hands, her shoulders shaking violently as her lawyer finally instructed her to remain silent.
In the dark observation room, I leaned my head against the cold glass. The truth was finally out, but the victory tasted like ash.
