Someone had gone into the root file of the RS7's original design documentation and changed the creation date. Not the content, not the engineering, just the date and the author field. Where Daniel's name had been in the original metadata, there was now a different name. Richard Cole Patterson said very quietly. He didn't just take credit for the project in meetings.
He rewrote the record. Daniel closed his eyes for exactly two seconds. Then he opened them. Then he saved the file as evidence, copied it to a separate secure folder, and moved to the next item on the list. "Keep going," he said.
"Daniel," Patterson's voice had a different quality. "Now this is not just internal politics. This is what he did to these files. That's fraud. That's potentially criminal fraud.
I know what it is," Daniel said. He kept his eyes on the screen. I've known what it was for 3 years. The difference is that now there's a room full of witnesses and a diagnostic log that can't be edited retroactively. He scrolled to the next file.
So, let's make sure we find everything before someone decides to start cleaning up. At 11:52, Daniel stood up from the console, walked across the testing floor to where Victoria was sitting, and handed her a printed summary. Four pages printed from Patterson's laptop. Each page representing one category of modification. He stood in front of her and waited while she read.
She read fast. She'd always read fast. It was one of the things her staff knew about her and respected. She turned each page without looking up. And when she reached the last one, she went back and reread the third.
Then she set the papers down on her knee and looked up at Daniel. The creation date on the original design file. She said, "Yes, he changed the author field." Yes. How long have you known? Daniel looked at her steadily.
I discovered the metadata change about 8 months ago. I added it to my 14th report. Victoria picked up the papers again. She found the summary table on page two. She found the line item referencing the metadata modification.
It was there documented, timestamped, reported in a report that had been received, logged, and ignored. She set the papers down again. I want you to know something, she said. Her voice was careful. The voice of a woman choosing words with precision because imprecision right now would be its own kind of dishonesty.