Merret remained silent for several moments.
His gaze drifted back to the records, but Dalkara could tell he was no longer reading individual entries. He was looking at them the same way she had an hour earlier, searching for a flaw that would make the pattern disappear.
There wasn't one.
"So," he finally said, "where does Thrane fit into all this?"
Dalkara returned to her chair.
"He doesn't."
Merret looked confused.
"He isn't the beginning," she clarified. "He's the face everyone sees. Maybe he's been the face for most of his career. But this network existed before him."
She tapped the oldest ledger.
"Twenty-six years of records. Multiple ports. Multiple transit houses. Four different jurisdictions. Hundreds of workers cycling in and out over the years."
She shook her head.
"No one person maintains that kind of operational discipline alone."
"Which means?"
"Which means someone built the system before Thrane became part of it."
