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bind his wound since no blood trail led from the cell.”
    The tapping of fingers on screens filled the silence.
    “Directly before the power blackout, we believe Agent Montgomery deduced the prisoner had succeeded in smuggling an unknown item into her cell, concealed in her heavy hair braid. It did not set off metal detectors and passed a hand inspection pat down. Yet, it showed up on the MRI reading. He headed for the elevator before the alarms went off.”
    “Isn’t it more likely that Agent Montgomery colluded with the prisoner to facilitate her escape, disabling the security system from within?”
    She glared at the weasel-faced civilian consultant.
    “No, it is not.” She calmly collected her tablet. “Now, if there is nothing further, I have an investigation to continue.”
    “Actually, I do have something to contribute.” Weasel stood and nodded to the table. “For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Alfred Hammer, head of Hammer Industry. I do computer security for HRSD and developed the safeguards that keep our systems free of interference. After this incident occurred, I ordered a complete sweep of the system and found a parasite bug. It superseded normal paths and substituted results.”
    “Why wasn’t I informed of this?” Hermione let the papers drop back to the podium.
    “Security deemed it a need to know situation until we’d uncovered who planted the program.” He clicked a remote and a photograph of the prisoner was displayed. “Through no fault of this investigator, she is hampered by false information. This woman is actually Hadasa Jefla, a native of Syria and a known terrorist. She only recently came to our attention.”
    Hermione listened with a growing coldness spreading down her spine. The rodent lied. She’d learned to trust her instincts, despite all the evidence he brought forth, she didn’t buy it. She’d watched the interrogation of the rescued woman and no bloody way did she come from Syria.
    Then he said that the tracing of who planted the bug came back to Samwise Montgomery. If looks could kill, the man speaking would have dropped dead. She reined in her temper, embracing the flood of cool, calm, control.
    Alfred Hammer faked all of it. Hermione didn’t know why, but she would find out.
    “So, as you see. It’s obvious that Agent Montgomery worked in collusion with this agent. We believe a new type of electronic pulse was used to shut down the facility, as well as render the people on watch unconscious.”
    “And the blood?” She asked, amazed at how even her voice sounded.
    “Planted to leave the impression that he’d been injured. This way when he reappeared he’d be accepted back into the department and continue as an inside agent.”
    The matron peered with curiosity at Hammer.  “Why would the false DNA record trace back to a long dead writer of romance novels, of all people?”
    “I have no idea. Perhaps to broaden the mystery?” He shrugged. “Any living person would have been easy to trace.”
    “Actually, it would have been simpler to replace the record of a woman who fit the description and didn’t create so much suspicion. It’s just a coincidence that this woman is a visual match to the author?”
    Hermione watched the back and forth with fascination.
    “She doesn’t resemble the dead author that closely. Those records were altered.” He again used the keyboard to change the display. This time the author pictures had been altered.
    Ha, got you! Hermione had found and bought several of the still existing paperbacks. They’d been pricey, being so rare. But the photo in the back of the books did not match the one Hammer claimed as the author. He could change the computer images, he couldn’t change the paper.
    A cover-up. His entire presentation meant nothing. Other than that the man had contacts she couldn’t touch at present. She’d pull back and find a way around all of this. She knew the team and they’d stick with her.
    She fiddled