Chapter 7 - THE MARK THAT COULD BE COPIED
Daniel designed the provenance mark to be placed below a diamond’s surface using a sequence of laser pulses unique to Aurelia equipment. Customers could scan the invisible pattern and retrieve the stone’s mine, cutter, and chain of custody.
The synthetic diamond carried a perfect mark linked to a real Canadian stone still set in another necklace.
The same identity existed twice.
Jonah’s package contained laboratory logs showing hundreds of duplicate marks created during night shifts. Access required two credentials. One belonged to Jonah. The other belonged to Daniel.
Again, Daniel’s dormant identity appeared at the center.
Cybersecurity investigators discovered his credential had not been stolen through a password. A physical master token generated the approvals. Only three existed: Daniel kept one in a bank vault, Maren held one for legal emergencies, and Harrison controlled one for the company.
Daniel’s bank token remained sealed.
Maren reported hers missing after Elise’s funeral.
Harrison’s still sat in his office safe.
The safe log showed it opened repeatedly at night using Cassandra’s fingerprint.
Cassandra said her father authorized procurement access. Harrison admitted he had.
“You gave her a founder-level token?” Daniel asked.
“Only for emergencies.”
“You gave emergency power to someone whose work you supervised and whose mistakes you were least likely to report.”
Harrison had no defense.
Cassandra insisted she used the token only to release stones delayed by customs. Jonah’s logs showed duplicate markings on those same nights.
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Prosecutors searched her apartment and found no money or hidden gems. They did find a photograph of Cassandra and Jonah together at a coastal hotel, taken a month before Elise’s crash.
Cassandra had told investigators she barely knew him.
