The investigation stopped being predictable the moment investigators discovered the gaps.
At first, the missing records looked like ordinary administrative errors; files disappeared in large organisations all the time, documents were archived incorrectly, systems were upgraded, databases were migrated, and human error explained more problems than most people wanted to admit. That explanation lasted less than forty-eight hours.
By the third day, investigators identified a pattern: the missing records were not random, specific transactions had disappeared, specific communications had vanished, and specific approval chains no longer existed. The missing records indicated a clear pattern; someone had deliberately removed specific information.
