Story code: ST-001222
Part 2: The Digital Trail
A heavy silence fell over the studio floor. The hum of the cooling fans on the heavy studio lights suddenly sounded incredibly loud. ‘That’s impossible,’ I said, my voice steady but cold. ‘My backup card is in the drawer of my nightstand. No one has access to my apartment.’ ‘Well, someone does,’ Sarah said, her eyes narrowing as she looked at the tablet screen. ‘A cloned digital keycard acts exactly like the original. If your backup card was cloned, someone had physical contact with it.’ I looked at Avery. Her posture was rigid, her hands clasped tightly in front of her. ‘I don’t know why everyone is looking at me,’ she said, her voice rising. ‘I don’t live with you, Chloe. I haven’t even been to your apartment in weeks. And like I said, I’ve been sitting right here by the monitor setup chatting with the lighting tech.’ The lighting technician, a young guy named Leo, shifted his weight and looked down at his clipboard. ‘Actually, you stepped away for about ten minutes right before Marcus called the break,’ Leo said quietly. ‘You said you were going to the restroom.’ ‘The restrooms are in the opposite direction of the dressing rooms,’ Avery shot back, her tone sharp. She pointed toward the public lobby. ‘I went out front. You can check the lobby cameras if you want. I was nowhere near the private corridor. This is ridiculous. You’re accusing me of stealing because we both do social media?’ Sarah didn’t look convinced. ‘If a clone of Chloe’s card was used, this isn’t a random break-in. It’s targeted. We need to find out who had access to that card.’ I remembered the cab ride we shared three days ago. I had opened my purse to pay, and my keyring-which held my apartment key and the backup card-had slipped out onto the seat. Avery had picked it up and handed it back to me. She had held it for a full minute while I searched for my wallet. It was a small window of time, but with a handheld digital cloner, it was more than enough. ‘Avery,’ I said, ‘did you touch my keys when we were in the taxi on Tuesday?’ Avery laughed, a forced, defensive sound. ‘Are you serious? I handed you your keys because you dropped them. Now you’re accusing me of copying your security cards? I am your family, Chloe. I’ve supported your career from day one, even when you started getting these massive deals and forgot where you came from.’ Several crew members looked away, uncomfortable with the family drama unfolding in the middle of a commercial shoot. But Marcus wasn’t interested in family loyalty; he was interested in his timeline. ‘We have security footage of the lobby,’ Marcus said, tapping his tablet again. ‘But we also have the live security feed from the corridor itself. Let’s see who scanned the cloned card at your door.’