Story code: ST-001373
Part 2: The Live Ledger
Officer Miller pulled Clara’s cracked phone closer, looking down at the illuminated ledger on the screen. The digital log showed a series of active uploads and downloads under a folder path labeled `/Shared/Family/Archive/`. The timestamp next to the most recent synchronization matched the exact minute Julian and Sarah had walked into the precinct lobby with Clara.
Julian did not look at the phone. He adjusted the collar of his wool coat, his smile remaining fixed, though his fingers tapped a quick rhythm against his thigh. “Officer, this is exactly what I mean. Clara still has access to our old shared cloud directory. She must have uploaded those files herself from her own device to frame me. She’s desperate for attention.”
Sarah nodded quickly, her voice rising slightly in the quiet lobby. “That makes total sense. Clara, how could you do this? You’re trying to set him up. Officer, my sister has always been vindictive when she doesn’t get her way. She probably configured this entire backup sync weeks ago just to drag us down here tonight and make a scene.”
Clara remained silent, her eyes locked on Julian’s face. She did not defend herself against her sister’s accusation, nor did she argue with Julian’s claim. Instead, she reached under the glass partition and tapped the screen of her phone, opening a secondary tab that displayed the connection details.
“The IP address registered to the upload session isn’t mine,” Clara said, her voice flat. “It belongs to the cellular network connection of the phone currently sitting on your desk, Julian.”
Julian’s posture stiffened. He did not reach for his phone, which lay silent on the metal counter. “That’s impossible. Anyone can spoof an IP address. You’re using some kind of app to make it look like it’s coming from my device.”
Sarah looked between Julian and Clara, her brow furrowed. “Julian is right, Clara. You’re good with technology. You’re manipulating this. Officer, surely you can see what she’s doing. She’s trying to ruin his life.”
Officer Miller did not write anything on the clipboard. The officer looked at Julian’s phone, then back to the ledger on Clara’s screen. The data packets were still transferring, showing a steady stream of megabytes moving from the newer model device to the cloud directory.
“If the files are deleted on your device, Mr. Drake,” Officer Miller said, the silver pen pointing toward Julian’s phone, “then there should be no data transferring from your active connection to this specific directory. Yet, the ledger shows a live connection.”
Julian’s eyes darted toward the exit door of the lobby, then back to the glass partition. “I don’t know what that is. It must be an automatic glitch. A background process from months ago that I forgot about.”
“An automatic glitch doesn’t upload newly compressed zip files containing today’s date,” Clara said. She pointed to the file name appearing at the bottom of the ledger: `CV_Private_Update_Today.zip`. “If you didn’t do it, Julian, then who is compressing my private photos right now?”