JASON
By the time I left my father-in-law's quarters, I felt... lighter.
Not because any of my problems had been solved.
They hadn't.
The missing shipments were still missing.
The warehouse was still in ruins.
The investigation had only grown more complicated after the discovery of the murdered guard.
Nothing had changed.
And yet...
Something inside me had.
Perhaps I had simply needed someone to remind me that I didn't have to solve everything all at once.
His advice had been simple.
Focus on one thread.
If everything truly stemmed from the same source, unraveling one mystery would eventually unravel the rest.
The thought gave me something I hadn't had all day.
Direction.
Normally, at this hour, I would have returned to my chambers.
Instead...
I slowed to a stop at the in
