Franz noticed it during the document review. Nothing had gone wrong. He was certain of that.
He watched her turn a page. Then another.
Something was off.
The conference room remained unchanged from when the meeting started. Wall-mounted screen refreshed at steady intervals, updating the figures. Projections displayed in tabulated form. Pages shifted softly as the legal team moved through their notes along the far end of the table.
Arianne sat across from him. She had not changed position and did not look up as the discussion progressed. Her hands rested on the open folder centered in front of her, aligned with the table's edge.
He kept his eyes on his screen. But his attention was on her.
Her pace did not change. Nothing pushed back.
That was what caught him.
Normally, irregularities showed themselves—a pause where there should not be one. A line revisited, then corrected. A slight delay before a response landed.
