The photograph appeared on a Tuesday morning at seven forty-two.
Damian saw it because Sandra sent it.
No message attached. Just the image file, forwarded directly to his phone at seven forty-one, which meant Sandra had seen it first and her immediate instinct had been to make sure Damian received it from her before he stumbled across it somewhere else. Before a customer mentioned it. Before Lena texted with a link. Before the ordinary Tuesday morning became something else through a source he hadn't prepared for.
She was like that.
He'd noticed it across the months of working together — the specific way Sandra managed information. Not controlling it. Ensuring it arrived in the right order, to the right person, with the right amount of time to process it before it required a response.
He opened it at the kitchen table with the first cup of coffee still warm in his hand.
He looked at the image for a long time.
