he could offer more than advice. He had no authority over scheduling, salaries, or leave requests, but he could carry a heavy bag, repair a broken light, or notice when a person needed to speak without being interrupted. Sometimes those small things felt painfully insufficient.
At 9:05, he reached the executive corridor, checked the electronic authorization, and found the door stuck against its frame. The latch had begun catching a little higher than it should, so the motor pulled without fully securing the bolt. Daniel inspected it carefully, then placed a temporary sign on the hallway side warning employees that the door was under maintenance. He left the area accessible from the approved service entrance and called security again to confirm that work was in progress. The guard acknowledged his call and updated the log.
The repair required removing a small metal plate, realigning the spring, and testing the closing mechanism repeatedly. Daniel worked without rushing, remembering that a door connected to an evacuation route had to remain safe even when the electronic system malfunctioned. He finished the temporary repair at 9:43 and documented the result, including the need for the correct replacement part when it arrived. The access system registered several openings during his tests. On Martin Kessler's dashboard, however, the entries appeared as repeated security exceptions because the maintenance authorization had not fully synchronized with the security alert.
Martin saw the dashboard warning and called Claire, who was standing near Victoria's office with a folder of signed contracts. "Someone's been entering that corridor repeatedly," he said. "Maintenance, maybe, but I haven't seen clearance from my office." Claire looked at the paperwork in her hand.
"I requested the repair. Daniel Carter was assigned." Martin frowned. "Then why wasn't I told the original alert had been closed?" Before Claire could answer, he said he would locate Daniel and inform Victoria that the investigation remained open.