The exchange happened quickly. Hammond moved near a side table, the other man joined him, and the marked file changed hands in a gesture disguised as an ordinary transfer of conference material. The hidden cameras captured it clearly.
Evelyn felt a shiver move through her. The entire plan had been theoretical until that instant. Now the betrayal existed in the physical world.
Minutes later, federal agents entered the reception area. The shift was sudden but controlled. Hammond was detained before he could leave, and the marked material was recovered.
Evelyn remained above, watching the scene unfold. She did not feel triumph. She felt the strange weight of understanding that a chain of events had begun because she noticed a pattern in access logs while helping with a climate model.
That evening, Linda and Evelyn were escorted to a secure room inside the university’s research building. A senior federal agent met them there. He was an older man with graying hair, tired eyes, and the restrained manner of someone accustomed to carrying information that could not be discussed casually.
“First,” he said, “thank you. Without the work you did, we would not have had enough to catch Hammond during the transfer.”
Linda leaned forward. “So he was part of a larger network?”
“Yes.”
The answer was immediate.
The agent explained that Hammond had not simply been stealing research for personal profit. He had been acting as an intermediary, quietly moving specialized technical information toward outside buyers. The exact scope was still being investigated.
Then his expression grew more serious. “There is another issue you both need to understand.”
He opened a folder. “We reviewed the stolen research, including portions of the mathematical work you have been developing. Some of the same atmospheric-flow methods have dual-use implications.”
Linda frowned. “Dual-use how?”
The agent chose his words carefully. “Methods built to model how gases move through complex environments can sometimes be misused. Research designed for environmental analysis can be adapted by people seeking to understand harmful dispersal patterns.”
The room became still.
Evelyn’s face changed. “You’re saying my work could be used to hurt people.”
“It could be twisted in directions you never intended,” the agent said. “That does not make the research wrong. It means the safeguards around it matter.”