Index Of Line Of Duty -

Row one: CASE REF: LOD-001. SUBJECT: DCI James Mercer (West Midlands). ACTION TAKEN: Cash payment of £12k from OCG ledger. OUTCOME: Subject promoted to Superintendent. Closed – no further action.

She called her only reliable contact—DS Marcus Webb, a grumpy but clean tech analyst. He met her in an all-night diner, reading the PDF over her shoulder.

“Guv,” she said, breath fogging in the alley. “It’s Rainer. Carl’s dead. I’ve got the index. And I’ve got the passphrase.”

H + Ted = Hastings.

“H,” Marcus whispered. “Oh, God. He found the H.”

She looked up. Across the diner, a man in a black coat was rising from his booth, hand moving toward his jacket. Marcus saw it too.

She had one advantage: Carl had hidden the passphrase to Server 4 in plain sight. The “H” stood for Hastings—her old guv’nor, retired. The redacted word? Ted . Ted Hastings. Because Carl knew the only clean copper left was the one they’d forced out. Index Of Line Of Duty

Marcus scrolled. Row thirty-two: LOD-032. SUBJECT: Unnamed. ACTION TAKEN: Authorised OCG infiltration of AC-12 itself. OUTCOME: Four AC-12 officers dead in 18 months. Payment: £200k. Status: Open.

Kate began reading at 2 a.m., coffee cold beside her.

Kate grabbed the laptop and bolted through the kitchen exit, sirens already wailing in the distance—but not coming to save her. Coming to finish the index. Row one: CASE REF: LOD-001

“This isn’t evidence,” Marcus said quietly. “It’s a map. Each ‘CASE REF’ is a dead end unless you have the original files. Carl was indexing his way to the top of the rot.”

Her stomach turned. Carl hadn’t been investigating criminals. He’d been investigating the investigators.