Dirty Little Secrets ...Finale ...Unexpected Turn of Events

Through various forms of deception and blackmail, they held virtually unchecked power. Practically every celebrity, politician, and academic with any clout was under their thumb.
― Cliff Jones Jr.

Virtual Guarding

Mer and I spent a quiet night together and actually got a good night's sleep.

The following morning at breakfast the phone rang and I answered—it was Martin Withers.

"Logan, excuse the early call but there's been a break in the case. I'm on my way over to your house and I'll arrive in about ten minutes. Is that okay?"

"Sure, Martin—this is good news. We'll be waiting with a fresh pot of coffee."

Mer looked at me quizzically as I clicked off the call.

"Martin Withers said there's a break in the case. I'm not sure what that means exactly but it sounds promising."

Mer's face lit up. "If it helps us to get a lead on investigating Pollock and the Enigma Club, then I'm eager to pursue anything right now."

"I second that," I smiled, "but I can't imagine what's changed since we last talked with Martin. Maybe an insider in his organization decided to be a whistleblower."

"We can only hope," she sighed.

Withers showed up ten minutes later and from the sober look on his face we both knew something big had gone down. We weren't disappointed.

"Turns out that Mark Spencer, the agent who rescued you from Pollock's goons uncovered a clue. We were conferring about your case and going over tips the ghost ally sent us. Mark recognized a a web address from a coded document and traced it back to an agent of ours who was killed."

I was puzzled. "Okay, but how does that help us now?"

His eyes got bright with excitement.

"Turns out that all the documents and tips trace back to this one deceased CSIS operative who specialized in computer applications and AI. We suspect he developed an algorithm that when prompted by a specific event would trigger a computer to activate a series of operations to start sending us old recordings, coded documents, surveillance timestamps that you reporters could assemble into a coherent narrative."

Mer looked at me in shock and then asked Withers a seemingly improbable question. "Are you saying this dead agent was able to use AI to send us information even after he was dead?"

Wither's nodded. "Tom Foster was an exceptional operative—very competent and extremely thorough. He knew how to utilize computer technology to continue to send us files and instructions in the eventuality that he might be killed carrying out his research on Pollock's operations."

"This is incredible," I whistled in shock, "even though dead, he speaks to us from the grave. In a way, he truly is a ghost ally."

Withers nodded in agreement.

"We tracked down his old address and found his house was completely autonomous and functioning—it's the ultimate smart house with back-up generators in case of power outages and a bank of computers that oversee everything from paying his heating and electricity bills and taxes to monitoring covert cameras and various tracking devices that allow the AI to follow every one of Pollock's movements."

I was speechless for a moment and then slowly shook my head in awe at what Foster was able to accomplish.

"This explains all the breadcrumbs our so-called 'ghost' left and how he was able to prevent Pollock's own technical staff from erasing files or tampering with his communications. Foster's ghostly digital presence restored or rerouted them."

"Exactly!" Withers exclaimed, " he actually planted clues that could lead us to the next target."

"It's almost as if Foster's consciousness was uploaded onto his computer," Mer marvelled, "and he could not only continue his work but it assured him a form of digital immortality."

"So where does this leaves us?" I asked. "What's our role now?"

Withers smiled, "You now have an opportunity to write your expose of Pollock's activities so the public can know exactly what Pollock was up to and how he tried to subvert the government for his own purposes."

"But where will we find the information and facts we need to substantiate our claims?" Mer asked.

"I'll be able to provide you with that. You see when Pollock's men attempted to discredit the files we downloaded, it backfired on them. All the files auto-released from the ghost’s dead-man switch system. It will take time for us to prepare our case against Pollock and in the meantime you and Mer can educate the public about the threat Pollock posed to our whole democratic system. Public sentiment is important and we want it on our side."

Mer and I were overjoyed at this unexpected turn of events. What seemed almost ghostly and supernatural had a natural explanation—Foster had arranged to endure in a virtual form guiding us each step of the way.

It was refreshing to know our institutions had remained intact and despite Pollock's efforts they had not been corrupted, but importantly as well, it was encouraging to know that this would-be autocrat and blackmailer would finally be brought to justice.

And in the end , Mer's wish for the future would finally come true.

We'd end up spending the rest of our lives together, sharing our work and continuing to live in a free society pursuing the truth and giving back to our community.

To be continued...

© 2025, John J Geddes. All rights reserved

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