Get to the Bottom of It

Rosier sent more information that evening.

"The investigation is based on two independent sources: discrepancies discovered by the Confederation Technical Group while cross-referencing the institution's public reports, and an anonymous tip received by the Confederation Intelligence Group in the state where the institution is located. The tip mentioned undisclosed research projects, some of which involved active signal testing on buildings outside the country."

"An anonymous tip?" Hermione asked curiously. "Who would report them at a time like this?"

"Possibly Delaney," Harry guessed.

"Why?"

"Before he left, he said that if we needed anything, we could tell him. He didn't attach any conditions to that. If he decided to leave that institute, or realized the risks of those experiments, he might choose to pull out. And after pulling out, the most direct way would be to give this information to the Confederation." Harry paused. "Of course, that's only a guess. It could have been someone else."

There were no further updates on the Confederation's investigation into Paloma Observatory over the next few days. Then, on Friday night, Rosier sent another brief message: "The investigation team has arrived in New Mexico and is entering the target site. Preliminary results are expected tomorrow."

Harry sat on the sofa in the Common Room, glanced at the darkness beyond the window, then looked at his phone's idle screen.

He had lost direct contact with Delaney, but the tracking mark was still there, in the same place as before.

The Confederation investigation team should already have been close to that building. If Delaney was truly still there, he might appear on the personnel list once the investigation was over.

Next morning, Harry woke up early.

His phone lay silent for the entire morning, only lighting up after noon.

Words slowly appeared in the air: "The investigation