Pierce's question didn't seem to catch Ward off guard. "Garrett is my superior. He's looked after me all these years. How could I possibly take Coulson's word for it? In fact, as soon as I received the news, I notified Garrett. I used our internal, secret communications channel. You should be able to check the records, Mr. Pierce."
Ward's internal communications channel was actually a secret line used by Hydra members, a way to pass information that had been built into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s communications system. Unless you were with Hydra, there was no way to uncover these secret messages in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s system.
As Hydra's highest-ranking leader within S.H.I.E.L.D., Pierce could freely review his subordinates' communications records.
Just as Ward said, he had notified Garrett at once, but Garrett hadn't responded. And in little more than ten minutes, Coulson had already obtained Nick Fury's authorization to arrest Garrett. Ward couldn't possibly have reported the matter up the chain to Pierce in such a short time.
The sequence of events could be verified, and Pierce didn't think Ward could have tampered with anything. What he didn't know was that someone else already controlled every system in S.H.I.E.L.D.
It wasn't just the communications that could be faked. Even blowing up the entire S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters wouldn't be a problem.
"At the time, I had to volunteer to take part in the arrest. I was hoping I'd get a chance to help Garrett escape. I never thought he'd kill himself. Only later did I realize he'd betrayed Hydra. He hadn't just leaked Hydra's intelligence; S.H.I.E.L.D. had discovered him, too. He knew there was no way out, so he killed himself." Ward spoke with profound grief.
"He had no reason to betray us!" Pierce said.
"Maybe he didn't before, but recently I noticed how unusually interested he