Marsh read six drowning files before the pattern hit him. Six dead people, all from Saltcreek. Six identical claims: water damage to a beach house none of them owned. Each one filed exactly three days before they drowned. He printed all six, lined them up on his desk, and stared until his coffee went cold.

Marsh took the files straight to his boss, Dana. Six fake claims meant fraud, and fraud meant a real case with backup. He wasn't going to chase drowned people on his own.

Dana thanked him, took all six files, and promised a senior team. By morning the files were gone from the system, like they'd never existed, and Dana asked him what Saltcreek even was. He'd kept no copies. Six drownings had just been erased, and he was the only one who remembered.