The Cat's Eye View

Margot's cat, Binx, watched from the windowsill as she turned over the iPhone in her hands. Her husband's iPhone. The one he'd forgotten in his rush to catch an early morning flight to Cairo.

She shouldn't look. She knew she shouldn't look. But the notification had glowed before the screen locked: "New recruit for Level 3. Transfer complete."

Margot wasn't a spy by trade—she was a forensic accountant—but three years of marriage to Marcus had taught her the shape of secrets. The late nights. The unexplained deposits. The pyramid pendant he wore, always claiming it was an Egyptian artifact he'd "picked up in the market."

The phone didn't require his thumbprint. Marcus was arrogant that way.

What she found made her stomach hollow out. Not an affair. Something worse.

Screenshots of bank transfers. Voicemails from desperate people. A chat labeled "DOWNLINE" where Marcus coached others on recruitment scripts. "Sell the dream, not the product. The product is secondary. The lifestyle is primary."

It was a pyramid scheme. And Marcus wasn't just participating—he was near the top.

The cat jumped down, rubbed against her leg. Binx had always hissed at Marcus.

"You knew, didn't you?" she whispered, scratching behind his ears. "Cats always know."

Her iPhone chimed—Marcus calling from the airport. She watched it ring, feeling like she was watching her own life from a distance. The years of fancy dinners, the talk of early retirement, the "investment opportunities" he'd wanted her to join.

How many people had he ruined? How many savings accounts drained?

Binx meowed, insistent.

"Right," she said. "The blockchain doesn't lie, but it doesn't prosecute people either."

She answered on the next ring. "Hello?"

"Baby, you wouldn't believe the weather here—"

"Marcus," she said, her voice steady. "I forgot to tell you. My sister's forensic firm is looking into a new multi-level marketing case. Something about a travel-based pyramid scheme operating out of Cairo."

Silence.

"Small world," she added. "Isn't it?"

The cat purred, loud and satisfied.