He played the voice note again —slower this time, louder— and every faint glitch in the background became clearer. A subtle, unnatural echo broke through the sound, and in that moment, they both understood exactly what Xavier meant by it being pre-recorded.

“But why would Meret pre-record her voice note when she could just hit the record button in the chat?” Lisa asked, confusion tightening her voice.

“See,” Xavier said, pointing at the screen, “that’s what I’ve been trying to ...