Chapter 4 - The Camera Ross Could Not Erase
Jonah placed the body camera on the evidence-room desk.
Ross did not touch it.
“Officer Reed has stolen department equipment,” he said. “He is emotionally unstable and should be detained.”
Jonah laughed once, without humor.
“That is the explanation you prepared?”
“I gave you a direct order to go home.”
“You ordered me to delete a recording.”
Ross turned toward the other officers.
“Talbot, secure him.”
Officer Talbot hesitated.
Only ten minutes earlier, he had disabled his own camera because Ross had told him the matter was under control.
Now Evelyn’s phone was pointed at him.
“I said secure him,” Ross repeated.
Talbot looked at Jonah.
Then at Miriam.
Then at the dark red light on his own camera.
He stepped backward.
Ross’s voice lowered. “Think carefully about your career.”
Talbot swallowed.
“I am.”
He switched his body camera back on.
The red light returned.
One by one, two other officers activated theirs.
Ross stared at them.
Evelyn did not smile. Victory celebrated too early usually became evidence for the opposition.
She looked at Jonah.
“What is on the camera?”
“A copy of the terminal footage and part of Mrs. Hart’s interview.”
“My mother’s interview was recorded?”
“For the first six minutes. Then Captain Ross ordered the system shut down.”
Ross folded his arms.
“Reed is lying.”
Jonah removed a small cable from his pocket and connected the camera to the evidence-room computer.
The screen remained dark.
Ross stepped closer.
“That machine is not authorized for playback.”
“It was until you removed its network access,” Jonah said.
Evelyn looked at the empty port beneath the desk.
A cable had been cut cleanly.
“Who cut that?”
No one answered.
Jonah disconnected the camera.
“The original files were uploaded to a remote server, but the signal failed before I could confirm the final transfer.”
Miriam spoke from the doorway.
“It reached ninety percent.”
Evelyn turned toward her mother.
Ross had finally removed the handcuff after Naomi Bell called the station directly and informed him that state investigators were on their way. Miriam now stood with Lila’s support.
“What did you upload?” Evelyn asked.
“A video from the terminal.”
“Why did you go there?”
Miriam looked at Captain Ross.
“Because someone sent me a key that belonged to your father.”
Evelyn’s breath caught.
Ross reacted differently.
He looked toward Michael.
It was only a glance, but Jonah saw it.
“So you knew about the package,” Jonah said.
Michael shook his head. “I have no idea what she is talking about.”
Dana’s hands tightened in her lap.
Evelyn noticed.
She walked out of the evidence room and stopped beside Dana.
“What happened at the terminal?”
Dana glanced at Michael before answering.
“Miriam attacked me.”
“With what?”
Dana hesitated.
“Her hands.”
“Where did she strike you?”
“Near the door.”
“Which hand?”
“I do not remember.”
“The report says she struck you with a metal object.”
Dana looked at Ross.
Ross answered for her.
“Victims do not always remember every detail.”
“That is true,” Evelyn said. “Which is why good investigators do not place the accused and the complainant in the same room for hours before taking independent statements.”
Michael stepped forward.
“Dana is injured.”
“So is my mother.”
“She fell while running away.”
Miriam studied him.
“I fell because you caught my coat.”
Michael’s face remained calm, but Dana flinched.
Evelyn saw it.
“What did Michael do after my mother fell?”
Dana said nothing.
Michael moved beside her.
“She is done answering questions.”
“You do not decide that.”
“I am her fiancé.”
“You are also a potential witness.”
Jonah entered the room carrying the body camera.
“There may be another copy.”
Ross turned sharply.
Jonah continued.
“When Mrs. Hart sent the terminal video, the server created an automatic fragment every twenty seconds. Even if the final upload failed, earlier fragments may still exist.”
“Where?” Evelyn asked.
“On a secure archive connected to my father’s old account.”
Ross’s expression changed for the first time.
“Your father is dead.”
Jonah met his stare.
“So is Thomas Hart. That did not stop either of them from keeping records.”
A siren sounded outside.
Blue light moved across the station windows.
Naomi Bell had arrived with three state investigators.
Ross watched the vehicles pull into the parking lot.
Then he looked at the evidence-room shelves.
Evelyn followed his gaze.
One shelf held a newly sealed metal box.
Mud stained its lower edge.
The evidence label had been signed less than one hour earlier.
May you like
The case number belonged to an investigation closed eighteen years ago.
Thomas Hart’s death.
