Her expression to anyone watching looked exactly like defeat. Norah, " she said quietly, her voice pitched low enough to carry only to her sister, and no one else in that crowded doorway. The originals uploaded off site before any of them ever got here. Norah kept her face carefully still. Every instinct she'd trained for 11 years told her not to react, not even a flicker, because a room full of people watching for a reaction was a room full of people who'd notice if she didn't give them one.
Inside, though, something fierce and quiet lit up in her chest. Voss believed he just destroyed their only evidence. "He had no idea what was still sitting safe on servers he would never be able to reach. " "Nobody move, " Voss said suddenly, his voice sharp enough to cut through the tension, filling the small entryway. "Everyone stay exactly where you are.
" The officers froze. Hutchkins stood near the broken cabinet, still too catching his breath. Boyd remained by the doorway, rubbing his arm. Doyle held his ground between Hutchkins and the scattered pieces of the recorder. Pierce stayed near the entrance, his body camera still recording, his face pale.
Voss pointed at the wreckage on the floor. What we have here is clear destruction of evidence during a lawful inspection. Hutchkins seized the opening immediately, jabbing a finger toward Vivien. That woman smashed the recorder. She knocked it down when I tried to examine it properly.
I was blocking your unauthorized access to equipment outside the inspection scope, " Vivien said, her voice steady. She destroyed evidence to keep us from reviewing those recordings. " Hutchkins pressed, gaining confidence with every word. She deliberately damaged the system. Voss nodded slowly as though Hutchkins's version already made perfect sense to him.
Agent Whitfield interfered with the inspection and caused destruction of potential evidence. "That's not what happened, Lieutenant. " The voice came from the doorway and every head in that entryway turned toward it. Pierce stood there, his shoulders squared, his voice carrying more weight than Norah had heard from him in the entire time she'd known him, which admittedly was less than a day, but felt somehow like far longer. "Officer Pierce, " Voss said slowly, his tone carrying a clear warning underneath it.
"Describe exactly what you observed. " Pierce didn't flinch. Sergeant Hutchkins charged past the permitted inspection area and reached for the recording unit. When Officer Doyle blocked him, his elbow struck the cabinet and knocked the recorder to the floor. Hutchkins's face flushed dark red.
Pierce, you're mistaken about. I'm not mistaken. Pierce cut in, his voice firmer now, like each word was costing him something, and he'd already decided it was worth the price. I saw Sergeant Hutchkins knock the recorder down while attempting an unauthorized seizure. Doyle nodded beside him.