“Yes.”
“You cannot run this investigation.”
“I agree.”
That stopped him.
Maya turned toward Nathan.
“Call the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.”
Nathan nodded.
“I want independent preservation and an outside investigative team.”
Derek stared.
“You’re not investigating us yourself?”
“No.”
Maya looked directly at him for the first time since midnight.
“That protects the facts from me too.”
Then she turned toward Aaron.
“Who handled the Bentley camera?”
Derek answered first.
“It arrived corrupted.”
Maya kept her eyes on Aaron.
“I didn’t ask its condition.”
Aaron swallowed.
“Deputy Maddox removed it roadside.”
“Then?”
“It went through intake.”
“After that?”
“Captain Hollis accessed the electronic evidence record.”
Russell looked toward Aaron.
The young deputy saw the warning immediately.
Maya saw it too.
“Preserve the audit history.”
“Yes, Sheriff.”
“All of it.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Russell lowered his voice.
“We need to discuss this privately.”
“We will.”
Maya looked toward the evidence room.
“After preservation starts.”
Chapter 13: The Files Nobody Could Reach
Special Agent Monique Carter arrived from the State Bureau of Investigation shortly before 1:00 a.m. She brought a digital-forensics specialist named Daniel Cho and another investigator assigned to physical evidence. Monique had worked enough politically sensitive cases to distrust both outrage and reassurance until records supported either one.
“Sheriff Whitfield, I understand you are simultaneously the incoming sheriff and the person detained.”
“That’s correct.”
“Are you directing us?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Maya almost smiled.
Nathan explained that county counsel had requested independent control over evidence preservation.
Monique began with the dash camera.
The intake record described it as corrupted.
Derek repeated that the files were unreadable when seized.
Monique asked whether he personally checked.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“On the roadside.”
Aaron shifted slightly.
Monique noticed.
“Deputy Bell, did you see the camera operating?”
“Yes.”
Derek turned.
“The green light doesn’t prove the files existed.”
Monique raised one hand.
“You’ll get your own interview.”
Daniel Cho examined the camera.
The memory card was broken.
Internal components had been disturbed.
Then Daniel looked at the model number.
He frowned.
“Why are we concentrating on removable media?”
Monique looked over.
“What?”
“This system doesn’t rely primarily on the memory card.”
Derek stopped moving.
Daniel connected the camera to an isolated workstation.
“It has secondary local storage.”
Russell stepped closer.
“What’s primary?”
“Depends how it was configured.”
He began checking registration data.
“This one is enrolled in a remote encrypted preservation environment.”