Karen looked at the timestamp.
KAREN: "From this station?"
Rebecca clicked on the session details.
REBECCA: "It says the session is active."
KAREN: "Can you see the user location?"
Rebecca hesitated.
Then she opened the connection information.
Her eyes widened.
REBECCA: "The account is logged in from another workstation inside this building."
Osei turned toward the hallway.
OSEI: "That's impossible."
KAVALIK: "Close the system."
REBECCA: "Sheriff, someone is changing the records."
Kavalik stepped toward the desk.
KAREN: "Do not touch that computer."
KAVALIK: "You don't understand what's happening."
KAREN: "Then tell us."
For a moment, Kavalik looked as though he might answer.
Instead, he turned toward the hallway.
His face had become pale.
A door opened somewhere beyond the booking area.
Footsteps approached.
A man appeared at the end of the corridor.
He was wearing a dark administrative uniform and carrying a folder.
He stopped when he saw Karen.
Then he looked at Rebecca's computer.
Finally, he looked at Sheriff Kavalik.
No one introduced him.
He did not need to.
Rebecca recognized him immediately.
REBECCA: "That's the property supervisor."
The man tightened his grip on the folder.
Kavalik walked toward him.
KAVALIK: "We need to talk."
The supervisor looked past him.
His eyes settled on Karen.
Then he noticed the printed reports spread across the booking counter.
His expression changed.
PROPERTY SUPERVISOR: "Who authorized these documents to be printed?"
Rebecca stood up.
REBECCA: "They came through the system automatically."
The supervisor looked at the printer.
Then at the computer.
Then at Kavalik.
PROPERTY SUPERVISOR: "You said this was already taken care of."
Karen's eyes narrowed.
She heard the words clearly.
The supervisor seemed to realize his mistake a second too late.
Kavalik turned toward him.
KAVALIK: "Not another word."
Karen looked from one man to the other.
There was no longer any doubt that the two men knew more than they were willing to admit.
KAREN: "Taken care of?"
Neither answered.
KAREN: "What exactly was supposed to be taken care of?"
The supervisor shifted the folder beneath his arm.
PROPERTY SUPERVISOR: "This is a departmental matter."
KAREN: "Then why did you say the situation had already been taken care of before asking what happened?"
The supervisor looked at Kavalik.
That single glance told Karen more than a lengthy explanation could have.
She turned toward Rebecca.
KAREN: "Please note the time this man entered the room."
Rebecca looked at the wall clock.
REBECCA: "Eleven forty-two."
KAREN: "And record that he asked who authorized the printing."
Rebecca typed the information.
The supervisor took one step toward the desk.
PROPERTY SUPERVISOR: "You can't put that in an official report."
KAREN: "Why not?"
PROPERTY SUPERVISOR: "Because you don't know what those documents contain."
KAREN: "Then perhaps you can explain them."
The man said nothing.
Karen glanced toward the folder under his arm.
A corner of a printed document was visible.
She could make out a familiar company name.
KINGSLAND RECOVERY & STORAGE.
Her expression became still.
The same company that had arrived on Kingsley Road before the sheriff had even completed the roadside stop.
The same company listed on multiple property transfer reports.
The same company now appearing in a folder carried by the department's property supervisor.
KAREN: "What does Kingsland Recovery have to do with your department?"
The supervisor tightened his grip on the folder.
PROPERTY SUPERVISOR: "Nothing."
Karen looked at him.
KAREN: "Then you won't mind explaining why its name appears on nearly every transfer report Rebecca has opened."
Kavalik moved between them.
KAVALIK: "This conversation is over."
KAREN: "No. It is just beginning."
The supervisor's eyes moved toward the hallway again.
He seemed to be waiting for someone.
Or perhaps he was afraid someone might arrive.
Rebecca noticed the movement.
REBECCA: "Sheriff, why are you both looking toward the back office?"
Kavalik turned.
KAVALIK: "Get back to work."
Rebecca did not sit down.
Osei stepped closer to Karen.
His voice was barely audible.
OSEI: "Judge, there's something else you need to know."
Karen turned toward him.
KAREN: "What is it?"
OSEI: "The vehicles aren't the only things being moved."
KAREN: "What else?"
Osei looked at the supervisor.
Then at the folder.
OSEI: "Some of the owners never get their property back. And some of the records don't even belong to real cases."
Karen felt the implications settle into place.
KAREN: "What do you mean by that?"
Osei took a breath.
OSEI: "I mean there are entries for people who were never charged with anything. People who never had a court hearing. People whose property disappeared before they even knew it had been taken."
The room fell silent.
Rebecca slowly turned toward the computer.
Kavalik stared at Osei.
The property supervisor remained motionless.
Karen looked at the documents on the counter.
She had arrived at the station because a sheriff had decided that a Black woman could not possibly own a red Ducati.
But the motorcycle was no longer the most important thing in the room.
It was the first visible piece of a much larger pattern.
And someone inside the department was desperate to make sure she never saw the rest.
At that moment, Rebecca's computer made a short notification sound.
A new message appeared in the system.
It was an internal alert.
The subject line read:
PROPERTY RECORDS — EMERGENCY REVIEW REQUIRED.