After a brief discussion, the prosecutor approved an emergency preservation request and instructed the investigative team to prepare the necessary search authorization.
The next step would depend on what they found.
If the warehouse contained only ordinary commercial property, the investigation would continue through financial records.
But if it contained the missing evidence, the entire operation would change.
At 1:05 p.m., a federal technical team completed the first forensic copy of the department's evidence server.
The recovered data revealed more than expected.
Several transfer entries had been modified.
Some packages had been assigned false destination codes.
Others had been marked as destroyed before the required approval documents existed.
The same administrative override account had been used repeatedly.
And the account had been accessed from three separate terminals.
One was located in the chief's office.
Another was in the evidence administration room.
The third was registered to the deputy chief's private workstation.
Alina examined the timeline.
The earliest suspicious access had occurred fourteen months earlier.
The latest had taken place that morning.
This was not an isolated incident.
It was a continuing operation.
Nathan opened another file.
NATHAN BROOKS: "Agent, I think you'll want to see this."
ALINA BROOKS: "What is it?"
NATHAN BROOKS: "The account history includes an external network connection."
ALINA BROOKS: "From where?"
NATHAN BROOKS: "A remote address registered to a federal regional office."
Alina looked at the screen.
NATHAN BROOKS: "The connection was made through an authorized coordination account."
ALINA BROOKS: "Whose account?"
Nathan enlarged the details.
The name appeared.
THOMAS VANCE.
Alina stared at it.
The unknown caller had warned her about Vance.
The chief had admitted that he had consulted with him about temporary storage arrangements.
And now the server records showed that Vance's account had accessed the department's evidence system.
NATHAN BROOKS: "The access happened on several dates."
ALINA BROOKS: "How many?"
NATHAN BROOKS: "At least eleven."
ALINA BROOKS: "Were any of those dates connected to inspections?"
Nathan compared the timeline.
NATHAN BROOKS: "Eight occurred within forty-eight hours of a scheduled federal or local audit."
Alina slowly closed the file.
The person who was supposed to help coordinate oversight may have been monitoring the very records that oversight was meant to examine.
She looked toward the operations floor.
The department was still functioning.
Calls were still being dispatched.
Officers were still moving between desks.
But the investigation had exposed something that could reach far beyond Eastbridge.
The missing evidence might be only the visible part of a much larger arrangement.
At 1:42 p.m., the federal prosecutor called back.
The emergency preservation request had been approved.
The investigative team could now secure the first Meridian property under the authorized procedure.
Alina gathered the documents.
NATHAN BROOKS: "Are you going?"
ALINA BROOKS: "Yes."
NATHAN BROOKS: "The department is still under review. We should leave a team here."
ALINA BROOKS: "Agreed. Captain Whitaker can coordinate with the independent compliance officers. No one from the evidence administration unit should have access to the server."
Nathan nodded.
NATHAN BROOKS: "What about Chief Hayes?"
Alina looked toward the chief's office.
ALINA BROOKS: "He remains available for questioning. Preserve his communications and document every conversation involving the storage arrangements."
NATHAN BROOKS: "And Lawson?"
ALINA BROOKS: "Same procedure."
She paused.
ALINA BROOKS: "But I want particular attention paid to his contact with Edward Mitchell."
The team prepared to leave.
Before Alina reached the exit, Ethan approached her.
ETHAN MILLER: "Agent Brooks?"
ALINA BROOKS: "Yes, Ethan?"
ETHAN MILLER: "I remembered something else about the warehouse."
Alina stopped.
ALINA BROOKS: "What is it?"
ETHAN MILLER: "I saw the name Meridian on a delivery receipt last month."
ALINA BROOKS: "Where?"
ETHAN MILLER: "In the evidence office. Mr. Dawson had a folder with the company name on it."
ALINA BROOKS: "What was being delivered?"
ETHAN MILLER: "I couldn't see the full description. But there was a reference to sealed property containers."
ALINA BROOKS: "Do you remember the date?"
Ethan thought for a moment.
ETHAN MILLER: "The seventeenth. I think it was the seventeenth of last month."
Nathan checked the records.
NATHAN BROOKS: "That matches one of the unauthorized transfer dates."
Alina looked at Ethan.
ALINA BROOKS: "Thank you. Put that in your formal statement."
Ethan nodded.
Then he lowered his voice.
ETHAN MILLER: "Agent Brooks, I don't think Ryan was the only person who knew you were coming."
ALINA BROOKS: "Why?"