Captain Mitchell: "I'll ask the records supervisor to send it immediately."
Emily stopped him.
Emily Carter: "Captain, please don't request it through a general department message. I would prefer that we use a secure channel and keep the number of people involved as small as possible."
Mitchell paused.
Captain Mitchell: "You believe someone could be monitoring internal communications?"
Emily Carter: "I don't know. But until we establish who accessed these records, it would be unwise to assume every communication is secure."
Mitchell put the phone down.
He looked at Emily with a mixture of concern and frustration.
Captain Mitchell: "I have served this department for thirty-one years. I know most of the people working here. I find it difficult to believe that someone would risk their career by interfering with evidence."
Emily Carter: "People rarely begin by thinking they are risking everything. Sometimes they make one small decision, then another, and eventually they find themselves trying to hide something they can no longer explain."
Captain Mitchell: "You have seen this before."
Emily Carter: "More times than I would like."
The captain remained silent.
He had spent much of his career believing that the department's problems could be solved through discipline, training, and good leadership. He knew that misconduct existed, but he had always considered it an exception rather than a possibility that could spread through an organization.
Now he was being forced to question whether his own confidence had made him overlook warning signs.
A knock came at the door.
This time, it was Sarah.
Captain Mitchell: "Come in."
Sarah entered carrying a printed sheet.
Sarah Williams: "Captain, I found something in the appointment system that I thought you should see."
Mitchell accepted the paper.
Captain Mitchell: "What is it?"
Sarah Williams: "The access history for Agent Carter's appointment. It was opened from three different terminals after I confirmed it this morning."
Emily looked up.
Emily Carter: "Can you identify the terminals?"
Sarah pointed to the first line.
Sarah Williams: "The reception computer was mine. The second was an administrative workstation. The third belongs to the evidence management unit."
Mitchell studied the document.
Captain Mitchell: "Who was logged into the third terminal?"
Sarah Williams: "The system lists a shared account, so I can't identify the individual user from this report."
Emily took the paper and examined it.
Emily Carter: "What time did the last access occur?"
Sarah Williams: "Eight minutes ago."
Emily looked at the time stamp.
That meant someone had accessed the appointment record after the federal agent's arrival had already been confirmed and after Captain Mitchell had begun the meeting.
Emily Carter: "Did you open the record from any other computer?"
Sarah Williams: "No."
Emily Carter: "Did anyone ask you to check it again?"
Sarah Williams: "No. I only received a message telling me not to discuss the incident outside the commander's office."
Mitchell looked sharply at her.
Captain Mitchell: "Who sent that message?"
Sarah Williams: "It came from the general administration account. I couldn't see the individual sender."
Mitchell's expression became serious.
Captain Mitchell: "Did you save it?"
Sarah Williams: "I kept a copy."
Emily nodded.
Emily Carter: "Good. Please don't delete anything. Save the original message and the access history exactly as they are."
Sarah Williams: "Yes, ma'am."
Emily turned toward Mitchell.
Emily Carter: "I would like to speak with Sarah privately for a few minutes. She may have observed something else that could be relevant."
Mitchell agreed.
Captain Mitchell: "Of course. Sarah, please stay here. I'll arrange for the preservation instruction to be issued."
Mitchell left the office with his phone.
Emily waited until the door closed.
Then she turned toward Sarah.
Emily Carter: "I want you to understand that you are not in trouble. I am not asking you to accuse anyone. I simply need you to tell me what you personally observed."
Sarah nodded.
Sarah Williams: "I understand."
Emily Carter: "When you received the message about the visitor incident, did it seem unusual?"
Sarah Williams: "Yes. We don't normally receive instructions like that through the general account."
Emily Carter: "Have you received similar messages before?"
Sarah thought for a moment.
Sarah Williams: "There have been a few. Usually when someone asks about missing paperwork or a delayed report."
Emily Carter: "Can you remember an example?"
Sarah Williams: "Last month, a clerk from the evidence unit asked me to locate an old visitor record. A few minutes later, I received a message saying the request had already been handled and that I shouldn't spend time looking into it."
Emily Carter: "Who sent that message?"
Sarah Williams: "I don't know. It came from the same general account."
Emily wrote something in her notebook.
Emily Carter: "Did you keep the message?"
Sarah Williams: "I think so. I can search my archived messages."
Emily Carter: "Please don't do that from your current workstation. I would prefer that the department's technical staff preserve the relevant records first."
Sarah looked concerned.
Sarah Williams: "Do you think someone is deleting messages?"
Emily Carter: "I don't know yet. But we should avoid changing anything before the original records are secured."