MARCUS HALE: No.
Elena held his gaze.
ELENA MARSHALL: Think carefully.
MARCUS HALE: I said no.
ELENA MARSHALL: All right.
She turned away.
But Marcus suddenly spoke again.
MARCUS HALE: Wait.
Everyone looked at him.
MARCUS HALE: I remember something.
ELENA MARSHALL: Go ahead.
Marcus rubbed his forehead.
MARCUS HALE: About three weeks ago, Foster asked me to take a sealed envelope to the warehouse.
THOMAS REED: You said you had never been there.
Marcus ignored him.
MARCUS HALE: I didn't know what was inside. I was told it was an administrative package.
ELENA MARSHALL: Who gave you the envelope?
MARCUS HALE: Detective Foster.
ELENA MARSHALL: Who was waiting at the warehouse?
MARCUS HALE: Daniel Price.
ELENA MARSHALL: Did you speak with him?
MARCUS HALE: Not really. He took the envelope and told me to leave.
ELENA MARSHALL: Was there anyone else present?
Marcus hesitated.
MARCUS HALE: I saw a black SUV parked near the entrance.
ELENA MARSHALL: Did you recognize it?
MARCUS HALE: No.
ELENA MARSHALL: Did you see who was inside?
Marcus looked toward the chief.
Then he lowered his eyes.
MARCUS HALE: I saw Deputy Chief Carter.
The room became silent.
Chief Donovan slowly turned toward him.
CHIEF RICHARD DONOVAN: You're certain?
MARCUS HALE: Yes.
CHIEF RICHARD DONOVAN: Why didn't you mention this earlier?
MARCUS HALE: Because I didn't think it was important.
Elena watched him carefully.
ELENA MARSHALL: When exactly did this happen?
MARCUS HALE: Three weeks ago. On a Thursday night.
ELENA MARSHALL: What time?
MARCUS HALE: Around eleven.
ELENA MARSHALL: And what happened afterward?
MARCUS HALE: I returned to headquarters.
ELENA MARSHALL: Did you complete a delivery report?
MARCUS HALE: No.
ELENA MARSHALL: Why not?
MARCUS HALE: Foster told me not to.
Elena wrote down the information.
ELENA MARSHALL: Thank you.
Marcus looked confused.
MARCUS HALE: That's it?
ELENA MARSHALL: For now.
Marcus seemed to expect some immediate consequence.
Instead, Elena returned her attention to the investigation.
But the revelation had changed something.
Marcus was no longer simply an arrogant officer who had humiliated a federal investigator.
He was potentially a witness to an operation involving unauthorized evidence transfers.
And his decision to cooperate, even partially, might help investigators establish how the operation had functioned.
Still, Elena was not prepared to accept his explanation without verification.
A few minutes later, the federal team received confirmation that Daniel Price's vehicle had arrived at the warehouse.
The field agents secured the surrounding area.
When they approached the building, they found the main entrance unlocked.
Inside, several storage containers had been moved.
A stack of cardboard boxes stood near a loading platform.
The agents discovered an office containing computers, financial documents, and several departmental evidence labels.
But the most important discovery was hidden behind a false panel in a storage cabinet.
Inside were dozens of sealed evidence envelopes.
Some were marked with case numbers.
Others contained handwritten labels.
The federal team began photographing and cataloguing everything.
Then one of the agents found a small black notebook.
It contained dates, initials, amounts of money, and brief descriptions of individual deliveries.
The final pages contained a list of names.
Daniel Foster.
William Carter.
Daniel Price.
Marcus Hale.
And Richard Donovan.
The agent immediately contacted Elena.
When she received the report, she closed her eyes for a moment.
The chief's name was now appearing in physical evidence recovered from the warehouse.
This was no longer a question of administrative negligence.
There was a possibility that the department's highest leadership had been involved in the operation.
Elena turned toward Richard Donovan.
ELENA MARSHALL: Chief, I need to ask you something.
CHIEF RICHARD DONOVAN: What?
ELENA MARSHALL: Have you ever received money or personal benefits from any company connected to the department's evidence storage contracts?
CHIEF RICHARD DONOVAN: Absolutely not.
ELENA MARSHALL: Have you ever met privately with Deputy Chief Carter to discuss the missing files?
CHIEF RICHARD DONOVAN: No.
ELENA MARSHALL: Have you ever visited the municipal warehouse?
CHIEF RICHARD DONOVAN: Not to my knowledge.
Elena looked at him.
ELENA MARSHALL: Your name has just been found in a notebook recovered from that property.
The chief's expression changed.
CHIEF RICHARD DONOVAN: What?
ELENA MARSHALL: Your name appears alongside the names of Carter, Foster, Price, and Hale.
CHIEF RICHARD DONOVAN: That's impossible.
ELENA MARSHALL: The evidence team is preserving the notebook.
CHIEF RICHARD DONOVAN: Someone must have put it there.
ELENA MARSHALL: That's possible. We'll investigate that as well.
CHIEF RICHARD DONOVAN: This is a setup.
ELENA MARSHALL: Then the original records should establish who created it.
The chief moved away from the counter.
For the first time, his usual command presence had disappeared.
He looked like a man who had suddenly realized that the people around him were no longer under his control.
Meanwhile, the federal technical team continued examining the recovered documents.
One file contained a series of payments made to a company called Northbridge Asset Services.
The company had received contracts to transport and store seized property.
Its registered owner was a man named Samuel Price.
Daniel Price's older brother.
The company had no permanent employees listed in its official records.