NAOMI WHITLOCK: "Do not approach him on behalf of the department. If he is willing to speak, make sure he has a way to contact independent investigators or legal counsel."
DEPUTY OSEI: "Understood."
NAOMI WHITLOCK: "And Deputy, do not access records outside your authorization. Preserve your own notes and communications, and document what you personally observed."
DEPUTY OSEI: "I will."
The call ended.
Margaret looked at Naomi.
MARGARET ELLIS: "A former transport employee could be important."
NAOMI WHITLOCK: "Especially if he has independent records."
MARGARET ELLIS: "But we need to verify his account. His documents would need to be authenticated, and we would need to establish how he obtained them."
Naomi nodded.
NAOMI WHITLOCK: "I understand."
Margaret opened a new document.
MARGARET ELLIS: "I'll add his name to the list of potential witnesses. We should also ask investigators to obtain the original contract between the county and Kingsland Recovery."
Naomi looked at the list of vehicle transfers.
NAOMI WHITLOCK: "The contract may explain how the company was paid."
MARGARET ELLIS: "And whether payment was connected to the number of vehicles, the duration of storage, or the value of the property."
Naomi studied the documents.
A financial incentive could help explain why valuable vehicles appeared so frequently in the records.
But it would not establish who had benefited or whether the arrangements were unlawful.
That would require financial evidence.
The next several days would be critical.
The independent authorities would need to determine whether the seizure reports matched the actual stops, whether the vehicles had been lawfully held, whether the storage company had maintained accurate inventories, and whether any official had manipulated records.
The investigation would also need to establish what happened to property after it entered Kingsland's storage facilities.
Some owners might have recovered their vehicles.
Others might have paid substantial fees.
Some might have received notices that their property had been transferred or disposed of.
And some might have never discovered what had happened.
The red Ducati was still missing.
Naomi had received no confirmation that it had been secured in a location where it could not be moved, sold, or altered.
Margaret sent a formal request demanding that the motorcycle be preserved in its current condition, with all transport and storage records maintained.
The request included the vehicle identification number, the recovery company's name, the approximate time of the seizure, and the names of the officers involved.
It also requested documentation of every person who had handled the motorcycle after it was removed from Kingsley Road.
That afternoon, Margaret received an email from an investigator.
The county had confirmed that the Ducati was being held at a Kingsland Recovery facility outside town.
However, the inventory entry contained an unexpected detail.
The motorcycle had been assigned a new internal storage number.
The original police seizure reference was not listed in the primary storage field.
Instead, the record referred to a separate property transfer code.
Margaret read the email twice.
MARGARET ELLIS: "Naomi, look at this."
Naomi read the message.
NAOMI WHITLOCK: "Why would they assign a different transfer code?"
MARGARET ELLIS: "It may be an ordinary internal storage reference. But we need the complete record."
NAOMI WHITLOCK: "Does it identify who created the entry?"
MARGARET ELLIS: "Not in this summary."
Naomi looked at the photograph of her father's motorcycle.
NAOMI WHITLOCK: "I want to know whether the motorcycle is still there."
MARGARET ELLIS: "The investigator is arranging an independent inspection."
Naomi nodded.
She did not want the motorcycle returned without a proper record of its condition.
She wanted photographs, inventory details, and confirmation that no parts had been removed.
The motorcycle was valuable, but its sentimental importance was greater.
She wanted to know that the machine her father had maintained with such care was still intact.
Later that evening, Osei received a message from an unknown number.
It contained only a short sentence.
"I heard you are asking about the old Kingsland records. We need to talk."
There was no name.
Osei read the message several times.
He recognized the number only vaguely.
It might have belonged to Marcus Bell.
He did not reply immediately.
Instead, he contacted Margaret Ellis through the independent legal channel she had provided.
The message was forwarded with the time and number preserved.
Margaret advised him not to arrange a private meeting or promise anything.
If the sender was Marcus, the conversation needed to take place with appropriate safeguards.
The following morning, Margaret received another message.
This time, the sender identified himself.
Marcus Bell.
He stated that he had worked for Kingsland Recovery & Storage for nearly five years and had left after raising concerns about vehicle inventory and transfer records.
He claimed that he had kept copies of certain transport schedules and invoices.
He also stated that some of the records showed differences between the vehicles collected by the company and the property entries later submitted to the county.
Margaret read the message carefully.
Then she called Naomi.
MARGARET ELLIS: "We may have found the former transport employee."
NAOMI WHITLOCK: "Marcus Bell?"
MARGARET ELLIS: "Yes. He says he has records."
Naomi looked toward the window.
NAOMI WHITLOCK: "Does he want to speak?"
MARGARET ELLIS: "He is willing to meet, but he is concerned about retaliation."
NAOMI WHITLOCK: "That is understandable."
MARGARET ELLIS: "We should arrange the meeting through counsel and make sure he understands that he is free to seek independent advice."