Margaret compared the entries.
Some vehicles appeared in both columns with matching identification numbers.
Others did not.
MARGARET ELLIS: "There are missing entries."
MARCUS BELL: "Exactly."
NAOMI WHITLOCK: "How many?"
MARCUS BELL: "In the records I reviewed, I found at least seventeen vehicles where the final disposition didn't match the original transport record."
Margaret looked up.
MARGARET ELLIS: "Seventeen?"
MARCUS BELL: "That's what I could identify. I stopped counting after I realized I needed to keep copies of everything."
Naomi studied the pages.
NAOMI WHITLOCK: "What happened to those vehicles?"
MARCUS BELL: "I don't know. Some may have been transferred to other facilities. Some may have been released to their owners. But the records I had did not show a complete explanation."
MARGARET ELLIS: "Did you report the discrepancies?"
Marcus nodded.
MARCUS BELL: "I sent an internal email to my supervisor. I also raised it during a meeting."
MARGARET ELLIS: "Do you still have the email?"
Marcus opened his folder and removed a printed message.
MARCUS BELL: "This is the one."
The email was dated eleven months earlier.
Marcus had listed several vehicle identification numbers and asked for confirmation of their final storage locations.
The response came from Peter Rowe.
It was brief.
The company was instructed to follow the county's latest property administration report. Any unresolved differences were to be referred to the county contact.
There was no direct explanation.
Naomi read the response.
NAOMI WHITLOCK: "Did you contact the county?"
MARCUS BELL: "Yes. I spoke to Martin Greaves."
Margaret looked at him.
MARGARET ELLIS: "What did he say?"
MARCUS BELL: "He told me that the county's records were being updated and that I shouldn't interfere with administrative matters."
NAOMI WHITLOCK: "Did he give you a written response?"
MARCUS BELL: "No."
MARGARET ELLIS: "Did you follow up?"
MARCUS BELL: "I sent another email. Nobody answered."
He looked down at his hands.
MARCUS BELL: "A few days later, my supervisor told me I was being removed from the transport schedule."
Naomi remained silent.
MARCUS BELL: "At first, I thought it was temporary. Then I was assigned to cleaning and vehicle preparation. I had worked in transport for years. Suddenly, I wasn't allowed to see the schedules anymore."
MARGARET ELLIS: "Did anyone explain the change?"
MARCUS BELL: "They said the company was reorganizing."
NAOMI WHITLOCK: "Did you believe that was the real reason?"
Marcus looked at her.
MARCUS BELL: "No."
He took a breath.
MARCUS BELL: "I believe they wanted me away from the records."
The room became quiet.
Margaret carefully separated the documents into groups.
MARGARET ELLIS: "Marcus, we need to establish which of these are original records, which are copies, and how each was obtained."
MARCUS BELL: "I understand."
MARGARET ELLIS: "Do not alter the files or attempt to access the company's systems. We will arrange a proper process for transferring the material to independent investigators."
Marcus nodded.
MARGARET ELLIS: "You should also consider obtaining your own legal advice. You may be an important witness, but your employment history and any involvement in the transport process could be examined."
MARCUS BELL: "I expected that."
Naomi looked at him.
NAOMI WHITLOCK: "Why did you keep these records for so long?"
Marcus glanced at the folder.
MARCUS BELL: "Because I knew something was wrong. I didn't know how big it was, and I didn't know who would listen. But I kept thinking about the people whose vehicles we collected."
He paused.
MARCUS BELL: "Some of them were ordinary people. They needed their cars to get to work. Some were small business owners. One man had a delivery van that he used to support his family. When I saw his name in a later report, the vehicle was still listed as being held, even though the transport record said it had been moved months earlier."
Naomi listened carefully.
MARCUS BELL: "I started asking myself what would happen if nobody ever checked."
NAOMI WHITLOCK: "You did the right thing by preserving what you had observed."
Marcus looked relieved, but only slightly.
MARCUS BELL: "I hope so."
MARGARET ELLIS: "The next step is to verify every document independently."
The meeting lasted another hour.
Marcus identified the employees who had handled certain transport schedules. He explained the company's routine procedures and pointed out where the handwritten instructions differed from the normal workflow.
He also described the storage facility.
Vehicles were assigned numbered spaces. Each arrival was supposed to receive an inspection record, photographs, and an inventory entry. When a vehicle left the facility, the departure had to be documented with the relevant authorization.
However, Marcus said that the records were not always completed in the same order.
Sometimes the vehicle appeared in the transport log before the county paperwork arrived.
Sometimes the storage entry was created several hours after delivery.
And sometimes the final disposition field remained blank for weeks.
Margaret wrote down every detail.
By the time the meeting ended, the folder on the table had become the starting point for a much wider examination.
Naomi did not leave with a sense of victory.
She left with a growing understanding of how many people might have been affected.
The following week, independent investigators began reviewing the evidence.
They did not rely solely on the records Naomi had received at the station or the documents Marcus had preserved.