Naomi called Ellen Avery and read her the scope while Maya waited on the porch with the document. Ellen contacted the clerk to confirm that the order had actually been issued, then warned that the sisters should preserve their objections and avoid any unnecessary physical confrontation. A court-issued order could be challenged later if it rested on misleading information, she explained, but the safest immediate course was to allow only what its language clearly permitted. Maya thanked her and returned to Keller with the document still in her hand. "We will comply with the limited on-site inspection while preserving our objections to the affidavit," she said.
Keller nodded as though he had expected precisely that answer. "Good. This is much easier when everyone understands that the legal process applies to them." He looked meaningfully at Pike, who smiled for the first time that morning. The sergeant had exchanged his earlier anger for a restless anticipation that made Naomi wonder what he believed the inspection would accomplish. She had already checked that all files were preserved outside the house, but she disliked the satisfaction in his face.
"The equipment cabinet is in the front hall," Naomi explained. "You may view the designated recorder and the relevant forty-eight-hour footage under the limitations of the order. Nothing else in the house is included." Keller stepped into the entrance, followed by Pike, while Maya reminded them that Shaw and the other officers were to remain outside unless there was a specific legal reason for their presence. The lieutenant looked at the wording again and motioned for his men to stay on the porch. For a moment, the confrontation seemed to have become the kind of procedural exchange that could occur without threats.
The front hallway smelled faintly of fresh wood polish, and the cabinet hung on a wall beside the coat hooks James had made by hand. Naomi had kept the original local recording unit after adding the remote storage service because it provided a convenient way to review clips without downloading them. Its small lights blinked behind a ventilated cover, and cables ran from the cabinet to a separate networking box above the shelf. She turned the inspection screen toward Keller and offered to display the requested period. Every file on the device corresponded to an off-site original, but she did not volunteer the details of that architecture beyond what the order required.
Keller examined the cabinet from a short distance, pretending to study the labels. "So this is the equipment that recorded the encounter?" he asked. Naomi confirmed that it was one component of the system. He leaned closer and asked whether the files could be deleted from the front panel. She answered that the device had normal administrative functions but that all relevant material had already been preserved under separate retention procedures. Keller's eyes moved briefly toward Pike, and Maya saw the exchange.
"We're not here to delete anything," Keller said smoothly. "We're here to inspect it."
Pike shifted his weight, then pointed toward the cabinet. "I want the actual box. Not a screen somebody could have edited." Maya looked down at the order again.
"The document allows an on-site inspection. It does not authorize removal, and it does not authorize entering the other rooms or seizing equipment." Pike muttered something about criminals hiding behind paperwork. Naomi remained at the cabinet, her hands resting lightly on the table rather than near any power switch.
From the porch, Cole spoke up. "Sergeant, we can document what the recorder displays and request a forensic review if the court authorizes it. We don't need to take it out." The young officer's tone was careful, as though he was trying to give Pike a path back without publicly contradicting him. Mercer agreed that the order had limits. Shaw said nothing, but he had begun looking from the cabinet to Pike with an expression of dawning unease.