"Who could have changed the archive entry without creating a visible new case?" Maya asked.
Lena displayed the elevated permissions list. Her account appeared first, followed by limited security authority, Mercer's executive credentials, and contractor certificates associated with Sloan Integrated Systems. The broadest contractor account could manipulate metadata in ways ordinary users could not. Owen confirmed the capability but cautioned that capability was not proof of actual use.
"Then we need the authentication trail," Maya said. "Don't jump to a person just because the permission belongs to an account. We need to know which session performed the change and who controlled that session."
The difference mattered to her. People had already been willing to treat Nathan as guilty because an official file said so. She would not repeat the same error in reverse by turning a suspicious certificate into an accusation against a person she had not interviewed. Evidence was powerful precisely because it imposed limits on both sides of a dispute.
Lena located Nathan's complaint history. His request for a review of the complete recording had been closed under an administrative command account with a brief statement that the video supported the officer. It did not explain the altered source history. Maya instructed the team to preserve the closure action and identify the individual who had used the account. Then she asked Lena to locate Nathan's attorney rather than contact the young man through the station that had detained him.
When the attorney agreed to a federal interview, Maya took the telephone. "Nathan, I'm Special Agent Maya Williams. I'm calling about the evidence associated with your detention in Asheford."
There was a silence long enough that she checked whether the call was still connected. Then a young man's voice answered. "I've already told the police what happened. They said the video proved I was lying."
"I'm not calling to ask you to retell everything right now. We recovered a source recording connected to that encounter, and we've placed it under federal preservation."
"The whole recording?"
"An uninterrupted recording of the initial search."
"Does it show the card?"
"It does not show a restricted access card among your belongings during that search."
Nathan said nothing. In the background Maya could hear what sounded like traffic and a television turned low. She pictured him standing somewhere with a telephone against his ear, trying to decide whether he dared believe this conversation. At last he exhaled.
"So somebody finally found it."
"We've found a record. We haven't yet established who changed the official evidence or why."
"Do you believe me?"
Maya paused. She understood the question was larger than whether he expected her to endorse a statement. Nathan wanted to know if someone in authority could see him as a person again rather than as a suspect permanently attached to a suspicious card.