No. Did Mercer? I saw him checking the camera in his patrol car. Later, he told me the files were corrupted. Blake wrote that down.
Did you believe him? No. Why not? The timing. He knew the camera had recorded the stop and the device responded normally when it was connected at intake.
Noah looked down for a moment. I should have said something immediately. Blake did not interrupt. I didn't, he continued.
I was worried I was making assumptions. Mercer had seniority over me and Captain Dugan was already involved. So, I documented what the system showed instead. The specialist turned the laptop toward Noah.
Show me. Noah opened the maintenance section of the evidence management system. This is the first note. The camera responded during initial intake before supervisory review.
I entered the serial number, intake reference, and time, Blake asked. Did you alter the evidence status? No. Copy any restricted files? No. Create any false entries?
No, ma'am. The specialist checked the system history. The note is timestamped. Noah pointed to another field.
"This one came later. An original inventory record connected to the black case disappeared from the normal screen, so I documented that it had existed before supervisory access." The specialist began comparing Noah's entries with the system-generated audit logs. Several minutes passed.
Then he said the timestamps match. Blake moved closer. What exactly matches? The camera was entered as active electronic evidence.
Later Mercer's account accessed the record. After that a supervisory account assigned to Captain Dugan opened it. The status changed to damaged equipment. He opened another log.
The black case was also modified after Dugan accessed the system. One inventory line was removed and another entry was reclassified. Blake looked at Noah. You knew Dugan was making the changes.
I knew his account was accessing the records. I didn't know exactly what he was doing inside the evidence room. You saw him there? Yes.
Did you see him destroy anything? No. Blake nodded. Good. Keep separating what you know from what you suspect.
Noah looked relieved that she had said it. I understand.
Outside the conference room, Dugan waited with Mercer near the administrative desks. Mercer kept looking toward the closed door. What did Bennett tell them? Dugan answered without looking at him.
I don't know. You think he's turning on us? Dugan finally faced him. There is no us in an independent investigation.
Mercer stared at him. That's not what you said earlier. Keep your voice down. You told me how to write the report.
I told you to document your actions clearly. That's not what happened. Dugan stepped closer. You need to stop talking.