"The cooler and the counter," he said. "October second, eleven-twelve. I copied the files this afternoon before the system overwrote them."
"The company told you not to."
"Yes. I know what I did."
"You have a family and a business. Why?"
He handed her the newspaper clipping with the black ribbon folded over it. "My father lost two thousand dollars on a highway in 1998. He died thinking nobody had heard him. I found a way to make sure someone is heard this time."
Audrey accepted the drive but did not immediately open the file. She made a contemporaneous note of the time, the person who supplied it, the names visible on the medium, and the manner in which Sunil described making the copies. She photographed the receipt and the handwritten export statement. Only after he confirmed her notes did she put on tea.
"Will they take my license?" Sunil asked over a cup of shortbread tea.
"They may try. I'm not going to promise you they won't. You have legal rights of your own, and I can help you find independent counsel or a support organization without directing your testimony."
"My wife said I should do something I could explain tomorrow."
"Then I hope tomorrow you can tell her the truth and sleep."
A little after one in the morning on November first, the store's rolling recording system completed its scheduled overwrite of the original October second segments. Sunil checked his watch. He and Audrey sat in her dining room with the copied files resting on her laptop, the source record carefully described in her notes. The courthouse still had not appointed an outside judge.
"It's gone at the store now," Sunil said.
"Not the copy you brought here."
Together they watched the cooler camera. A deputy in a navy uniform opened the third refrigerator, took out one brown beer bottle, and walked to the counter. On the second view, the uniform was unmistakable and the patrol vehicle outside bore the number seven. Derek Lyman paid with a county card and left the building at 11:12 a.m.
Audrey watched the first few seconds again to ensure she had recognized him correctly. Then she closed the playback window and wrote down exactly what the clip showed. She did not write that the video proved he later placed the bottle under her seat. That remained to be tested against other evidence and testimony. She wrote that it proved Lyman bought a cold beer while on duty shortly before claiming to find one under her driver's seat, despite later denying such a purchase.
Sunil stared at the darkened laptop. "What happens now?"
"Now somebody has to ask him to explain it, and the explanation has to be recorded."