Maya did not answer.
He leaned forward slightly. "You're in my police station under circumstances that are already becoming difficult. I need to know whether this is an investigation."
"You need to place me on the secure line."
Mercer considered pushing further, then decided against it.
When they returned to the front desk, Rebecca was waiting. Her confidence had not disappeared, but it was no longer automatic. Mercer handed Maya the phone. She took it and turned slightly away from the desk.
"Williams."
The voice on the other end spoke long enough for Ben to hear nothing but silence from Maya.
Then she said, "Credential destroyed. Secure case locked under automatic seal. No breach of contents. Two local verification returns completed before detention."
Rebecca's eyes moved toward Mercer.
Maya continued: "Yes. Front desk video should cover the entire event." She listened again. "Understood."
She handed the phone back to Mercer.
Rebecca finally asked, "Are you actually FBI?"
Maya looked at her.
Mercer answered first: "Special Agent Maya Williams, Federal Bureau of Investigation."
Ben slowly lowered his eyes to the desk. Rebecca stared at the two torn pieces of the credential. After several seconds, she said, "She refused to identify herself."
Maya replied, "I followed the access instructions attached to the credential."
Rebecca's voice became sharper. "You let this happen?"
"No. I let you make your own decisions."
Mercer stepped between the argument before it could grow. "Enough. We handle this professionally from this point forward."
Maya looked at him. "Then start by preserving the front desk video, the access logs, the internal verification record, and every administrative action tied to that case."
Mercer frowned. "We can have our IT staff prepare copies."
"No." The answer came immediately. Maya continued, "No one prepares anything. No one deletes anything. No one exports anything until the original systems are preserved."
Rebecca said, "You don't have authority to take control of our entire network because of a credential dispute."
Maya looked at her. "This was never a credential dispute."
That stopped both Rebecca and Mercer.
A woman standing near the entrance to the records office had been listening. She was in her early 50s, with an employee badge identifying her as Lena Ortiz, digital evidence administrator. She approached carefully.
"Agent Williams."
Maya turned.