Daniel shook his head. "That's not what I mean."
Price raised a hand. "Let's stay with what can be documented." She looked at Maya. "You knew this would happen."
"I expected it."
"You knew Brett would attack the chain of custody."
"Yes."
"You knew he would point to your employment history."
"Yes."
"You knew the unknown source would be a problem."
"Yes."
Price picked up the sealed envelope and looked at it. "Then why let this card become the center of the entire night?"
Maya did not answer immediately.
Price continued, "You took a shift because you expected someone to leave it here. You stayed after Brett arrived. You refused to tell me where it was until we discussed preserving records. Now that I have it, every problem Brett identified is real."
"I know."
Price's voice hardened slightly. "A court will not ignore those problems because you had good intentions."
"I don't expect it to."
"An investigator cannot assume the contents are authentic simply because Brett wanted the card."
"I know."
"You cannot establish who created it."
"No."
"You cannot establish who handled it before tonight."
"No."
"You cannot establish an uninterrupted chain before I recovered it."
"No."
Brett spoke from several feet away. "That's the whole issue."
Maya turned toward him. "No. That's the issue you want."
Brett's face remained controlled. Price looked between them. "Explain that."
Maya walked closer to the counter. "The first thing Brett wanted was the card before anyone else could see it. Once he realized you were going to recover it properly, he stopped trying to get it back."
Brett said, "Because once it is in evidence, procedure applies."
"Exactly. That helps you, too."
"It does."
Brett frowned; Maya continued: "Now you can challenge everything that happened before Sergeant Price picked it up: you can say no one knows who made it, who touched it, or whether anything on it is genuine. All of that is true."
"Yes." Brett looked toward Price. "She's admitting my argument."
Maya nodded. "I am."
That answer interrupted him. Price watched Maya carefully.
"You're telling me the strongest argument against this card is correct?"
"Yes."
"Then why protect it?"
"Because Brett thought finding it would end the problem."
Price glanced at the sealed envelope. "Doesn't it?"
"No."
Brett's expression changed slightly; Price noticed. She asked, "What exactly do you believe is on this card?"
Maya looked at Brett before answering. "Enough information to matter."
"That's still not an answer."
"It's the answer I can give until the data is examined correctly."
Price's patience was nearly gone. "You've told me the card may not be reliable. You've admitted its history cannot be established. You've accepted that Brett can challenge almost every part of its origin. So tell me why you risked your job, your credibility, and possibly more for something that may never prove what you think happened."
Maya looked at the sealed envelope. Then she met Price's eyes.
"I never said it could prove what happened."