"It could have been. I'm not saying it was."
Paul wrote carefully. "What did she do with it?"
"She put it in a clear specimen pouch."
"Then what?"
"Later, I saw Lieutenant Harland carrying a clear pouch."
"The same pouch?"
Evelyn shook her head. "I can't swear to that."
Paul looked up. "That distinction matters."
"I know."
"You understand this statement could become part of a formal investigation?"
"Yes."
"And that Officer Mercer or Lieutenant Harland may dispute it?"
"I expect them to."
Paul studied her for a moment. "Why come forward now?"
Evelyn looked toward the closed door. "I've worked emergency medicine for 37 years. I've asked frightened people to trust this hospital when they couldn't trust much else around them." She paused before continuing. "I'm not going to retire pretending I didn't see what happened in it."
Paul stopped writing for half a second. Then he resumed.
Outside the consultation room, Maya stood near the nurse's station while Dr. Caldwell reviewed Isaiah's latest respiratory numbers. His breathing was improving, though he still looked exhausted. Maya allowed herself a brief glance through the glass: only a mother now, not the person giving orders. It was harder than she expected.
Across the hall, Harland was speaking to Keller again when a hospital administrator joined them.
"I need a list," Harland said.
The administrator frowned. "A list of what?"
"Everyone who accessed security systems during the lockdown."
"Why?"
"Because somebody inside this hospital is interfering with a police matter."
Maya heard enough to understand what had changed: Harland had realized information was leaving the system.
Somewhere inside St. Matthew Regional, Noah Bennett sat at a workstation in a windowless IT office, watching a new audit request appear across his screen:
*Staff Access Review: Emergency Security System.*
His stomach tightened. The request was broad enough to include everyone who had opened the access control logs, including him.
A second request appeared moments later:
*Camera Routing Access History.*