Evelyn gently touched his shoulder. "Come on. Dr. Caldwell wants another breathing check."
Isaiah turned to leave, then looked back at Maya. "Think about what I said."
"I will."
After they were gone, Maya sat again and wrapped both hands around the cold coffee. For the first time, walking away did not feel like cowardice: it felt like something she might owe her son.
The door opened twenty minutes later. Paul entered carrying a property sheet and a small evidence inventory. His expression was different: not alarmed—focused.
"I need Isaiah to answer one more question about the drives."
Maya looked up. "What question?"
Paul placed the inventory on the table. "Why is his own USB blue?"
Paul did not wait for Maya to answer. He picked up the property inventory and headed toward Isaiah's treatment room while Maya followed several steps behind. She knew the boundary Keller had imposed and kept herself outside the formal interview, but she also knew why Paul's question mattered.
Isaiah was sitting upright again when they entered. The respiratory mask had been removed, and Dr. Caldwell had replaced it with a simpler oxygen line while monitoring his breathing. Evelyn stood beside the medication cart, reviewing the last set of readings.
Paul pulled a chair closer to the bed. "Isaiah, I need you to think carefully about something. Your property inventory lists one blue USB drive. Is that your normal college drive?"
Isaiah looked puzzled. "Yes, I use it for class."
"You're certain?"
"I've had it since last semester. It has my engineering files on it."
Paul glanced at the inventory. "Then the officers opened your own drive during the lockdown."
Isaiah nodded slowly. "That makes sense. The blue one is mine."
"What about the black one?"
"That's the one I picked up near campus."
Maya remained near the doorway, listening without interrupting.
Paul leaned forward. "Earlier, you said you thought you put the black drive in a small pocket of your backpack. I need you to reconstruct what happened after the police brought you here. Don't guess. If you don't know, say you don't know."
Isaiah closed his eyes briefly, concentrating. "They were going through my backpack before they moved me all the way into the treatment area."
"Did you see them searching it?"
"Some of it. They had it open on a chair while somebody was asking me questions."
"Was the black drive still inside?"
"I think so." Paul waited. Isaiah frowned. "No. Hold on." He looked down at his hands. "I moved it."
Maya's attention sharpened, but she stayed silent.
Paul asked, "When?"
"After they started asking about computer files."
"What exactly did they ask?"