"We confirmed it three times," Adrien said. "The credential presented as valid."
Raymond asked, "Could someone steal her password?"
"Not enough," Adrien said. "Her account uses hardware authentication and a second factor. Someone would need more than a password."
Maya looked at him. "Could a privileged administrator create a duplicate credential?"
Adrien hesitated before answering. "Yes."
"How many people have that authority?"
"Very few."
"Put the names in writing."
Adrien nodded. "I'll have it in ten minutes."
Before Maya could ask another question, the receptionist called her desk. "Miss Williams, Deputy Chief Everett Sloan is downstairs. He says he'd like to speak with you about last night."
Maya looked at Raymond. "Did you call him?"
"No."
She told reception to send Sloan up. Raymond moved toward the conference room. Maya stopped him.
"You don't have to sit in."
"I know you're going to anyway."
"Yes."
A few minutes later, Everett Sloan entered the conference room alone. He was in his mid-fifties, dressed in a dark suit rather than a police uniform. His manner was controlled and professional.
He shook Maya's hand. "Miss Williams, I'm Everett Sloan. I oversee professional standards and evidence integrity. I wanted to personally apologize for what happened at Harrison Street."
Maya gestured toward a chair. Sloan sat. Raymond remained near the end of the table. Sloan acknowledged him with a nod. "Mr. Williams."
Raymond returned the nod.
Sloan continued, "Officers Keller and Trent have been removed from street duty pending administrative review. We're examining Officer Barrett's role separately."
Maya asked, "What reason did Keller give for approaching me?"
"He claims he believed you possessed material connected to an active investigation."
"Which investigation?"
"He has not provided a satisfactory answer."
"Then why did he try to search my bag without a warrant?"
"That is one of the issues under review."
Maya watched Sloan closely. Every answer was careful.
He placed a folder on the table. "We'd like your cooperation. Specifically, we're requesting a copy of the diner surveillance video, your preliminary audit materials, and the encrypted memory card in your possession."
Raymond did not move. Maya kept her expression neutral. "What memory card?"
Sloan paused, only briefly. "The one connected to the audit."
Maya folded her hands on the table. "Where did you learn there was a memory card?"
"It was referenced in the incident information circulated after the diner event."
"No, it wasn't."
Sloan looked at her.
Maya continued, "The responding officers documented an attempted search of my bag. They did not document the contents of the bag. I did not give a statement describing a memory card."
Sloan adjusted his position slightly. "Information moves quickly during an internal review. Someone may have included it in a supplemental communication."
"Who?"
"I'd have to check."
Maya nodded once. "Please do."
Sloan did not appear unsettled, but he changed direction. "The important point is that disputed evidence should be placed under proper institutional control."
"My legal counsel will coordinate any lawful transfer."
"That may slow things down."
"I'm comfortable with that."
Sloan looked toward Raymond for the first time since sitting down. "You agree?"
Raymond answered, "It isn't my company."
Sloan returned his attention to Maya. "These situations become more difficult when several parties begin treating the same data as personal property."
"Verified evidence isn't personal property," Maya said.
"Exactly." Sloan stood. "I hope we can keep this professional."
"So do I."
He shook her hand again and left.
The conference room remained quiet after the door closed. Maya waited several seconds before speaking. "He knew."
Raymond sat down in the chair Sloan had just used. "He knew something he should have needed you to tell him."
"He could still have learned it from someone else."
"Yes."
Maya looked at him. "You don't think that makes him less suspicious?"
"No. It makes the question more specific: who told him?"
Raymond nodded.
Adrien entered before Maya could continue. "I have the privileged administrator list." He placed the tablet on the table. Four names appeared; Adrien's was one of them. Maya read them twice.
Then the engineer from operations appeared at the doorway. "Miss Williams, there's more."
Maya followed him back to the console. A second log entry had been isolated: her credential had not merely accessed the audit environment during the diner incident; it had also initiated a verification change shortly before the first backup lost integrity status.
Maya stared at the record. Adrien stood beside her.
"Someone is using your identity inside the system."
Raymond looked at the screen, then at the people gathered around it. "Or someone is building a record that says she did it herself."
No one answered.
Maya looked again at Sloan's request for the memory card, then at the false activity recorded under her name. The problem was no longer limited to protecting evidence: someone had started creating evidence against her.
Maya spent the next hour with outside counsel reviewing the false credential activity while Adrien's technical team isolated every system touched by her account. Nobody was allowed to delete or repair anything; even obvious errors remained in place until they could be copied, logged, and independently reviewed.
Raymond stayed near the conference room window with a cup of coffee that had already gone cold. He had said very little since the second false entry appeared under Maya's name.
Maya ended a call with her attorney and looked at him. "You've been quiet."
"I'm listening."
"To what?"