Chapter 8 - EVELYN’S SHORTCUT
Evelyn was temporarily removed from Harbor Point evidence handling.
Then the defense moved to remove her from the entire case.
Not because the Briar drive had been altered.
Because Evelyn was now:
Victim of attempted evidence theft.
Witness to Margaret’s obstruction.
Potential witness regarding transport policy failures.
And the prosecutor who had made the decision allowing Vale Protective to receive operational windows.
Defense counsel argued her personal interest compromised judgment.
Mara called the motion aggressive.
Not frivolous.
Evelyn hated that more.
She sat in a conference room with ethics counsel.
“Did you approve private-security access?”
“Yes.”
“Were you required to?”
“No.”
“Why did you?”
“Because government escort scheduling kept delaying Arthur.”
“Did anyone warn you against it?”
“One investigator said we should keep all movement data internal.”
“Who?”
“Nolan Price.”
Evelyn stopped.
That detail had become awkward.
“What did you say?”
“That if Vale Protective got time windows only, risk was manageable.”
“Did you document the limitation?”
“Yes.”
That helped.
Then the transport choice.
“Why not wait forty-five minutes for an investigator?”
“I had a witness-prep deadline.”
“Could somebody else conduct it?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you?”
Evelyn looked down.
“Because it was my witness.”
There.
Possession.
Her case.
Her witness.
Her schedule.
She had made two separate decisions because she trusted herself to manage the risk.
Then ethics counsel asked:
“Have you contacted Arthur since the plaza?”
“Yes.”
Mara looked up sharply.
“When?”
“Last night.”
“Through counsel?”
“No.”
Evelyn knew immediately.
Another mistake.
She had called Arthur directly.
Not about testimony.
About the leak.
She asked him to confirm in writing that no one from his side had accessed the Briar drive.
Why?
Because she wanted something to use against the disqualification motion.
Mara’s face tightened.
“You contacted a cooperating witness to obtain a statement helpful to keeping yourself on his case.”
“I asked a factual question.”
“You had personal stakes.”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell his lawyer first?”
“No.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
There was no useful explanation.
Arthur had answered:
“I don’t know.”
Then called his lawyer.
His lawyer called Mara.
Now it was in the record.
Evelyn had not threatened Arthur.
Had not coached testimony.
Still bad judgment.
The judge removed her from direct witness contact pending review.
Not from the prosecution yet.
Mara said:
“You are making this easier for the defense.”
“I know.”
Mara stared.
Evelyn corrected.
“I understand.”
Then internal investigators found the account issue.
Nolan Price’s workstation had indeed opened Mara’s session.
But Price had a technical explanation.
The Public Integrity Bureau used shared docking stations.
Mara had authenticated there during a morning evidence review.
Her smartcard removal should have ended the session.
A legacy case-management module kept the credential token alive for six hours.
Bad system.
Price later logged into his own workstation profile.
The module continued accessing evidence services under Mara’s token.
Could Price still intentionally use it?
Yes.
Did the mere log prove he had?
No.
Then the device history showed a PDF export.
2:14 p.m.
BRIAR_TRANSPORT.pdf
Saved locally.
2:17—
copied to a USB device.
Nolan Price looked at the entry.
“I never used a USB.”
“What device?”
Serial number unknown.
The bureau blocked most removable storage.
One category remained allowed.
Agency-issued encrypted field drives.
Price had one.
So did every investigator on the case.
Then the office searched Price’s issued drive.
The file was not there.
May you like
Someone had used an approved device—
then removed it.
