Chapter 17 - The Archive Room
The courthouse basement controller still had logs.
That mundane device became one of most important pieces.
Because it had never been upgraded, it stored local door transactions longer than central system.
IT expert extracted.
Seven months earlier:
12:34 a.m. emergency override used on Archive C.
Override code assigned to facilities supervisor Howard Pike.
Video showed Howard.
Barnes entered.
Bell truck.
Then at 12:51:
Evidence transfer room opened.
At 1:07:
Loading door.
Cross referenced sheriff evidence inventory.
That night, twenty six items marked destroyed.
Bell disposal receipt listed eighteen.
Eight missing.
Later searches traced five to online auction accounts linked to Bell employee.
Bell admitted.
Three remained unknown.
Financial records showed Barnes received North Ridge payment shortly after.
My report threatened chain.
Howard deleted.
Marjorie noticed.
This was corruption spine.
Not classified intelligence.
A door controller.
A janitor.
A clerk.
May you like
A teenage civics project.
Ordinary people created evidence.
