But the security video raised an obvious question.
How had the watch reached the sergeant's possession before the search?
The investigators examined the original theft report.
It had been filed by a representative associated with the development company.
The representative claimed the watch disappeared during the historical society event.
The elderly homeowner had attended.
He'd stood near the display.
And he'd spoken with a volunteer about the watch's history.
Those details were true.
But the report contained no direct observation of him taking the item.
There was no independent evidence linking him to its disappearance.
Then investigators contacted the historical society.
A retired librarian who volunteered there remembered the event clearly.
She had helped arrange the display.
She knew which family had loaned the watch.
And she remembered that the watch was still present after the elderly homeowner departed.
The investigator asked how she knew.
The librarian smiled.
"Because I photographed it while we were closing."
She retrieved the pictures.
The images contained the watch resting in its display case after the elderly man's departure.
Other records helped confirm the timing.
The photographs didn't establish the entire chain of custody.
But they contradicted the suggestion that the homeowner had taken the watch during his visit.
The librarian also remembered something else.
Later that evening, the development company's representative asked whether he could collect the watch on behalf of the family that loaned it.
She directed him to the event coordinator.
The investigator contacted the coordinator.
He confirmed that someone associated with the lender had retrieved the watch after the event.
The handoff had been ordinary.
A property owner collecting an item after a temporary display.
Nothing suspicious.
Except that a theft report was filed afterward.
The investigator reviewed the records.
Then requested an interview with the person who had collected the watch.
The response came through an attorney.
The representative insisted the item had been misplaced after collection.
But the explanation didn't answer how the sergeant came to possess it.
Financial and communication records became increasingly important.
Through appropriate legal processes, investigators obtained messages connecting the development company's land acquisition director with the sergeant.
One message referred to the pocket watch.
Another mentioned the homeowner's pickup.
And another specifically instructed that the blue folder be located before the family could submit it to the county's records office.
The investigator read that message twice.