“How did this get here?”
“No idea.”
“You're sheriff.”
“I don't inventory every piece of evidence.”
“There’s no evidence tag.”
“Then maybe somebody dumped it.”
“In a locked evidence room?”
Boyd said nothing.
A technician scanned the case.
“General.”
Sarah looked.
“There's a signal inside.”
“What kind?”
“Active beacon.”
Boyd’s head snapped up.
Sarah stared at the case.
Her team had not placed a beacon in it.
That meant somebody else had.
“Frequency?”
The technician checked.
Then looked toward Ortiz.
“Defense tracking architecture.”
Sarah’s brow tightened.
“Legacy?”
“No.”
“Current.”
That was impossible.
The original missing equipment had vanished before the task force knew to track it.
Unless the device inside was not the original.
Sarah looked at Reed.
He understood the same possibility.
“Do not open it here.”
“Agreed.”
The case was moved to a secure federal vehicle.
Boyd watched.
His face gave nothing away.
Sarah noticed.
He knew something.
The second shock came from Toby.
At 6:11 p.m., he found Sarah alone near the booking counter while federal teams worked through records.
“General?”
She turned.
“You're Deputy Miller.”
“Toby.”
“What do you need?”
He looked toward Boyd’s office.
“I need to show you something.”
“Show me.”
“Not here.”
Sarah studied him.
Fear.
Real.
“Why?”
“Because I don't know who else is involved.”
That got her attention.
They moved into an interview room already cleared by federal agents.
Toby locked the door.
Then pulled out his phone.
“I've been taking pictures.”
“How long?”
“Six months.”
Sarah’s eyes sharpened.
“Of what?”
“Impound sheets.”
“Cash logs.”
“Cars.”
“Evidence.”
He opened a folder.
Hundreds of photographs.
Sarah scrolled.
Dates.
Names.
Amounts.
Tow invoices.
Some pages had Boyd’s initials.
Others Nolan’s.
Then Toby showed the white box truck she had noticed.
“This arrived four nights ago.”
“From where?”
“Fort Redmond.”
Sarah looked at him.
“Why was it impounded?”
“Paper says mechanical failure.”
“Case number?”
“None.”
“Driver?”
“Not listed.”
“Where is it now?”
“Cleary Recovery.”
Sarah stood.
“Who knows you copied this?”
“Nobody.”
“Keep it that way.”
He swallowed.
“General?”
“Yes?”
“Am I in trouble?”
“For documenting potential misconduct?”
“For not reporting sooner.”
Sarah paused.
Honesty mattered.