The machine had been used hundreds of times since the ledger was scanned.
Its internal storage was nearly full.
Routine maintenance had overwritten portions of older temporary files.
But after a forensic examiner preserved the relevant storage and reconstructed available data, we recovered several partial page images.
Most were irrelevant.
Old property receipts.
Routine inventories.
Equipment records.
Then we found an image showing the top half of page 187.
The page number was visible.
So was the date.
And beneath it, the beginning of the South Harbor Auto Exchange entry.
I stood behind the examiner, watching the image appear on the workstation.
Dana stood beside me.
Neither of us spoke.
The image was incomplete.
The bottom portion had not been recovered.
But the surviving entries showed three separate property items.
Item A: Currency package — $117,400.
Item B: Currency package — $100,000.
Item C: Digital recording device and associated storage media.
I felt my pulse quicken.
The two currency amounts totaled $217,400.
Exactly the amount recorded on Elena Brooks's original seizure receipt.
The digital device matched the missing item listed in the initial inventory.
Dana leaned closer.
"That establishes the original property breakdown."
I nodded.
"Assuming the image authenticates."
The examiner looked toward us.
"The metadata is consistent with the scanner's records, and we have a matching scan sequence from the surrounding pages. I'll document the recovery process and run the necessary validation."
I nodded.
"Good."
Then Dana pointed toward a handwritten notation beside Item C.
"Marcus."
I leaned forward.
The note was faint.
Partially obscured by a crease.
But several words were readable.
Hold pending command review.
Beneath it was a signature.
Not a full signature.
An initial followed by a surname.
H. Mercer.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Dana whispered, "There he is."
I shook my head slightly.
"Not yet."
She looked toward me.
I pointed toward the screen.
"We have an image of a handwritten notation. We need to authenticate it, establish who made it, and determine whether Mercer authorized the transfer."
Dana nodded.
But we both understood the significance.
The deputy chief's name appeared beside the digital recording device that vanished from the official property trail.
The same deputy chief who had arrived at the raid.
The same man who allegedly warned Elena Brooks to stop challenging the police.
The same man who appeared at the precinct within ninety minutes of our arrival.
And the same man who insisted the missing ledger was probably an administrative misunderstanding.
I looked toward the image.