Chapter 18 - The Missing Evidence
Security officers immediately sealed the building.
Every entrance was locked.
Every visitor was identified.
Every employee remained inside until further notice.
Yet something was already wrong.
The lead forensic analyst quickly checked the evidence inventory.
His face turned pale.
"Chief..."
Mercer looked up.
"What happened?"
"The original basement ledger."
Mercer's heart sank.
"What about it?"
"It's gone."
Silence filled the laboratory.
Only thirty minutes earlier, the handwritten ledger recovered behind the broken heater had been placed inside the secure evidence vault.
Now the evidence bag remained.
The ledger itself had disappeared.
"Impossible," Reeves muttered.
"The vault requires two access cards."
"It did."
The evidence supervisor hurried into the room carrying access logs.
"No forced entry."
"No alarm."
"No damaged lock."
Mercer studied the electronic record.
Only three authorized people had entered the vault that evening.
The evidence supervisor.
A forensic photographer.
And...
Lieutenant Harold Briggs.
Mercer's immediate superior.
The same Briggs whose name appeared repeatedly inside the recovered financial records.
Mercer slowly looked up.
"Where is Lieutenant Briggs?"
No one answered.
A dispatcher checked the internal tracking system.
"His vehicle left headquarters twenty-six minutes ago."
"Who approved it?"
"No approval was entered."
Mercer's voice became sharp.
"Find him."
Patrol cars immediately flooded the surrounding streets.
Roadblocks were requested.
Nearby jurisdictions received alerts.
But Arthur remained surprisingly calm.
Mercer noticed.
"You don't seem surprised."
Arthur looked toward the empty evidence bag.
"I've watched important evidence disappear before."
Mercer frowned.
"You expected this."
"I hoped I was wrong."
Arthur walked toward the laboratory window overlooking the parking lot.
"The ledger was valuable."
"But not irreplaceable."
Mercer stared.
"You copied it?"
Arthur smiled very slightly.
"I never rely on only one copy of the truth."
Before Mercer could ask what he meant, Reeves received another transmission.
"Chief..."
"What now?"
"We found Lieutenant Briggs' department vehicle."
"Where?"
"Abandoned beside Riverside Bridge."
Mercer grabbed his jacket.
May you like
"We're moving."
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