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She sighs.

"That's where things get strange."

I stop reading.

"The footage?"

"Corrupted."

"Hardware failure?"

"We thought so."

"And now?"

"It only happened during the critical window."

That gets my attention.

"Convenient."

"Exactly."

She reaches for another folder.

"We pulled cloud backups."

"And?"

"They're corrupted too."

I lean back.

"Impossible."

"So I said."

She slides printed screenshots across the table. Digital timestamps. Missing video segments. Checksum reports. System diagnostics. Everything points toward one conclusion. The cameras recorded something. That something no longer exists. Not because the files were deleted. Because portions of the recordings simply… aren't there.

Like someone cut pieces out of reality.

I don't say that aloud.

Instead, I ask, "Any signs someone accessed the system remotely?"

"Our cyber unit checked."

"And?"

"They found no intrusion."

"No malware?"

"No."

"No ransomware?"

"No."