Page 18 of Cold Silence
Claire blinked at him. “I have no idea where it was downloaded.”
“Okay, so no preliminary investigating done then.”
“I was instructed by Army brass to hold off to keep from letting word get out about the missing device.” She crossed her arms, feeling the need to go on the defense with this guy.
Nick tilted his head. “How did you learn the device was stolen and not just misplaced?”
She explained how they locked up the equipment at the end of every day.
He gave a sharp nod. “What did you do after you discovered it was missing?”
She shared how she checked the software and called the alarm provider. “They did say there wasn’t an employee code assigned to the time it was disabled.”
“So they didn’t use a key card for access, but they must’ve actually interfaced with the system itself.” Nick tapped his index finger on the table.
“Yeah,” she said. “Which could also mean they disabled the locks on all of the doors as well as security cameras, and we won’t have a log for their entry into any of the departments or video. I was hoping we would see a card swipe for the equipment room but it doesn’t seem likely.”
“I’ll check the logs, but don’t hold your breath.”
She nodded when she really wanted to scream in frustration. “I also took a quick look at the doors and locks. I didn’t see any physical damage from someone prying them open.”
“Doesn’t mean there isn’t any,” Sierra said. “We’ll process the doors for prints, and I’ll give the locks a more thorough examination to see if they’ve been picked.”
“You can actually see that?” Claire asked.
Sierra nodded. “Using a pick tool on a lock is invasive. The pick tool is made of a stronger material than the softer brass or nickel-silver of lock components and will most always leave picking marks. The deeper or more pronounced the marks, the less skilled the picker. Of course, we can’t tell if it happened now or at an earlier date, but we can most likely confirm the picking.”
“Could the thief simply have stayed in the building after closing?” Nick asked.
Claire shook her head. “We have motion sensors, so I don’t see how.”
“Either way, our suspect needs skills to disable the system. Could be someone in your IT group.” Nick scowled.
Travis took a step closer. “The look on your face says IT guys are worse than others.”
“The average Joe could have enough knowledge to make changes, but not cover their tracks. IT professionals would know to hide their changes by modifying the logs.” He smirked. “The good news is they almost always forget to change every area, and I catch them that way.”
“You sound confident.”Cocky actually.
“I have a pretty good success rate, so yeah, I guess I am.” Nick laughed. “First it would be good to figure out which terminal they used to download the information. If I wanted to steal software and worked here, I sure wouldn’t do it on my own computer. I’d use someone else’s if I wanted to try to set them up or a computer that everyone has access to. Do you have such an animal?”
“Yes,” Claire said. “In the conference room.”
“Then we’ll start there. I’ll get an image running of that hard drive while Sierra begins processing the area.”
Sierra gave an agreeable nod. “I’ll also need to get my assistant and other techs working the area where you stored the prototype.”
“Let me get the image going first.” Nick shifted a large backpack on his shoulders. “It could take several hours to complete.”
Sierra smiled at him. “Of course.”
Claire appreciated how they worked together and didn’t seem to let egos get in the way. She led them to the conference room, and Travis followed.
Nick stopped at the doorway. “Your rooms aren’t secured?”
“Not our conference rooms but each department is secured with key card access only.”
“I would recommend you rethink that,” he said. “Any area where you have a computer should be secured.”
