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Hawk scrutinized his friend. His curiosity was palpable, and I knew he wondered what Maddox saw that he and Ethan hadn’t.
They’d both examined this feed dozens of times.
Ethan zoomed in. My face flickered for the briefest moment, almost as though in an instant she turned into someone else and back to herself again.
How could that be?
THIRTY-FIVE
hawk
I couldn’t believewe hadn’t caught this shift before. Ethan played it a few more times just to be sure, and each time the flicker was there.
I should have known Maddox would catch it. With his degree in information technology, he was much more proficient at computers than either Duncan, Ella, or I were.
“There,” Maddox said, pointing to the spot on the screen I hadn’t noticed before.
“I see it, too,” Duncan added.
“Is that—?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Ethan said slowly. “Look, here, too. I didn’t notice it before.”
After scrutinizing it several more minutes, he went on. “More often than not, forensics teams have to do in-depth studies on video footage before they can ever find any kind of alterations—but whoever did this was sloppy.
“In order to clear Miss Embers’ name, we needed proofbeyond a reasonable doubt. If video evidence were to be enough to prove you guilty, Miss Embers, the footage must be unaltered. This is the proof we needed. This feed has been tampered with.”
Ella’s hand clamped mine harder. I gave hers a reassuring squeeze.
“Go back to the ball,” I said.
Ethan streamed to the scene where Ella’s stepsister splashed wine on her. Pris’s face was revolting, twisted with malice.
“There. Can you find this woman elsewhere in the feed?” I asked.
“I’ll try,” Ethan said.
Maddox leaned in and perused for several more moments. He instructed Ethan to search in a different direction and, after several clicks, a new set of files appeared.
“What’s this?” Maddox asked, concentrating on the screen as if to answer his own question.
A few minutes of searching later, Ethan muttered, “Strange.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“Here. Look at this.” Ethan pointed to the file’s footage within the file he’d just opened.
I tilted in for a better look. The change was barely noticeable. But it was there.
I wasn’t just a gamer—I watched many crime shows on TV, too. This was the point where I’d yell at the screen and criticize the felon.
“If whoever did this went to all the trouble of messingwith the feed, at least make sure it was thorough,” Duncan muttered, scowling in his usual way at the screen.
“Whoever did this was amateur at best,” Maddox added.
The same flash from earlier appeared, but Ethan managed to slow it, making it last longer. Then, he opened a new file.
“What are we looking at?” I asked, trying to follow his navigation.
