Chapter 7 - THE FIRST FORENSIC REVIEWLouise did not simply plug the timer into her laptop.
She called a digital-forensics consultant.
Thank God.
The consultant documented:
Device condition.
Serial markings on the newer camera module.
Memory card.
File system.
Creation dates.
Metadata.
No obvious post-recording edits.
Several recovered deleted clips.
Clock drift approximately seven minutes over eight months.
That was manageable.
The kitchen footage was not a perfect surveillance archive.
It captured motion-triggered segments.
Sometimes five seconds.
Sometimes ninety.
Gaps.
No audio in a few clips when microphone activation failed.
Still enough.
One early recording showed Dad testing it.
He stood directly in front of the timer and said:
“Robert Whitmore. Tuesday, April eighteenth. If this thing works, Samuel owes me twenty dollars.”
Samuel later confirmed.
Authentication anchor.
Not conclusive for every clip.
Useful.
Then the consultant found a video from the night Robert died.
Louise told me before the hearing:
“There’s something serious.”
“What?”
“I can’t discuss everything yet because it may become criminal evidence.”
“You’re my lawyer.”
“Maria’s counsel also provided it to the court under protective seal. We need to avoid coaching your reaction before authentication issues are raised.”
I was furious.
Then grateful.
May you like
Knowing less kept my courtroom reaction real.
That mattered later.
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