Jackson sat across from David Chen in a dimly lit bar downtown, a location Chen had chosen for its lack of security cameras and its reputation for discretion; the investigator slid a manila folder across the table, his expression professionally neutral.

"Everything you asked for," Chen said. "Three weeks of surveillance, detailed logs, photographs."

Jackson opened the folder, and the first thing he saw was a photo of Aryyah walking into a rundown building on the east side; the timestamp ...