And if he had touched the footage or the files after this moment — after being put on notice in a room full of lawyers — he would have handed me the cleanest spoliation claim of my career.

There was no answer that helped him.

That is the thing about a machine built to trap someone else: turned even slightly, it becomes a machine that traps you.

Dalton leaned forward, still not understanding.

“Why does any of that matter?”

“Because destroying evidence after you’ve received notice of a legal claim,” I said, “has a name.