The Nine-Second Gap

The master tape is uncut. Under magnification, its magnetic surface shows nine seconds of ordinary room noise between the relay tone and the footsteps. The counter advances normally. The oscilloscope does not. At Mara's request, the recording is copied onto three machines. The first copy contains eight footsteps. The second contains seven. The third contains the click of a door latch, followed by someone drawing breath. She locks the copies in separate cabinets. At dawn, all three counters have advanced by nine seconds. None of the machines was connected to power.