Digital Footprints

Maya Chen's fingers froze over her keyboard as Mr. Harrison burst into the computer lab, his face pale with panic. 'The competition files are gone,' he announced to the scattered students. 'Everything - test cases, judging criteria, all wiped from the secure server.'

The room fell silent. Maya's heart raced as she processed the implications. The state coding competition was just three days away, and without those files, Riverside High's hosting duties would be a disaster.

'When did you last access them?' Maya asked, already pulling up the server logs on her screen.

'Yesterday afternoon,' Mr. Harrison replied, running a hand through his graying hair. 'Everything was there during final review.'

From across the room, James Wilson caught Maya's eye. Her longtime rival's expression was unreadable, but something about his forced casualness made her uneasy.

Maya stayed late after school, methodically combing through system logs. The files hadn't just been deleted - they'd been professionally scrubbed. Someone knew what they were doing.

A pattern emerged in the access timestamps. Late night logins, quick server connections, and then... nothing. The culprit had masked their tracks well, but they'd missed something.

'Got you,' Maya whispered, spotting an anomaly. A unique printer driver installation at 11:43 PM - who'd be installing drivers that late?

She cross-referenced the computer ID with the lab sign-in sheet. Her breath caught when she saw the name. It couldn't be... but the evidence was right there.

A shadow fell across her screen. 'Finding anything interesting?' James asked, making her jump. She quickly minimized the window, forcing a smile.

The next morning, Maya confronted her suspect in the empty lab before first period. 'I know it was you, Mr. Harrison.'

Her teacher's shoulders slumped. 'How did you figure it out?'

'The printer driver gave you away. Plus, only someone with admin access could've wiped those files so thoroughly.'

'I was trying to protect James,' he admitted. 'I found evidence he'd been cheating, practicing with leaked questions. I thought if I removed everything, we could start fresh without ruining his future.'

Maya took a deep breath. 'We can restore the files from my backup. But James needs to face consequences.'

Mr. Harrison nodded slowly. 'You're right. Sometimes protecting people means holding them accountable.'

By that afternoon, the truth was out. James was disqualified, the competition files restored, and Maya learned that sometimes the biggest mysteries have the most human solutions.