Six months after an investigation closes, someone will ask a simple question: how do you know that? If the answer depends on remembering which tab a screenshot came from, the investigation was never finished — it was only delivered.
The Archive is the case file that makes that question answerable. Every source, document, download and report stays in it, along with the decision that let it in.
What lives in the case file
- Sources — the pages and records consulted, kept as consulted rather than as a link that may rot or change.
- Documents — files brought into the case, including material the client or the subject provided.
- Downloads — the images and files the investigation pulled in, held with the case rather than scattered across a desktop.
- Findings — the claims drawn from that material, each one attached to what supports it.
- Reports — what was eventually said, and to whom.
Admission is a decision, and it is recorded
The important part is not the storage. It is that entering the case file is an event with a reason behind it.
When something is admitted, the case file keeps what it was, where it came from, and the judgement that accepted it. When something is rejected, that is recorded too. An investigation where the discarded material is invisible looks tidier and is far less trustworthy: you cannot tell whether a contradicting source was weighed or never seen.
Why this beats a folder and a notebook
A folder holds files. It does not hold reasoning. Three months later, img_0421.jpg does not tell you that it was the only photograph placing the subject in that city, that it came from a public profile, or that a second image was rejected because the date could not be established.
The case file keeps the file and the reasoning in the same place, which is what turns a pile of material into evidence.
What this gives you at the end
A report you can defend. Each statement traces back to admitted material.
A handover that works. A colleague picking up the case reads the decisions, not just the files.
A retention story. Because the case file is a defined object, it can be produced when it must be and removed when it should be. See provenance and retention.
Frequently asked questions
Does everything have to be admitted manually? No — but admission is always a recorded decision, whether you make it or confirm it.
What happens to rejected material? It stays visible as rejected. Knowing what was ruled out is part of the record.
Can the case file be exported? Yes. The report and its supporting references are produced from it — see Engramite Writer.
Read next: accepted and rejected evidence.