diff --git a/server/src/routes/case_actions.rs b/server/src/routes/case_actions.rs
index b95ec98..f104a49 100644
--- a/server/src/routes/case_actions.rs
+++ b/server/src/routes/case_actions.rs
@@ -124,13 +124,44 @@ pub(crate) async fn build_analysis_input(case_dir: &Path) -> Result<AnalysisInpu
         return Err(AppError::BadRequest("Keine Aufnahmen im Fall".into()));
     }
 
-    let mut recordings: Vec<RecordingInput> = Vec::new();
-    let mut last_mtime: SystemTime = SystemTime::UNIX_EPOCH;
-    for (m4a_path, mtime) in &m4as {
-        if *mtime > last_mtime {
-            last_mtime = *mtime;
-        }
+    // last_mtime is derived from ALL m4as (including ones that turn out
+    // to have blank transcripts) — a late blank addendum still counts as
+    // case activity. Computed up-front so `read_recordings` can focus on
+    // I/O + validation.
+    let last_mtime = compute_last_mtime(&m4as);
+    let recordings = read_recordings(&m4as).await?;
 
+    // Silent-only case: `recordings` may be empty here. The analyze worker
+    // handles that by writing a stub document instead of calling the LLM.
+    let last_recording_mtime = OffsetDateTime::from(last_mtime)
+        .format(&Rfc3339)
+        .map_err(|e| AppError::Internal(format!("format mtime: {e}")))?;
+
+    Ok(AnalysisInput {
+        last_recording_mtime,
+        recordings,
+    })
+}
+
+/// Max modification time across all m4as. Falls back to UNIX_EPOCH for
+/// an empty slice — callers should have already rejected that case.
+fn compute_last_mtime(m4as: &[(PathBuf, SystemTime)]) -> SystemTime {
+    m4as.iter()
+        .map(|(_, mtime)| *mtime)
+        .max()
+        .unwrap_or(SystemTime::UNIX_EPOCH)
+}
+
+/// Read the `.transcript.txt` sidecar for every m4a. Any missing
+/// transcript aborts with the legacy 400 "Nicht alle Aufnahmen sind
+/// transkribiert" body. Blank transcripts are silently skipped — they
+/// represent recordings the transcriber classified as silence and must
+/// not be pushed to the LLM.
+async fn read_recordings(
+    m4as: &[(PathBuf, SystemTime)],
+) -> Result<Vec<RecordingInput>, AppError> {
+    let mut recordings: Vec<RecordingInput> = Vec::new();
+    for (m4a_path, _) in m4as {
         let transcript_path = m4a_path.with_extension("transcript.txt");
         let text = tokio::fs::read_to_string(&transcript_path)
             .await
@@ -148,17 +179,7 @@ pub(crate) async fn build_analysis_input(case_dir: &Path) -> Result<AnalysisInpu
             text,
         });
     }
-
-    // Silent-only case: `recordings` may be empty here. The analyze worker
-    // handles that by writing a stub document instead of calling the LLM.
-    let last_recording_mtime = OffsetDateTime::from(last_mtime)
-        .format(&Rfc3339)
-        .map_err(|e| AppError::Internal(format!("format mtime: {e}")))?;
-
-    Ok(AnalysisInput {
-        last_recording_mtime,
-        recordings,
-    })
+    Ok(recordings)
 }
 
 /// Return `(path, mtime)` for every `.m4a` file directly under `case_dir`,