A large audio-language model (LALM) can answer "is a cat present?" about a mixture correctly, and its confidence can drop when the cat is removed, yet this does not show that it can tell the cat's presence from its absence. We introduce TRACE. It deletes the queried source and each rival in turn and asks whether every view still containing that sound outscores the view with it removed. Across 8 LALMs and 3,456 controlled mixtures, 6.3% of correct answers fail this ordering: the target-absent view scores at or above some target-present view, a conflict no shared threshold repairs. A target-only score check misses 42.5% of them. The share rises from 4.9% to 8.4% as target SNR falls from +5 to -5 dB, even on units correct at every level, and survives loudness and re-pairing controls. Accuracy certifies the answer; TRACE audits whether it orders presence above absence. Code and data: https://github.com/yikise/TRACE.

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