Maryland Code, Courts and Judicial Proceedings § 10-918

(a) Subject to subsections (b) and (c) of this section, a party who is otherwise entitled to sue and recover upon or under any promissory note, bill of exchange, bill of lading, warehouse or storage receipt, or other negotiable instrument, is not precluded from recovering by reason of the party's inability to produce the instrument in evidence at the trial or surrender the instrument to the defendant.

(b) The absence of an instrument described in subsection (a) of this section must be sufficiently accounted for under the rules of evidence to allow the introduction of secondary proof of the contents of the instrument at the trial.