“By whom?”
“Anonymous.”
“What did it allege?”
Grant hesitated.
“That you abused your authority during your first morning.”
Ethan looked at his wrist.
The faint red mark from the handcuffs was still visible.
He almost laughed again.
“That's creative.”
Grant didn't laugh.
“They are asking for an administrative review.”
“Of what?”
“The incident with Sergeant Mercer.”
Ethan looked toward the hallway.
“So someone wants me investigated for being handcuffed.”
“Essentially.”
Ethan understood.
The strategy was simple.
Turn the embarrassing incident into a complaint against him.
Make the new chief look aggressive.
Make him look unstable.
Then use that complaint to create resistance before he had time to establish himself.
Ethan had seen the tactic before.
Not in this exact form.
But often enough.
“Mr. Grant.”
“Yes?”
“Tell the council I'll cooperate.”
“You will?”
“Completely.”
“Even if the complaint is false?”
“Especially then.”
Grant was silent.
Ethan continued.
“Send me every document.”
“All right.”
“And one more thing.”
“What?”
“Don't warn anyone that I'm asking for them.”
Grant hesitated.
“Understood.”
The call ended.
Ethan sat alone.
He looked at the time.
2:26.
His first day wasn't even over.
He reached for the phone.
Then stopped.
He looked at the brown envelope.
The photograph.
The anonymous warning.
The missing four minutes.
Mercer's incomplete file.
Collins's hidden copy.
The complaint filed against him.
Too many things were happening too quickly.
That usually meant one thing.
Someone was reacting.
And if someone was reacting, Ethan had probably touched something they wanted left alone.
At 3:05, Ethan received the access logs.
He opened them.
The lobby camera had been accessed at 6:53.
Again at 6:54.
Again at 7:03.
Then at 7:09.
The first access belonged to IT.
The second was a system export.
The third belonged to an administrative account.
The fourth was marked as unknown.
Ethan stared at the screen.
“Unknown?”
He called IT.
A technician answered.
“This is Chief Brooks.”
The technician immediately straightened his voice.
“Yes, Chief.”
“I have a question about the camera logs.”
“Okay.”
“There is an unknown access at 7:09.”
The technician paused.
“That's unusual.”
“Who has that account?”
“I'll have to check.”
“Check.”
The technician typed.
A minute passed.
Then he said, “Chief?”
“Yes.”
“That account isn't supposed to exist.”
Ethan's eyes narrowed.
“Explain.”
“It isn't a user account.”
“Then what is it?”
“It looks like a service account.”
“Who created it?”
“I don't know.”
“Find out.”
“I'll need access to the server.”
“Get it.”
The technician hesitated.
“Chief, I should tell you something.”
“What?”
“That account accessed more than the lobby camera.”
Ethan sat back.
“How much more?”
“Twenty-three cameras.”
“When?”
“Mostly after midnight.”
Ethan's expression changed.
“Which cameras?”
“Evidence room. Property intake. Interview rooms. Parking lot. Administrative hallway.”
“Anything else?”
“Your office.”
Ethan stopped.
“My office?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
Ethan looked toward the ceiling.
Someone had been watching the office before he had even arrived.
“Send me the full list.”
“I will.”
“And don't mention this to anyone.”
“Yes, Chief.”
Ethan ended the call.
He sat quietly.
Then he picked up the phone again.
This time he called Commissioner Hayes.
She answered immediately.
“What happened?”
Ethan told her.
There was silence.
Finally, she said, “Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“That's impossible.”
“It isn't.”
Hayes lowered her voice.
“Chief, don't tell Langley.”
“I wasn't planning to.”
“And don't tell Mercer.”
“I wasn't planning to.”
“Why?”
“Because I don't know who created the account.”
Hayes understood.
“You think it's someone with access to command systems.”
“Yes.”
She paused.
“Come to my office.”
Ethan stood.
When he reached the hallway, he saw Deputy Chief Langley.
Langley was walking toward him.
“Chief.”
Ethan stopped.
“Yes?”
“Commissioner wants to see you?”
Ethan looked at him.
“She does.”
Langley nodded.
“Anything I should know?”
Ethan smiled politely.
“No.”
Langley watched him walk away.
His expression changed only after Ethan disappeared around the corner.
Then he took out his phone.
He typed a message.
“Camera access discovered.”
A reply arrived.
“How much?”
“Enough.”
Another message appeared.
“Then move the old files tonight.”
Langley stared at the screen.
He deleted the conversation.
Then he continued walking.
At 4:10, Ethan and Hayes sat together in her office.
He showed her the access logs.
Hayes read them twice.
“Who has this level of access?”
“IT says no one officially.”
She looked up.
“Then unofficially?”
Ethan nodded.
“That's what I'm trying to determine.”
Hayes stood and walked to the window.
“This department has had security issues before.”
“Physical security?”
“Yes.”
“Not digital?”
“Not that I know of.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Have you ever had missing surveillance footage?”
Hayes hesitated.
“Yes.”
“How often?”
“Three times.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Three?”
“Over four years.”
“When?”
She gave him the dates.
Ethan wrote them down.
“Were they all evidence-related?”
Hayes shook her head.
“One was a personnel complaint.”
“Which complaint?”
“Mercer.”
Ethan looked up.
“When?”
“Two years ago.”