KAREN: "I was asking you to verify the motorcycle."
KAVALIK: "You were refusing to cooperate."
KAREN: "I was handcuffed. I was standing at your booking counter. I asked you to check the facts."
Kavalik's jaw tightened.
KAREN: "There is no justification for what you did."
Osei looked down.
Halverson's face had become rigid.
He had seen the slap.
He knew exactly what had happened.
Karen turned toward him.
KAREN: "Deputy Halverson, you were present."
Halverson swallowed.
DEPUTY HALVERSON: "Yes."
KAREN: "Did you see him strike me?"
A long silence followed.
Kavalik looked directly at the younger deputy.
Halverson understood what was happening.
One answer could change the rest of his career.
He could protect the sheriff.
Or he could tell the truth.
DEPUTY HALVERSON: "Yes, Judge. I saw it."
Kavalik's face darkened.
KAVALIK: "Watch what you say."
DEPUTY HALVERSON: "I saw it."
Karen nodded once.
She did not thank him.
Not yet.
A witness telling the truth was not doing her a favor. It was doing what the situation required.
Rebecca returned to the computer.
She opened a new window and searched for the department's property inventory.
The system displayed a list of assets currently held in storage.
Several entries were marked pending review.
Others had been closed.
Rebecca selected one record.
Then another.
Her expression became increasingly troubled.
REBECCA: "Judge, there are properties listed here that have been in storage for more than a year."
KAREN: "Were the owners notified?"
REBECCA: "Some records say notification was sent."
KAREN: "Do they contain proof of delivery?"
Rebecca checked.
REBECCA: "Not all of them."
KAREN: "Do the records show forfeiture proceedings?"
Rebecca opened another tab.
REBECCA: "Some do. Others have no final disposition."
KAREN: "What happens to property without a final disposition?"
Rebecca looked at the screen.
REBECCA: "It should remain secured until the legal process is completed."
KAREN: "And is that what happened?"
Rebecca did not answer.
She scrolled down.
One entry showed a vehicle transferred to a private facility.
The owner's address was listed.
The notice date was blank.
The forfeiture status was pending.
Yet the property transfer record indicated that the vehicle had been released to a third party.
Rebecca leaned closer.
REBECCA: "This doesn't make sense."
KAREN: "What doesn't?"
REBECCA: "The property was released, but the case is still open. There's no court order authorizing the release."
Kavalik stepped forward again.
KAVALIK: "You are reading the wrong field."
REBECCA: "No, Sheriff. I'm reading the disposition history."
KAVALIK: "Then you are interpreting it incorrectly."
Rebecca turned the monitor toward him.
REBECCA: "Can you show me which part is incorrect?"
Kavalik looked at the screen.
He said nothing.
Karen watched him carefully.
His silence was becoming more revealing than his earlier insults.
The sheriff had been quick to issue orders when he believed nobody could challenge him.
Now that the records were visible, every answer required more thought.
KAREN: "Deputy Osei, you said this system had existed for years."
OSEI: "Yes."
KAREN: "Were officers rewarded for reaching those numbers?"
Osei rubbed his hands together.
OSEI: "There were monthly performance meetings."
KAREN: "What happened when an officer brought in more property than expected?"
OSEI: "They were praised. Sometimes they received preferred assignments. Sometimes they were recommended for additional opportunities."
KAREN: "And officers who questioned the numbers?"
Osei looked toward Kavalik.
OSEI: "They usually stopped getting those opportunities."
Kavalik laughed without humor.
KAVALIK: "This is ridiculous."
OSEI: "I'm telling her what happened."
KAVALIK: "You are making accusations you cannot prove."
OSEI: "Then let the records speak."
For a moment, the sheriff looked as though he might physically approach Osei.
Instead, he turned toward the hallway and called for another officer.
No one came immediately.
The booking area remained tense.
Rebecca quietly printed a copy of the inventory summary.
The printer began working again.
This time, Karen noticed that the document contained a series of dates.
Several transfers had taken place within minutes of one another.
Some were recorded before the official case numbers had been assigned.
Others listed the same storage destination.
KINGSLAND RECOVERY & STORAGE.
Karen studied the dates.
KAREN: "Rebecca, can you compare the transfer times with the original seizure reports?"
REBECCA: "I can try."
KAREN: "Use the existing records only. Don't change anything."
Rebecca opened the comparison screen.
The first pair of records matched.
Then the second.
Then the third.
A troubling pattern began to emerge.
In several cases, the property had been moved to private storage before the public record showed that the seizure had been approved.
Karen's eyes narrowed.
KAREN: "How is that possible?"
Rebecca looked toward the sheriff.
REBECCA: "The transfer authorization is being entered under an earlier timestamp."
KAREN: "Can the system show when the entry was actually created?"
Rebecca opened the audit information.
A list of system events appeared.
There were creation times, modification times, user accounts, and administrative changes.
Rebecca clicked on the first record.
Then she stopped.
REBECCA: "Wait."
KAREN: "What did you find?"
REBECCA: "The timestamp on the report is not the same as the original creation time."
KAREN: "Explain."
REBECCA: "The report says the transfer was authorized on Monday morning. But the audit history shows the record was created late Sunday night."
Osei stepped closer.
OSEI: "That's what I was talking about."
Kavalik's voice became louder.
KAVALIK: "Nobody is authorized to examine those audit records."