And the person who answered it was someone Alina had not expected to hear.
The telephone continued ringing inside Chief Hayes's private office.
Nobody moved.
Alina stood near the operations desk, watching the closed door. The chief remained several feet away, his expression tense. Captain Whitaker had stopped in the hallway, while Ryan Mitchell looked increasingly uncomfortable.
The ringing finally stopped.
A moment later, the office door opened.
A man stepped out carrying a mobile phone.
He was wearing a dark gray suit, a white shirt, and a department identification card clipped to his belt. He appeared to be in his early fifties, with neatly combed brown hair and a carefully maintained appearance.
Alina recognized him immediately.
Deputy Chief Robert Lawson.
He was the second-highest-ranking officer in the department and had direct oversight of the evidence administration division.
He looked at the group.
Then his eyes settled on Alina.
ROBERT LAWSON: "Special Agent Brooks. I wasn't expecting to see you here."
ALINA BROOKS: "That's interesting. I wasn't expecting to find someone accessing the evidence system from the chief's office either."
Lawson glanced at the computer screen.
ROBERT LAWSON: "What are you talking about?"
ALINA BROOKS: "A login request was just made through a terminal inside this office."
ROBERT LAWSON: "That must be a technical error."
ALINA BROOKS: "The system records the terminal, the user account, the access time, and the requested action. Technical errors can be investigated. They cannot be used to erase the audit trail."
Lawson gave a restrained smile.
ROBERT LAWSON: "I'm sure we can clarify everything."
ALINA BROOKS: "Then please explain why the evidence supervisor has left the building carrying documents while his account is being used to access restricted records."
Lawson looked toward Chief Hayes.
ROBERT LAWSON: "Has Peter left?"
CHIEF MARTIN HAYES: "Apparently."
ROBERT LAWSON: "Where did he go?"
CAPTAIN HAROLD WHITAKER: "We don't know yet."
Lawson shook his head.
ROBERT LAWSON: "This is becoming unnecessarily complicated."
Alina watched him carefully.
He had not asked what evidence was missing.
He had not asked what Peter Dawson had taken.
And he had not shown any surprise that the evidence system had been accessed.
Instead, he seemed concerned that the investigation was becoming complicated.
ALINA BROOKS: "Deputy Chief Lawson, when did you last speak with Peter Dawson?"
ROBERT LAWSON: "Yesterday afternoon."
ALINA BROOKS: "About what?"
ROBERT LAWSON: "Routine administrative matters."
ALINA BROOKS: "Did you discuss the federal inspection?"
ROBERT LAWSON: "I knew there was a possibility of an inspection."
ALINA BROOKS: "A possibility?"
ROBERT LAWSON: "The department receives federal reviews from time to time. That's not unusual."
ALINA BROOKS: "Did you know I was coming this morning?"
Lawson paused.
ROBERT LAWSON: "No."
ALINA looked at him.
She could tell he had chosen his answer carefully.
ALINA BROOKS: "Then you won't mind if we verify that statement against the department's communications records."
ROBERT LAWSON: "Not at all."
He said it too quickly.
Chief Hayes stepped forward.
CHIEF MARTIN HAYES: "Agent Brooks, perhaps we should move this conversation into my office. There are too many people listening."
ALINA BROOKS: "The people in this room witnessed an incident involving a federal official. They may also have information about the attempted deletion of evidence records. I see no reason to exclude them."
ROBERT LAWSON: "This is a police department, not a public meeting."
ALINA BROOKS: "And this is an authorized federal inspection, not a private conversation."
Lawson's expression hardened.
ROBERT LAWSON: "You seem determined to turn every routine disagreement into an accusation."
ALINA BROOKS: "I'm determined to preserve evidence before it disappears."
She turned toward Captain Whitaker.
ALINA BROOKS: "Captain, I need the server room secured. No one enters or leaves without being recorded. I also need the access records exported to an independent storage device."
Captain Whitaker nodded.
CAPTAIN HAROLD WHITAKER: "I'll arrange it."
ROBERT LAWSON: "You cannot just take control of our server room."
ALINA BROOKS: "I'm not asking to take control of your entire system. I'm asking you to preserve records covered by the inspection order."
ROBERT LAWSON: "The system contains sensitive information."
ALINA BROOKS: "Then your department should be especially interested in ensuring that nobody alters it."
Lawson looked at Chief Hayes again.
The exchange was brief, but Alina noticed it.
The chief appeared to be waiting for the deputy chief to decide what should happen next.
That was unusual.