"I'm saying we will determine your responsibility based on evidence."
She exhaled.
"Fair."
Isaiah closed the file.
"Captain."
"Yes?"
"If you know anything else, tell me now."
She hesitated.
Then she said,
"There was an officer named Daniel Price."
"Who?"
"He left two years ago."
"Why?"
"He filed a complaint against Grant."
"What happened?"
"He resigned."
"Was he disciplined?"
"No."
"Why resign?"
Brooks looked toward the window.
"He said he couldn't work here anymore."
Isaiah wrote the name down.
"Find him."
"I'll try."
"Don't try."
Brooks looked at him.
"Find him."
The next morning, Isaiah arrived before sunrise.
He expected resistance.
He expected lawyers.
He expected officers to close ranks.
What he didn't expect was the message waiting on his desk.
One sentence.
YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED ANONYMOUS.
Isaiah read it twice.
He did not react.
He placed the paper into an evidence envelope.
At 8:15, Officer Sullivan was summoned for an administrative interview.
Hayes arrived ten minutes later.
They sat across from Isaiah and the department investigator.
A recorder was switched on.
"State your name."
"Derek Sullivan."
"Rank?"
"Officer."
"Do you understand this interview concerns the events of yesterday morning?"
"Yes."
The investigator looked at Isaiah.
Isaiah nodded.
"Proceed."
The first question was simple.
"Why did you strike Isaiah Carter?"
Sullivan stared at the table.
"I lost my temper."
"Why?"
"Because he was interfering."
"How?"
"He was questioning how we handled civilians."
"Is that against policy?"
"No."
"Then why did you strike him?"
Sullivan didn't answer.
The investigator waited.
Finally, Sullivan said,
"I shouldn't have."
"Did he threaten you?"
"No."
"Did he attack you?"
"No."
"Did he resist?"
"No."
"Did you fabricate the allegation that he assaulted you?"
Sullivan's face tightened.
"I made a judgment."
The investigator looked at him.
"That's not an answer."
Sullivan closed his eyes.
"I shouldn't have written that."
Isaiah remained silent.
Then the investigator asked,
"Who instructed you to handle complaints in the manner you used?"
Sullivan looked up.
"Nobody."
The answer came too quickly.
Isaiah noticed.
"Officer Sullivan."
Sullivan looked at him.
"You don't have to protect anyone in this room."
Sullivan said nothing.
Isaiah continued.
"But if you lie to protect someone else, you become responsible for their conduct as well as your own."
Sullivan's breathing became heavier.
"There was pressure."
"From whom?"
Sullivan looked toward the wall.
"Lieutenant Grant."
Isaiah's pen stopped.
"Explain."
"Years ago."
"How?"
"He said complaints were bad for the precinct."
"What did he tell you to do?"
"Resolve them."
"How?"
Sullivan hesitated.
"Keep them from becoming formal."
The room went silent.
"How?"
Sullivan swallowed.
"Talk people out of filing."
"Anything else?"
"Close them when possible."
"Alter records?"
Sullivan looked down.
"Sometimes."
"Who else knew?"
Sullivan didn't answer.
Isaiah asked again.
"Who else knew?"
Hayes suddenly spoke.
"Everyone knew how things worked."
Sullivan looked at him.
Hayes continued.
"You either learned the system or you became the problem."
The investigator turned toward him.
"Who taught you?"
Hayes stared ahead.
"Grant."
"And Captain Brooks?"
Hayes shook his head.
"No."
"Did she know?"
"I don't know."
Isaiah leaned back.
"What about missing body-camera footage?"
Hayes's face changed.
"I don't know anything about that."
Sullivan looked at him.
The investigator noticed.
"So you do know."
Hayes's eyes narrowed.
"No."
Sullivan whispered,
"Bradley."
Hayes turned.
"Shut up."
The room became still.
Isaiah looked between them.
"Officer Hayes."
Hayes said nothing.
"Who handled the recordings?"
Hayes rubbed his face.
"Grant had people."
"Names."
"I don't know."
"Names."
Hayes closed his eyes.
"Thomas had a clerk."
"Who?"
"Peter Lawson."
Isaiah wrote it down.
"And after Grant retired?"
Hayes didn't answer.
Isaiah waited.
Finally, Hayes said,
"Some things were still being handled the old way."
"By whom?"
Hayes looked at Sullivan.
Then at the recorder.
Then at Isaiah.
"I don't know."
The interview ended at 10:02.
At 10:40, Isaiah received another call.
Peter Lawson had left the building.
Without authorization.
He had taken personal belongings from his desk and disappeared.
Isaiah immediately issued a preservation request for his work computer.
The computer was missing.
The workstation had been wiped.
But the department's central system retained access logs.
Someone had logged in at 10:31.
The credentials belonged to Lawson.
\
Chapter
The terminal was located inside the records office.
The camera showed nobody entering.
Isaiah stared at the footage.
Then he noticed the timestamp.
10:31.
The camera's internal clock was six minutes slow.
He checked another camera.
Seven minutes.
Another.
Five.
The surveillance system had not been synchronized.
He leaned back.
Someone had been relying on that.
At noon, the external investigator found something worse.
A hidden storage cabinet behind the old property room.
Inside were paper copies of complaints that were supposed to have been destroyed according to retention schedules.
Thirty-two files.
Isaiah opened the first.
A woman complained that an officer had taken cash during a search.
The complaint was marked unfounded.
The original interview notes were still inside.
The notes told a different story.
The witness had never been interviewed.
The signature belonged to someone else.
Isaiah opened the second file.
A man claimed his car had been searched without cause.
The complaint was marked resolved.
The body-camera footage was missing.
The third.
A teenager claimed an officer threatened him.
The complaint was dismissed.
The officer's own notes said, "Subject appeared afraid."
Isaiah stopped.
He stared at the sentence.
Afraid.
Not violent.
Not dangerous.
Afraid.
Someone had interpreted fear as evidence against the civilian.
Isaiah closed the file.