"Because I think you should stop making things worse."
Keller leaned closer.
"Marcus, listen carefully. I don't need advice from you."
Hill looked at him for a moment.
Then he stood.
"Fine."
He picked up his notebook and walked away.
Keller watched him go.
He felt a growing sense of isolation.
For years, he had been the officer people avoided arguing with.
Now, the people around him seemed reluctant even to make eye contact.
He looked toward the chief's office.
The door remained closed.
He thought about calling his attorney.
Then he remembered that his personal phone was in his locker.
He stood and walked toward the changing area.
As he passed the trash can, he stopped.
The coffee cups were still scattered inside.
He looked down.
For a moment, he considered retrieving the badge wallet again, just to inspect it.
Then he realized that doing so would only make the situation worse.
He continued walking.
At 11:05 a.m., Simone met with the department's records supervisor, Lieutenant James Harris.
Harris was a man in his late forties who had worked in administrative operations for nearly two decades. He was polite, carefully dressed, and visibly uncomfortable when Simone began asking questions about evidence logs.
He sat opposite her in a small conference room.
A digital recorder rested on the table.
"Before we begin," Simone said, "I want to confirm that you understand this is a formal interview connected to an ongoing federal investigation."
"I understand."
"You are expected to answer truthfully. If you don't know something, say so. If you need clarification, ask."
"All right."
Simone opened her notebook.
"Who is responsible for reviewing changes to incident reports?"
"It depends on the case."
"Who has authority to approve a correction after an initial report has been submitted?"
"Usually the reporting officer's supervisor."
"Can an officer modify a report without leaving a record of the change?"
"No. The system tracks modifications."
"Can someone with administrative access alter the tracking history?"
Harris shifted in his chair.
"Technically, there are elevated administrative permissions."
"Who has those permissions?"
"Several people."
"Please provide the names."
Harris listed four employees.
Simone wrote them down.
"Does Officer Keller have administrative access?"
"Not directly."
"Can he request changes through another employee?"
"Any officer can submit a request."
"Does that request require documentation?"
"Yes."
"Are all requests preserved?"
"They should be."
Simone looked up.
"Should be?"
Harris cleared his throat.
"The system occasionally has technical issues."
"What kind of issues?"
"Synchronization problems. Duplicate entries. Delayed updates."
"Have any of those issues affected evidence records?"
"I don't know."
"Have you ever received instructions to modify an evidence record without the appropriate supporting documentation?"
Harris looked at the recorder.
"No."
"Have you ever been asked to remove an officer's name from a record?"
"No."
"Have you ever received such a request involving Officer Keller?"
Harris's fingers tightened around his pen.
There was a pause.
Then he answered.
"Not that I remember."
Simone closed her notebook.
"Lieutenant, I'm going to show you a document."
She slid a printed email across the table.
Harris glanced at it.
His face changed immediately.
It was a message dated eight months earlier.
The subject line read:
Walker Case β Evidence Log Correction
The email had been sent from an internal account to a records administrator.
Its contents were brief.
Please update the transfer history before the file is finalized. The original entry creates unnecessary questions.
The message contained no explanation of what needed correcting.
The sender's address belonged to an employee whose name appeared among the four people with elevated administrative permissions.
Harris looked up.
"Where did you get this?"
"That isn't relevant to my question."
"I don't remember this."
"Do you recognize the email address?"
He hesitated.
"Yes."
"Whose account is it?"
Harris swallowed.
"Deputy Records Administrator Paul Mercer."
"Was he authorized to request a change to the Walker evidence log?"
"He could submit a request."
"Was there a supporting document?"
"I don't know."
"Did you approve the correction?"
Harris looked down.
"I may have reviewed it."
"Did you?"
"I'd have to check."
Simone watched him carefully.
"Lieutenant, this is an important distinction. I am not asking whether you remember every email you received eight months ago. I am asking whether you personally authorized an alteration to an evidence record without supporting documentation."
Harris said nothing.
"Did you?"
He rubbed his forehead.
"I don't want to answer incorrectly."
"Then take your time."
For nearly twenty seconds, the room remained silent.
Finally, Harris looked up.
"I remember the case."
"What do you remember?"
"Mercer came to my office. He said there was a discrepancy in the transfer time. He told me the original entry had been made incorrectly."
"Did he provide evidence of that?"
"He said the officer had submitted a correction."
"Which officer?"
"I don't remember."
"Was it Keller?"
Harris looked toward the door.
"I think so."
"Did you verify the correction?"
"I checked the system."
"Did you examine the original physical evidence log?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I believed the correction had been properly authorized."
"By whom?"
Harris didn't answer.
Simone leaned forward slightly.
"Lieutenant, you understand that evidence records are not ordinary administrative documents."
"Yes."
"They establish who had custody of material evidence, when it was transferred, and whether it remained secure. Altering them without proper authorization can compromise an entire criminal case."
"I understand."
"Then help me understand why you approved a correction without checking the original record."
Harris looked exhausted.
"Because that's what we were told to do."
"Who told you?"
He stared at the table.
Then he whispered a name.
"Captain Richard Lawson."
Simone wrote it down.
The investigation had just moved one level higher.
At noon, Simone returned to Chief Whitmore's office.
He was reviewing a stack of personnel files.
When he saw her expression, he immediately put them aside.
"Something new?"
"Yes."
She explained the interview with Harris.
Whitmore listened without interrupting.
When she mentioned Captain Richard Lawson, his face tightened.
"Richard?"
"Do you know him?"
"He's the commanding officer responsible for administrative operations."
"Was he involved in the Walker case?"
"He would have had oversight."
"Did he authorize any changes to the evidence record?"
Whitmore slowly shook his head.
"I don't know."
"Has he been informed of my investigation?"
"Only that the Department of Justice is conducting a review. I haven't discussed specific cases."
"Good. Please keep it that way."
Whitmore stood.
"I'll preserve his office records."
"I'd also like his access privileges reviewed."
"Understood."