Officer Richard Harlan had been transferred to a secure interview facility on the opposite side of Westbridge shortly after midnight. The building was a plain concrete structure surrounded by fencing, with no public entrance and only a small sign identifying it as an administrative holding center.
By morning, the sky had turned a cold gray.
Daniel arrived at 8:05 a.m. with General Marcus and an independent legal observer named Miriam Cole. The interview room contained a metal table, four chairs, a wall-mounted camera, and a digital clock that seemed unusually loud in the silence.
Harlan was brought in wearing a dark detention uniform. His wrists were secured in front of him, and the confident expression he had displayed during their confrontation was gone.
He looked tired.
He also looked angry.
When he saw Daniel, he stopped walking.
"Why is he here?"
General Marcus answered before Daniel could speak.
"Because Detective Carter is a witness to the incident and an investigator familiar with the underlying allegations. He will not question you about anything covered by your legal protections. Your counsel will determine the appropriate scope of this interview."
Harlan sat down.
"I want a deal."
Miriam Cole folded her hands.
"Before we discuss anything of that nature, you need to understand that no one here can promise immunity or a particular outcome. If you choose to provide information, it must be truthful and properly documented."
Harlan gave a bitter laugh.
"Truth? You want truth now?"
"I want an accurate record," she replied.
He looked at General Marcus.
"Then tell your people to stop pretending they don't know what's happening."
Marcus remained composed.
"Start with what you know about Operation Clean Slate."
Harlan stared at the table for several seconds.
"About eighteen months ago, Deputy Chief Voss called a private meeting. There were six of us in the room. Voss, Colonel Shaw, two supervisors from internal security, a technical consultant from Meridian, and me."
"What was the stated purpose?" Marcus asked.
"To fix evidence-management problems. That was what they called it. They said old cases were creating liability, that bad paperwork was exposing the department to lawsuits, and that we needed a faster way to resolve disputes."
"What were you told to do?"
"Initially? Review cases and flag anything that might damage the department. Complaints, missing forms, inconsistent statements. We were told to identify risks before they became public."
Daniel watched Harlan carefully.
"That sounds like ordinary internal review," he said. "When did it change?"
Harlan looked at him.
"When they started asking us to change what the records said."
The room went silent.
Harlan continued.
"A complaint would come in alleging that an officer had planted evidence. If there was no clear video, the complaint was marked unsubstantiated. If a recording was missing, the report would say the recording had never been properly uploaded. If a witness changed their statement, the original statement disappeared from the active case file."
"Who ordered those changes?" Miriam asked.
"Sometimes Voss. Sometimes Shaw. Sometimes someone from Meridian sent instructions through the project portal."
"Did you personally alter records?"
Harlan looked down.
"Yes."
Daniel felt anger rise inside him, but he kept his voice steady.
"Did you plant evidence on suspects?"
Harlan's jaw tightened.
"On three occasions, I carried substances that weren't connected to the original stop. The reports claimed the substances had been found during searches."
"Did you place them yourself?"
"Twice."
"And the third time?"
"Another officer did it."
"Name."
Harlan hesitated.
Miriam intervened. "Take your time. If you are going to make an allegation against another individual, be specific about what you personally observed."
Harlan nodded slowly.
"Sergeant Paul Dempsey."
Daniel knew Dempsey. He was a respected patrol supervisor who had received a commendation for rescuing two children from a burning apartment building.
"Why?" Daniel asked.
"Because the cases involved people who had threatened to expose misconduct. One had filed a civil lawsuit. Another had recorded an officer taking money during a traffic stop."
"And the third?"
Harlan's face changed.
"The third person wasn't a criminal suspect."
General Marcus leaned forward.
"Who was it?"
"A police detective."
Daniel thought of the dead detective on his list.
"Name."
"Thomas Bell."
For a moment, Daniel could not speak.
Thomas Bell had been investigating allegations of evidence tampering before dying in a car crash six months earlier. The official report had attributed the accident to excessive speed on a wet road.
"You're saying Bell was framed?" Daniel asked.
"I'm saying they wanted him discredited. They needed a reason to remove him from an investigation, and they wanted everyone to believe he had been compromised."
"Was evidence planted on him?"
Harlan nodded.
"Yes."
"Who did it?"
"I delivered the bag. Dempsey made sure the evidence was discovered during a search."
Daniel gripped the edge of the table.
"And you expect us to believe this now, after you tried to frame me yesterday?"
"No," Harlan replied quietly. "I expect you to check the records."
General Marcus spoke before Daniel could continue.
"Why are you cooperating?"
Harlan looked toward the camera.
"Because I thought they would protect me."
"And now?"
"Now I think they're going to make sure I never get the chance to speak again."
The room fell silent.
Miriam Cole asked whether he had received any threats. Harlan described a series of anonymous calls, a message warning him not to discuss the project, and a meeting in which Colonel Shaw allegedly told him that anyone who endangered the operation would be treated as a liability.
"Do you have copies of those messages?" she asked.
"Some. Not all."
"Where are they?"
Harlan looked at Daniel.
"I have a backup drive hidden in a storage unit. It contains messages, payment records, and a list of officers who participated."
"Why didn't you bring it with you?"
"Because I didn't know whether the people who arranged this meeting were trustworthy."
Daniel almost laughed at the irony.
"You expected me to trust you while you were preparing to destroy my career?"
"No," Harlan said. "I expected you to be smart enough to know I was afraid."
"Fear doesn't excuse what you did."
"I know."
For the first time, Harlan sounded less like a man defending himself and more like someone who had finally realized that his excuses no longer mattered.
General Marcus asked for the storage unit's location, the access method, and any information that could establish when the drive had been placed there. He made it clear that investigators would obtain the necessary authorization before searching it.
Then Harlan revealed something that changed the direction of the interview.
"The drive isn't the only copy."
"Where is the other one?" Marcus asked.
Harlan swallowed.
"With General Marcus."
Daniel stared at him.
"What?"
Harlan turned toward the general.
"Not you, sir. The other General Marcus."
Nobody moved.
General Marcus's face became unreadable.
"Explain."
"There's a man using your name in the project's internal communications. He appears in some of the authorization records. I've never met him in person, but Voss referred to him as General Marcus whenever he wanted us to understand that the order came from above."
Daniel slowly turned toward the general beside him.
The man had not moved.
"Is there another senior officer with that name?" Daniel asked.
"Not one I know of," Harlan answered.
General Marcus leaned back, his gaze fixed on the officer.
"Then we need to establish whether someone is impersonating an official, misusing my identity, or referring to another individual entirely."
Harlan shook his head.
"You don't understand. They used your name because nobody would question it."
Daniel remembered the mysterious message from the restricted directory.
The General is not who you think he is.
Perhaps it had been a warning about a fake identity. Perhaps it had been designed to make them doubt the real general.
Or perhaps it meant something even more dangerous.
General Marcus stood.
"We will verify every claim. Detective Carter, remain here with Ms. Cole while I arrange the next steps."
Harlan suddenly leaned forward.
"General, wait!"
Marcus paused.
"There is one more thing you need to know."
"What is it?"
Harlan's voice dropped to a whisper.
"Operation Clean Slate wasn't created to hide the department's corruption."
He looked directly at Daniel.
"It was created to prepare for a purge."
"A purge of whom?" Daniel asked.
Harlan swallowed hard.
"Every officer, detective, prosecutor, and investigator who could connect the evidence to the people at the top."
He looked toward the camera again.
"And yesterday, when I failed to frame you, I wasn't the only person who lost control of the plan."
He hesitated.
"Someone else is already moving."