It was a small change, almost invisible to anyone who was not paying attention. His jaw tightened, and his gaze moved from Ethan's phone to the ground before returning to the young man's face.
SERGEANT MITCHELL: "You recorded the incident?"
ETHAN PRICE: "Some of it. I started when the two officers came running over and pointed their guns at him. I might have captured some of what happened before that, too."
SERGEANT MITCHELL: "Please don't delete or edit anything. We may ask you to provide a copy. Do you have the original recording on your phone?"
ETHAN PRICE: "Yes."
SERGEANT MITCHELL: "Good. We'll document how it was recorded and arrange to preserve it. You don't need to hand your phone over to anyone without understanding what is being requested. For now, keep the original file safe."
Ethan nodded and looked toward Daniel.
ETHAN PRICE: "I heard him saying the bag wasn't his."
DANIEL BROOKS: "Thank you for stopping."
ETHAN PRICE: "I didn't know what was happening at first."
DANIEL BROOKS: "Neither did I."
The exchange was brief, but it changed the atmosphere around the tree. Until then, Daniel's account had stood against Hayes's version, with Carter and Turner unable to describe the beginning of the incident. Now there were two independent witnesses who had observed at least part of the confrontation, and one of them had a recording.
That did not prove every detail of Daniel's account. It did, however, provide investigators with something that could be examined independently of the officers' memories.
Mitchell looked toward Hayes.
SERGEANT MITCHELL: "Officer Hayes, I want you to remain available while we preserve the footage and take statements. Do not discuss your account with the other officers until we have completed their initial interviews."
OFFICER HAYES: "Sergeant, are you suggesting I did something wrong?"
SERGEANT MITCHELL: "I'm telling you that we are investigating an allegation involving evidence and the use of force. Everyone involved will be asked questions. That includes you."
OFFICER HAYES: "I followed procedure."
SERGEANT MITCHELL: "Then the evidence should help establish that."
Hayes looked away.
The sergeant did not raise her voice or accuse him of planting anything. She did not need to. By refusing to treat his statement as the final word, she had changed the direction of the encounter.
Daniel watched quietly as the officers continued documenting the scene.
He knew that the witnesses might not have seen the exact moment Hayes placed the bag in his pocket. He knew that the recording might begin too late to show everything. And he knew that a police officer's report could carry considerable weight if nobody challenged its assumptions.
Still, the investigation was no longer limited to one officer's version of events.
There were questions now, and those questions had to be answered.
Mitchell asked Carter to accompany Margaret to a nearby area where she could provide a detailed statement. Turner was instructed to write down his own observations separately. The evidence officer continued photographing the bench, the surrounding grass, and the position where the bag had been found.
Hayes stood near the tree with his arms folded, occasionally glancing toward the other officers. He seemed frustrated by the growing attention, but he kept his expression under control.
Daniel sat on the edge of the bench while the sergeant finished organizing the initial response. He picked up his phone and checked the screen. Several notifications had appeared during the confrontation, but he ignored them.
For the first time since Hayes had approached him, Daniel had a moment to think.
The situation had begun with an object placed in his pocket without his knowledge. It had escalated into a physical struggle, then a scene in which two armed officers believed he was attacking a policeman. Had Carter and Turner arrived a few seconds earlier or later, the misunderstanding might have developed differently.
He looked at the spot where he had been sitting when the afternoon was still peaceful.
The bench had not moved. The tree still cast its broad shadow across the grass. People continued walking along the path, though many now watched from a greater distance.
Nothing in the surroundings explained how quickly an ordinary afternoon had turned into a dangerous confrontation.
Sergeant Mitchell approached Daniel again.
SERGEANT MITCHELL: "Mr. Brooks, I would like to get your full statement. We will need the sequence from the moment you arrived at the bench through the moment the other officers arrived."
DANIEL BROOKS: "Of course."
SERGEANT MITCHELL: "Take your time. If you don't remember something clearly, say so. Don't guess."
DANIEL BROOKS: "I understand."
Mitchell opened her notebook.