JAMES WALKER: I assume there is an explanation for why official federal credentials were discarded in a police headquarters.
Elena placed the wallet back into her blazer.
ELENA MARSHALL: Officer Hale was conducting his own interpretation of departmental security procedures.
James looked directly at Marcus.
JAMES WALKER: I see.
MARCUS HALE: It was a misunderstanding.
JAMES WALKER: Was it?
Marcus did not answer.
James opened his folder and removed another document.
JAMES WALKER: Agent Marshall, there's something you should see before we proceed.
ELENA MARSHALL: What is it?
JAMES WALKER: We received an additional statement from one of the former evidence technicians.
Elena took the document.
The statement had been submitted electronically less than an hour earlier.
The technician claimed that he had personally witnessed several officers removing sealed evidence containers from the headquarters after midnight.
He also described a private meeting involving Detective Foster, Deputy Chief Carter, and another individual whose identity had not yet been established.
But one sentence near the bottom of the statement caught Elena's attention.
THE PERSON WHO GAVE THE FINAL ORDER WAS NOT THE DEPUTY CHIEF.
Elena read the sentence again.
ELENA MARSHALL: Who is the other individual?
JAMES WALKER: The technician refused to identify him in the initial statement.
ELENA MARSHALL: Why?
JAMES WALKER: He says he's afraid.
ELENA MARSHALL: Of whom?
James looked toward the command office.
JAMES WALKER: He believes the person responsible is still working inside this department.
Elena slowly closed the document.
The chief appeared increasingly uncomfortable.
Marcus looked toward the entrance.
And Robert Gaines, who had spent twenty years believing he understood the department he served, suddenly realized that the investigation might be exposing something far larger than a handful of corrupt officers.
Elena looked at James.
ELENA MARSHALL: Where is the technician now?
JAMES WALKER: He's under federal protection.
ELENA MARSHALL: Good.
JAMES WALKER: There's one more thing.
ELENA MARSHALL: Tell me.
JAMES WALKER: He provided a second document. A handwritten list of people who were allegedly involved in the operation.
James reached into his case.
He removed a sealed envelope.
Across the front was a short handwritten instruction.
ONLY GIVE THIS TO AGENT MARSHALL.
Elena accepted it.
She carefully opened the envelope.
Inside was a single sheet of paper containing five names.
The first was Daniel Foster.
The second was William Carter.
The third was Marcus Hale.
Elena's eyes stopped.
She looked at the fourth name.
Then the fifth.
One belonged to a person whose position was higher than anyone she had expected to find on the list.
The other belonged to someone she had already interviewed during the preliminary investigation.
Someone who had sworn under oath that they knew nothing about the missing evidence.
Elena folded the paper.
For the first time that morning, she looked genuinely concerned.
JAMES WALKER: Do you recognize the names?
ELENA MARSHALL: Yes.
JAMES WALKER: How serious is this?
Elena glanced toward the chief.
Then toward Marcus.
ELENA MARSHALL: Serious enough that I want everyone involved kept separate until we establish what happened.
JAMES WALKER: Understood.
Elena turned toward Robert.
ELENA MARSHALL: Lieutenant, I need you to secure the command office and preserve every communication sent or received by Deputy Chief Carter during the last six months.
ROBERT GAINES: I'll arrange it.
ELENA MARSHALL: I also want the original security footage from the reception area preserved.
Robert looked toward the ceiling camera.
ROBERT GAINES: That's already recording.
ELENA MARSHALL: Good. Make sure nobody deletes or overwrites it.
She paused.
ELENA MARSHALL: Especially the footage from this morning.
Marcus shifted uncomfortably.
MARCUS HALE: You're really going to make an investigation out of a simple misunderstanding?
Elena turned toward him.
ELENA MARSHALL: No, Officer Hale.
She looked directly into his eyes.
ELENA MARSHALL: The investigation existed long before you threw my identification into that wastebasket.
Marcus said nothing.
ELENA MARSHALL: But your actions may have provided us with something we were missing.
MARCUS HALE: What?
ELENA MARSHALL: A reason to examine your conduct, your communications, and your relationship with the people connected to these missing records.
Marcus's face tightened.
ELENA MARSHALL: And now that your name has appeared in a witness statement, I suggest you think very carefully before making another statement that isn't true.
Marcus looked toward the chief.
But the chief was no longer looking at him.
He was staring at the sealed envelope on the counter.
Because he knew the fifth name.
And he knew that if Elena discovered why that person had been involved, the entire department could collapse.
A moment later, the telephone in the chief's office began ringing.
Robert moved to answer it.
But before he could reach the desk, Elena raised her hand.
ELENA MARSHALL: Don't answer that.
ROBERT GAINES: Why?
Elena looked at the caller ID displayed on the small screen.
The number belonged to the office of the mayor.
She slowly turned toward Chief Donovan.
ELENA MARSHALL: Chief, I believe we need to have a conversation about who has been receiving updates on this investigation.
The chief's expression became almost motionless.
CHIEF RICHARD DONOVAN: I don't know what you're suggesting.
ELENA MARSHALL: I'm suggesting that someone outside this department may have been receiving confidential information before our investigators even completed their reports.