Before they finished, Michael placed a separate sheet of paper on the table.
MICHAEL FOSTER: "There is one more issue."
ADRIAN COLE: "What is it?"
MICHAEL FOSTER: "The administrative system contains several entries showing that complaints were closed after being transferred to Deputy Chief Voss's office. However, the system does not always record who made the final decision."
ADRIAN COLE: "Is that normal?"
MICHAEL FOSTER: "No. A final decision should have an identifiable author, a date, and a supporting record."
HELEN CARTER: "If the records don't show who made the decision, we cannot establish accountability."
THOMAS REED: "And if original attachments are missing, we cannot verify whether the decisions were based on the evidence."
Adrian looked at the documents.
He thought about the people who had entered the building carrying folders, photographs, and written statements.
They had probably believed that submitting evidence to a police department would begin a process designed to establish the truth.
Instead, some had been sent away without even receiving a case number.
ADRIAN COLE: "I want every affected complainant identified. We will contact them, explain that their cases are being reviewed, and provide a proper record of what happens next."
HELEN CARTER: "That will be part of the independent review."
ADRIAN COLE: "Good."
The team began collecting its documents.
As they prepared to leave, Adrian noticed that Thomas was still looking at the complaint inventory.
ADRIAN COLE: "Something else?"
THOMAS REED: "I'm trying to understand why so many different cases were sent to the same office."
ADRIAN COLE: "What do you think?"
THOMAS REED: "It could be an administrative shortcut. But if serious complaints were routinely redirected without proper documentation, then the problem may have affected more people than the current records show."
Adrian nodded.
THOMAS REED: "We should also check whether the same officers appear in multiple complaints."
ADRIAN COLE: "Do that."
THOMAS REED: "I'll start with Officer Turner and expand the review if the records support it."
Adrian watched the team leave.
The first day of his command was far from over.
And the department's problems were already proving much deeper than he had imagined.
At 4:10 p.m., the receptionist called his office.
RECEPTIONIST: "Commander Cole, there's a woman downstairs asking to see you."
ADRIAN COLE: "What's her name?"
RECEPTIONIST: "Iris Whitcomb."
Adrian stood immediately.
ADRIAN COLE: "Is she alone?"
RECEPTIONIST: "Yes, sir. She's carrying an envelope."
ADRIAN COLE: "Please bring her to the conference room. Make sure nobody takes the envelope from her."
RECEPTIONIST: "Understood."
Adrian left his office and walked toward the conference room.
He had been trying to find Iris all afternoon.
Now she had come back on her own.
A few minutes later, the door opened.
Iris Whitcomb entered slowly.
She was an elderly woman with gray hair tucked beneath a simple scarf. Her faded green coat looked slightly worn, and she carried the same thick brown envelope Adrian had seen in the security recordings.
She looked around the room before taking a seat.
Her hands were trembling.
ADRIAN COLE: "Mrs. Whitcomb, my name is Adrian Cole. Thank you for coming."
IRIS WHITCOMB: "I know who you are."
Adrian sat across from her.
ADRIAN COLE: "I'm sorry you've had difficulty getting someone to listen to you."
Iris looked at the envelope.
IRIS WHITCOMB: "I've been trying to get someone to listen for eight months."
ADRIAN COLE: "I understand."
IRIS WHITCOMB: "No, Commander. I don't think you do."
Her voice was quiet, but there was anger beneath it.
IRIS WHITCOMB: "I've come here in the rain. I've come when I was sick. I've taken buses across town just to be told that the person I needed to speak with wasn't available."
Adrian did not interrupt.
IRIS WHITCOMB: "They took my papers. They told me to come back. They said someone would call. Nobody called."
ADRIAN COLE: "I'm listening now."
Iris looked up at him.
For several seconds, she studied his face as if trying to decide whether she could trust him.
Then she placed the envelope on the table.
IRIS WHITCOMB: "These are copies. The originals are somewhere else."
ADRIAN COLE: "What do the documents contain?"
IRIS WHITCOMB: "Photographs, statements, dates, and copies of reports. They show that several people were accused of things they didn't do."
ADRIAN COLE: "How many people?"
Iris took a breath.
IRIS WHITCOMB: "Forty-nine."
Adrian remembered the anonymous message.
ADRIAN COLE: "Why forty-nine?"
IRIS WHITCOMB: "Because that's how many cases I know about. There may be more."
ADRIAN COLE: "Can you explain how you became involved?"
Iris looked down at her hands.
IRIS WHITCOMB: "My son was one of the people they accused."
Adrian waited.
IRIS WHITCOMB: "His name was Daniel. He was arrested after a police report said he had attacked an officer during an incident outside a warehouse. But I knew he hadn't done what they claimed."
ADRIAN COLE: "Did you witness the incident?"