DANIEL BROOKS: "Please check who called and whether the message was passed on."
EMILY CARTER: "All right."
She returned to the system and began reviewing the available entries.
Daniel remained beside the desk, watching the room without appearing to watch anyone in particular.
He had come to Riverside expecting to learn about the department, meet its personnel, and begin understanding the challenges that awaited him.
Instead, his first morning had already shown him something that no organizational chart or formal report could fully explain.
The culture of a workplace was revealed not only by what its leaders said, but also by what its people allowed to happen when they believed nobody important was watching.
Ryan had acted as though Daniel's lack of familiarity with the station made him an easy target.
The officers who remained silent had allowed the moment to continue longer than it should have.
Emily and David had finally chosen to speak.
Now Daniel needed to understand whether those choices reflected isolated behavior or a deeper problem.
He looked once more toward the hallway.
Ryan had not returned.
Daniel did not know whether the officer was looking for a supervisor, attempting to explain his version of events, or preparing to defend himself before anyone had formally questioned him.
Whatever Ryan was doing, Daniel would not allow speculation to replace evidence.
The next steps would need to be deliberate.
Every record would need to be preserved.
Every witness would need the opportunity to speak freely.
And every decision would need to be based on what could actually be established.
Emily suddenly stopped typing.
She had opened another entry in the communications log, and the information on the screen had made her pause.
EMILY CARTER: "Daniel, there's another message."
He turned toward her.
DANIEL BROOKS: "What kind of message?"
EMILY CARTER: "It's connected to the same administrative notice. Someone from the command office requested confirmation that the station had received it."
Daniel walked closer.
Emily moved the cursor toward the relevant entry.
The timestamp showed that the request had been sent after the original notice arrived, but before Daniel entered the reception area.
Someone had known that the information required confirmation.
Yet the confrontation had still occurred.
Daniel read the entry carefully.
DANIEL BROOKS: "Was confirmation sent?"
Emily searched the record.
Her fingers moved across the keyboard.
She checked the outgoing communications, reviewed the available timestamps, and opened the linked entry.
Then she shook her head.
EMILY CARTER: "I can't find a confirmation in this system."
Daniel remained silent for several seconds.
The absence of a record did not prove that nobody had responded. The confirmation might have been sent through another channel, entered under a different reference, or handled by someone whose records were not available to Emily.
But it meant the question could no longer be ignored.
Daniel looked toward David.
DANIEL BROOKS: "Officer Mercer, could you come over for a moment?"
David immediately walked toward the reception desk.
DAVID MERCER: "What do you need?"
Daniel gestured toward the computer.
DANIEL BROOKS: "Emily has found an administrative notice and a request for confirmation. We're trying to establish whether the information reached the appropriate people."
David leaned closer to the screen.
He read the visible entries, then looked at Daniel.
DAVID MERCER: "I wasn't aware of any leadership notice this morning."
DANIEL BROOKS: "Were you told to expect anyone?"
DAVID MERCER: "No. Not that I remember."
Daniel nodded.
DANIEL BROOKS: "All right. Let's keep the facts separate from what we assume. We know the notice arrived. We know a confirmation was requested. We don't yet know who saw it or what happened afterward."
DAVID MERCER: "Understood."
Emily looked from one man to the other.
EMILY CARTER: "Do you think someone deliberately ignored it?"
Daniel paused before answering.
DANIEL BROOKS: "I think we need to find out why it wasn't acted on. That's different from deciding in advance that someone ignored it on purpose."
His response reassured her.
He was not asking them to accuse anyone. He was asking them to investigate the gap between what the records showed and what had happened in the room.
That distinction mattered.
It was the difference between reacting out of anger and making a decision based on evidence.
David straightened.
DAVID MERCER: "I'll speak to the shift supervisor and ask what information was circulated."
Daniel nodded.
DANIEL BROOKS: "Please do. And make sure the report about the assault remains separate from the administrative inquiry."
DAVID MERCER: "I will."
David walked toward the hallway, moving more quickly than before.