Neither of them knew precisely what the complete access history would show. The administrator had not yet finished examining the session data, and the original notice still needed to be compared with the department's records.
But the question had now been placed directly before the chief.
At the booking counter, Vanessa remained in custody while the department reviewed the authorization. Her formal statement had not yet been completed, and the state office had not received the full evidence package.
She sat quietly, occasionally looking toward the corridor whenever someone entered the room.
She was tired, but she remained focused on the details she could control: the time of her arrival, the sequence of commands, the location of her documents, and the names of the people involved.
When the booking officer returned with a printed form, she read it carefully before answering the questions.
The officer had entered the basic details of the arrest, including the location and the identity of the arresting officer.
Vanessa noticed that the summary described her as a suspected trespasser but did not mention that she had presented herself as an authorized state security employee.
VANESSA BROOKS: "This form doesn't include my statement that I offered to provide my credentials."
BOOKING OFFICER: "The narrative is entered by the arresting officer. You can provide your statement separately."
VANESSA BROOKS: "Then I want that statement recorded accurately."
BOOKING OFFICER: "I'll make a note that you requested to submit one."
Vanessa read the form again and indicated the omission.
She did not raise her voice or argue with the officer. She simply insisted that the record distinguish between what she had said and what Hayes had concluded.
The booking officer made the note.
A few minutes later, Laura returned with a statement form and explained that Vanessa could describe the encounter in her own words. Vanessa began by recording the time she arrived at the mansion, the purpose of the inspection, and the credentials she had carried.
She described the officer's arrival, the questions he asked, and her repeated offers to show the authorization.
She then recorded the point at which he took the folder and ordered her to turn around.
Her account was detailed but restrained.
She did not speculate about his motives. She did not claim to know what he had seen in the department's system. She simply described what she had experienced and identified the evidence that could corroborate her account.
When she finished, she asked that the statement be attached to the incident record.
Laura accepted the document.
LAURA BENNETT: "I'll make sure it is included in the review."
VANESSA BROOKS: "Please also record that the folder remains at the property."
LAURA BENNETT: "That has been noted. The property records team has been asked to preserve the scene."
VANESSA BROOKS: "Thank you."
Laura returned to her desk with the statement and added it to the evidence file.
The review now contained the initial dispatch call, the system notification record, the state office's preliminary confirmation, the booking information, and Vanessa's account of the arrest.
The independent witness footage was being submitted.
The patrol recording was still pending.
The detailed system access log was still under examination.
And Richard Hayes had not yet answered the central question about whether he had reviewed the state coordination notice before arriving at the mansion.
As the afternoon moved toward evening, the police station's administrative staff continued processing the requests. The records supervisor prepared a secure package of the available documents, while the communications team confirmed that the dispatch audio had been preserved in its original form.
Laura compared the timestamps from the different systems.
The dispatch call had come in first.
The coordination notice had been generated and routed to the department.
The command-office terminal had recorded an access event.
Hayes had then arrived at the property, confronted Vanessa, taken her folder, and placed her in handcuffs.
The sequence was becoming clearer, but one part remained unresolved.
Who had opened the coordination notice, and what information had appeared on the screen?
The answer mattered because it would establish whether the department had merely received a message or whether an authorized user had accessed the specific information relevant to Vanessa's assignment.
Laura sent a final request to the information systems administrator, asking for the session identifier, the user account, the opening timestamp, and a copy of the original notification as it appeared when accessed.
She then saved the request and returned to the booking area.