THE WOMAN THEY THREW TO THE GROUND WAS THEIR NEW POLICE CHIEF

Three days after the incident, Lieutenant Maria Collins called Eleanor into the records archive.

The archive was located in the basement of headquarters, behind a locked metal door. It contained old case files, personnel records, training documents, and complaint folders that had never been transferred into the department's digital system.

The room smelled of paper and dust.

Rows of shelves stretched from one wall to the other. Each shelf carried a label indicating a year, department, or document category.

Maria stood beside a metal cabinet.

"Chief, I found something."

Eleanor approached.

"What is it?"

Maria opened a drawer and removed a thick folder marked:

INTERNAL REVIEW – FIELD OPERATIONS – CONFIDENTIAL.

The file was dated four years earlier.

Inside were reports involving Daniel Mercer, several other patrol officers, and a series of complaints from residents in different neighborhoods.

Eleanor began reading.

The first document described an incident in which a young delivery worker had been stopped and searched without a clearly documented reason.

The second involved an elderly man who claimed an officer had threatened to arrest him after he questioned a traffic stop.

The third was more serious.

A resident had reported that officers repeatedly visited his home after he submitted a complaint about police conduct. He believed the visits were intended to intimidate him.

Eleanor turned the page.

A handwritten note appeared in the margin.

Recommend review of supervisory involvement. Multiple complaints show similar patterns.

Below it was a signature.

Richard Shaw.

Eleanor looked at Maria.

"Captain Shaw wrote this?"

"Yes."

"What happened after the recommendation?"

Maria pulled out another document.

"The review was closed six weeks later."

"Why?"

"The final report stated that there was insufficient evidence of coordinated misconduct."

"Who signed it?"

Maria pointed to the bottom of the page.

Richard Shaw.

Eleanor stared at the signature.

"Was this the same person who recommended the investigation?"

"Yes."

"Was anyone else involved in the final review?"

"According to the file, only the field operations office."

Eleanor continued reading.

A list of officers appeared in the next section. Mercer's name was at the top. Two other officers were also mentioned, but their roles were less clear.

Then she found a document that made her stop.

It was a copy of an email from a former internal affairs investigator named David Price.

The email was addressed to a deputy commissioner.

It contained a warning:

The repeated complaints against Officer Mercer should not be treated as isolated citizen dissatisfaction. The similarities in language, circumstances, and supervisory responses suggest that a broader review may be necessary. I recommend preserving all original recordings and interviewing complainants independently.

A handwritten note had been added below the email.

Do not circulate. Discuss with Shaw.

Eleanor read it twice.

"Who was the deputy commissioner?"

Maria checked the file.

"Robert Collins."

Eleanor recognized the name.

Collins had retired from the department eighteen months earlier after serving as deputy commissioner for nearly a decade. He had been considered one of the most influential figures in Fairmont law enforcement.

"Do we have the original email?"

"This is a printed copy. I haven't found the digital version."

"Where is David Price now?"

Maria checked another folder.

"He resigned shortly after this review."

"Why?"

"The official personnel record says personal reasons."

Eleanor closed the folder.

"Find his current contact information through authorized records. I want to speak with him."

Maria nodded.

"There's something else."

She removed a second file.

"This one concerns the handling of complaint records. It includes a list of files that were transferred out of internal affairs and placed under field operations."

"Why?"

"I don't know. The transfer authorization is signed by Captain Shaw."

Eleanor examined the list.

Several complaint numbers matched the cases she had reviewed earlier.

But one number was unfamiliar.

It had been marked with a handwritten note:

RESTRICTED – DO NOT DIGITIZE.

"What's this file?"

Maria shook her head.

"I haven't found it yet."

Eleanor looked toward the shelves.

"Then we keep searching."

As they continued through the archive, Maria discovered a small envelope tucked behind a row of personnel documents.

It contained a handwritten statement.

The writer was a former patrol officer named Michael Turner.

The statement alleged that Mercer had repeatedly used aggressive tactics during neighborhood patrols, while senior supervisors discouraged officers from filing reports about questionable conduct.

One paragraph stood out.

I was instructed to change my description of an arrest because the original report made the department look bad. When I refused, I was removed from the assignment and told that I was not a team player.

The statement was dated three years earlier.

At the bottom was another handwritten sentence.

If anyone ever investigates this again, speak to David Price. He kept copies.

Eleanor looked at Maria.

"Do you know where Michael Turner is?"

"He left the department. I believe he moved out of state."

"Find out whether he can be contacted."

Maria nodded.

Eleanor placed the statement carefully inside an evidence folder.

For the first time, she had something more than a collection of complaints.

She had a possible chain of events connecting officers, supervisors, altered reports, and missing evidence.

And Richard Shaw's name appeared repeatedly.

As they prepared to leave the archive, Eleanor noticed one final document lying at the bottom of the drawer.

It was a personnel memorandum from the previous administration.

The subject line read:

APPOINTMENT AND TRANSFER AUTHORITY – INTERNAL AFFAIRS.

The memorandum showed that David Price had been removed from his investigative position shortly after submitting his warning.

The transfer had been approved by Robert Collins.

But the recommendation had come from Richard Shaw.

Eleanor closed the drawer.

She now understood why Shaw had been so concerned about the investigation.

It was not simply because Mercer was a senior officer.

It was because the evidence might expose decisions made by people who had spent years protecting him.

And somewhere outside Fairmont, two former officers might still possess the documents that could prove it.