"Sit."
Miller sat.
"You accessed Mitchell's recording."
"I was checking equipment."
"At 2:47 a.m.?"
Miller remained silent.
"Sergeant."
Miller rubbed his hands together.
"I made a mistake."
"What did you do?"
"I removed a segment."
"Why?"
"I was trying to protect the department."
Donovan's expression became cold.
"From what?"
Miller looked down.
"Mitchell."
"That isn't an answer."
Miller finally looked up.
"He has friends."
"Who?"
Miller didn't answer.
Donovan stood.
"Then I'll ask another way."
He placed a document on the desk.
"How many officers have received complaints about Mitchell?"
Miller swallowed.
"Several."
"How many?"
"Seven."
Donovan stared at him.
"Seven?"
Miller nodded.
"Over five years."
"And how many resulted in discipline?"
"None."
"Why?"
Miller looked exhausted.
"Every time we tried, someone intervened."
"Who?"
Miller whispered a name.
"Deputy Chief Wallace."
Donovan said nothing.
The room became silent.
Deputy Chief Wallace had served the department for twenty-eight years.
He had been Donovan's strongest critic.
Donovan had assumed Wallace simply disliked his leadership.
Now he wondered if there was more.
That evening, Donovan called the city manager.
"We need an outside investigator."
"How serious?"
"Serious enough that I don't want my department investigating itself."
The city manager agreed.
The next morning, an independent investigative team arrived.
Their first request was simple.
All complaint files involving Greg Mitchell.
Then all disciplinary records involving officers connected to him.
Then evidence-room access logs.
Then internal emails.
What they found was disturbing.
Several citizen complaints had been closed within hours.
Some had identical wording.
Some contained reports written by officers who had not been present.
One complaint had been marked "withdrawn."
The complainant insisted she had never withdrawn it.
Another had disappeared entirely.
Naomi reviewed some of the public records with Donovan that evening.
"This isn't one bad officer," she said.
Donovan nodded.
"No."
"It's a system."
"Maybe."
She looked at him.
"You're worried."
"I am."
"About your job?"
"No."
He looked at her.
"About what happens if we prove this."
Naomi understood.
If corruption existed inside the department, removing one officer wouldn't solve it.
It would expose everyone connected to him.
And some of those people might fight back.
Three days later, Officer Jenkins requested a private meeting with Internal Affairs.
He arrived without his uniform.
He looked frightened.
The investigator asked him to sit.
"Why are you here?"
Jenkins stared at the floor.
"Because I lied."
"About what?"
"The traffic stop."
The investigator waited.
Jenkins took a breath.
"Officer Mitchell told me what to put in the report."
"Exactly what?"
"That Ms. Harper was driving erratically."
"Was she?"
"No."
"That you smelled marijuana?"
"I didn't."
"Why did you write it?"
Jenkins looked ashamed.
"Because everyone knew what happened to officers who challenged Mitchell."
"Explain."
"He had senior officers who protected him."
"Who?"
Jenkins named three.
Then he named Deputy Chief Wallace.
The investigator asked, "Did Wallace ever directly instruct you?"
Jenkins nodded.
"Once."
"What did he say?"
"He told me that if I wanted to keep my job, I needed to learn when to stop asking questions."
The investigator wrote everything down.
Jenkins continued.
"There's more."
"What?"
"Mitchell keeps a notebook."
"What kind of notebook?"
"Names."
"Whose names?"
"People he's stopped."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
"Where is it?"
Jenkins hesitated.
"In his locker."
The investigators obtained a warrant.
Inside Mitchell's locker, they found the notebook.
Page after page.
Names.
Vehicle descriptions.
Dates.
Locations.
Some entries contained comments about people Mitchell had stopped.
Others contained references to cash.
The notebook transformed the case.
It suggested that some traffic stops may have been used for purposes unrelated to traffic enforcement.
The investigation expanded.
Mitchell was placed on administrative leave.
Wallace resigned two days later.
Sergeant Miller requested immunity before agreeing to cooperate.