His philosophy was simple.
Evidence first.
Patterns second.
Conclusions last.
He did not assume every complaint was true.
He did not assume every officer was corrupt.
He did not believe every accusation against police automatically represented misconduct.
His job was harder than that.
He had to determine what actually happened.
Brookhaven had attracted his attention because of its numbers.
Thirty-seven civilian complaints over four years involved the same six officers.
Seventeen were connected to Travis Harlan.
Three involved allegations of unnecessary force.
Several complaints contained remarkably similar descriptions of verbal encounters.
Marcus had come to Brookhaven that afternoon for a confidential meeting.
Only a handful of people knew about the review.
Travis Harlan was not one of them.
Marcus had deliberately driven himself to the city.
No official vehicle.
No security detail.
No introduction.
He wanted to see how the city functioned before walking into police headquarters.
Instead, the investigation had introduced itself to him.
Seventeen minutes after the slap, Sergeant Leon Pike arrived.
He stepped out of his cruiser.
His eyes moved from Travis to Marcus.
Then to the phones.
Then to Marcus's cheek.
“What happened?”
Travis answered quickly.
“Driver became argumentative.”
Pike looked at Marcus.
“Sir, I'm Sergeant Pike.”
“Marcus Reed.”
Something about the name caught Pike's attention.
He couldn't immediately remember why.
Travis continued.
“Possible obstruction.”
“Was he arrested?”
“No.”
“Did he resist?”
“Verbally.”
Pike stared at him.
“That's not resistance.”
Travis's jaw tightened.
Pike looked at Marcus's cheek.
Then at the body camera.
“Was force used?”
Travis hesitated.
Marcus answered.
“Yes.”
“Once?”
“Yes.”
Travis interrupted.
“It was an open-hand control technique.”
Pike looked at him.
“Control for what?”
“He was escalating.”
Alyssa spoke from the sidewalk.
“He slapped him.”
She raised her phone.
“I recorded everything.”
Travis turned toward her.
“She is interfering.”
Pike lifted a hand.
“No.”
Travis stopped.
Pike approached Marcus.
“Are you injured?”
“No medical attention needed.”
“Do you want EMS?”
“No.”
“Did you make physical contact with Officer Harlan before he struck you?”
“No.”
Travis started to speak.
“He stepped into my space.”
Marcus looked at him.
“I did not.”
Pike looked at the body camera.
“It's running?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
That single word made Travis uncomfortable.
Then the first black SUV appeared.
A second followed.
They stopped behind Marcus's Mercedes.
Doors opened.
Dana Whitmore stepped out.
Two state investigators followed.
Then Chief Harold Danner exited another vehicle.
Travis stared.
Pike looked from the chief to Marcus.
Then he finally remembered the name.
His eyes widened.
“Oh, hell.”
Marcus remained still.
Dana walked directly toward him.
“Are you all right?”
Marcus nodded.
“I'm fine.”
Dana looked at his cheek.
“That doesn't look fine.”
“It'll recover.”
Chief Danner reached them.
He looked at Marcus.
Then at Travis.
Then at the body camera.
“What happened?”
Nobody answered.
Marcus looked at Travis.
For several seconds, the officer who had demanded to know who he was could only stare.
Dana finally spoke.
“Chief Danner, this is Marcus Reed.”
Danner nodded.
“We've met.”
Travis looked between them.
Dana continued.
“Chief Investigator Reed is leading the state standards review your department was notified about this morning.”
Travis's mouth opened.
No words came.
“You're an investigator?” he finally asked.
Marcus adjusted his glasses.
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you say that?”
Marcus looked at him.
“You didn't need my job title to treat me lawfully.”
The street became silent.
Even Travis seemed to understand the meaning of the sentence.
Chief Danner turned toward him.
“Did you strike him?”
Travis swallowed.
“It was a control technique.”
“For what?”
“He was noncompliant.”
Marcus spoke calmly.
“I complied with every physical instruction.”
“He was challenging the stop,” Travis argued.
Danner stared at him.
“You hit him because he questioned the stop?”
“No.”
“Then explain why.”
Travis looked around.
There was nowhere to hide.
His own body camera had recorded the encounter.
The civilian video existed.
A restaurant security camera existed.
And the traffic signal camera would eventually confirm that Marcus had entered the intersection while the light was still yellow.
At that moment, Danner made his decision.
“Officer Harlan, surrender your badge and service weapon.”
Travis stared.
“You're suspending me?”
“I'm removing you from field duty pending investigation.”
“Because he's a state investigator?”
“No.”
Danner pointed toward the camera.
“Because there is evidence that force was used during a traffic stop, and that evidence must be preserved.”
Travis shook his head.
“This is politics.”
Marcus finally spoke.
“No.”
Travis looked at him.
“If my position changes the way this investigation is handled,” Marcus said, “then we have another problem.”
Dana nodded.
“The same evidence standards must apply whether the person involved is an investigator or an ordinary resident.”
Marcus looked directly at Travis.
“That is exactly the point.”
The intersection was cleared.
Marcus received no traffic citation.
Later, the traffic camera confirmed what he had said from the beginning.
The Mercedes had entered the intersection before the signal changed.
The original reason for the stop was unsupported.
But Marcus wasn't interested in celebrating that fact.
At 5:24 p.m., he arrived at Brookhaven Police Headquarters.
Chief Danner offered to postpone the meeting.
Marcus refused.
“This is the meeting.”