“Subject is being detained for possible involvement in the Rivergate warehouse burglary.”
The delivery driver lowered his phone.
I felt something cold settle beneath my ribs.
The Rivergate warehouse was not just any warehouse. It was part of a redevelopment project Bell Meridian had purchased two months earlier. The property had been empty for years, but the city had recently approved plans to turn it into a food distribution center.
The burglary had happened the same week our permit was approved.
Someone had broken in, damaged the alarm system, and stolen several boxes of archived property records. Nothing expensive. No cash. No computers.
Only records.
The police had called it a minor break-in.
I had not.
Officer Price looked pleased now, as if he had finally found a charge that sounded serious enough to make the crowd choose his side.
“I’m going to ask you one more time,” he said. “Where were you last night?”
“At home.”
“Anyone confirm that?”
That sentence changed the air around him.
Price reached toward his body camera.
The movement was quick, almost casual. His thumb pressed against the device mounted on his chest, and a tiny red light appeared.
I looked at it.
“Was that recording before now?”
He stared at me.
Lieutenant Hart’s eyes dropped to the camera. “Price?”
“It was activated.”
“When?”
“During the initial contact.”
“Your camera indicator was not lit when I approached,” I said.
Price turned sharply toward me. “You were not watching my equipment.”
“I was watching your hands.”
The delivery driver spoke from behind his phone. “It wasn’t on when he first walked up. I noticed because I was already filming.”
Price pointed at him. “Stay out of this.”
Lieutenant Hart raised a hand. “Officer, do not address the witness that way.”
“I’m trying to secure a burglary suspect.”
“Then stop arguing with witnesses and secure the scene.”
Dana’s voice came through the phone again.
“Lieutenant Hart, this is Dana Brooks with the Office of Public Integrity.”
Hart’s expression changed slightly. “Ms. Brooks.”
“I’m listening to an open call involving Officer Price and Marcus Bell. Please preserve all body-camera footage, dispatch audio, vehicle-location data, and arrest records connected to this encounter.”
Price laughed once, without humor.
“This is excessive.”
“No,” Dana said. “It is routine when an officer’s account and multiple civilian accounts may differ.”
“You have no authority over this stop.”
“I didn’t say I did. I said I am preserving evidence.”
Price looked at Lieutenant Hart. “She’s trying to turn a simple stop into an investigation.”
Dana answered him directly. “A simple stop does not usually include an incorrect location, a disputed use of force, and a burglary allegation that the officer cannot explain.”
His eyes narrowed.
I felt the cold beneath my ribs deepen.
“How did you know about the incorrect location?” I asked.
Dana was silent for half a second.
Then she said, “Because I heard him broadcast it.”
“That is not what I mean.”
Another pause.
“Marcus, we’ll discuss that when I get there.”
“Dana.”
“Keep the call open.”
The line stayed connected.
Lieutenant Hart looked at Price. “Did you run Mr. Bell’s vehicle or name before approaching him?”
“Dispatch flagged the sedan.”
“Where is that in the call log?”
“I received the information verbally.”
“From whom?”
Price glanced toward the cruiser.
“I don’t have to explain every source in the middle of a street.”
“You do if you are asking me to approve an arrest.”
“I haven’t placed him under arrest.”
“You just said he was being detained for possible involvement in a burglary.”
“That is a detention.”
“Then tell me what specific fact connects him to Rivergate.”