At the door of the diner, Detective Rosa Delgado paused before approaching their booth. She had joined the police force twelve years earlier and had watched its culture change under Holt from brusque professionalism to something far more fearful. Two colleagues had transferred after raising objections, and another had been reassigned to nights when he refused to make certain stops. Delgado kept her own records because she had learned that a report filed into a compromised system could vanish without ever being formally denied.
"I heard about Angela," she said, sitting opposite Marcus. "I watched part of the video. I need you to know there are officers who believe what happened was wrong."
"Will any of them say so publicly?" Marcus asked.
Delgado looked down at her coffee. "Some are scared for their careers. Some have families. And some should have spoken a long time ago, including me."
She did not hand him a stolen database or promise access to police servers. Instead, she told him that departmental recordings and dispatch records should be preserved through formal legal demands because some equipment was scheduled for replacement. She had already spoken to an independent integrity investigator about concerns involving Holt and offered to provide an official statement through a protected process. Marcus could see that she was choosing her words carefully, not to avoid responsibility, but because a compromised record would allow the very people under scrutiny to claim the investigation itself had been improper.
"Tell Diana what you can verify," Marcus said. "I don't need you to put yourself in danger to give me a dramatic story. I need someone inside the department to tell the truth in a way a court can examine."
Delgado nodded slowly. "That's what I'm trying to do. I've spent too long watching people get hurt while everyone waits for the perfect moment. There isn't one."
When Marcus returned to his car, Diana called with the first encouraging news in hours. A duty judge who had not participated in Angela's initial hearing had agreed to review the bond urgently, and the prosecutor's office had received multiple neighbor videos that contradicted important parts of Griggs's report. Diana was still cautious about predicting the outcome, but she believed the recordings would force a closer examination of the arrest. Marcus started the engine, then turned it off again and sat for a moment with his forehead against the steering wheel.
He wanted Angela home more than anything. Yet he also understood that bringing her home would not restore the broken door, make Mrs. Carter safe, or explain why a police captain had deployed ten cruisers to intimidate an unarmed woman standing outside her own house. Whatever happened with the bail review, the larger case would require patient work, and Holt had already shown how he reacted when challenged. Marcus called Diana back and said he was ready to help gather the witness statements, but that he wanted her to coordinate every step involving police evidence.