Griggs glanced back with a sneer. "If you didn't want things moved, you should've stayed out of our way."
He pulled the cabinet door open too roughly, and the hinge tore from the frame. Glass struck the floor, medals slid from their hooks, and photographs scattered across the carpet. Angela gasped as her commendation slipped under the couch, scratched across its polished surface. Marcus instinctively stepped forward, but Angela caught his sleeve and held him just long enough to remind him that the cameras were recording and that another arrest would not save the display case.
"That's a family keepsake," Marcus said, his voice low. "You don't need to destroy it to inspect the shelf behind it."
Griggs turned toward him and shoved a hand into his chest. "Back up."
Marcus took a step backward and kept his hands visible. Two officers moved close enough to show they were prepared to restrain him, and for a moment the living room felt balanced on the edge of another incident. Angela spoke directly to the youngest officer, asking whether he would note the damage and the fact that Marcus had not interfered with a search. The officer looked at the broken glass, then at the body camera on his vest, and said quietly that he would include it in his report.
Holt appeared at the doorway. "Problem?"
"No, Captain," Griggs said. "Mr. Brooks needs to understand who controls the search."
"I understand exactly who is conducting the search," Marcus replied. "I want the record to reflect who broke that cabinet."
The officers moved on to the bedroom, where a mattress was cut open despite no visible indication of a hidden compartment. In the kitchen, food containers and utensils were dumped into the sink and onto the floor; in the study, old medical records were scattered over a desk that had never contained anything resembling a weapons operation. Holt stood in the hallway directing movement, sometimes appearing to focus less on finding evidence than on seeing how far the couple's self-control could be pushed. Angela kept the camera rolling while inwardly begging each officer to leave her mother's jewelry box and her old medical photographs alone.
By the time the search ended, pieces of plaster lay beneath a damaged wall panel, the cabinet door was broken, and one bedroom window had been cracked by a carelessly moved piece of furniture. No illegal weapons were found, no trafficking records were recovered, and the officers produced an inventory listing the limited items they had actually taken for further examination. Holt handed the document to Marcus with a smile that did not reach his eyes. He told them the investigation remained open and advised them to be prepared for additional police visits.
"You'll be hearing from our attorney," Angela said.
"I'm sure I will," Holt replied. "Funny how much trouble follows certain people."