Diana called at six. The bond-review request had been accepted for an expedited hearing before a different judge, and a duty prosecutor had agreed to examine the growing evidence rather than simply repeat the arrest report. Several neighbor videos showed Angela obeying orders while Griggs grabbed her. The dispatch records produced so far contained an unsubstantiated tip about a fugitive but no specific description connecting the person to Angela's house.
"It doesn't automatically resolve the search issue," Diana told him. "Officers can sometimes act without a warrant when there are genuine emergency circumstances. But right now the report isn't giving us facts that justify what happened. We're asking the court to see the difference."
Marcus went to the station to bring Angela clean clothes and a list of people who had offered support. An officer told him he could not leave the list, so he read the names aloud during a brief permitted conversation. The Martinez family had kept their videos.
Mrs. Thompson had uploaded hers. Mrs. Carter was refusing further meetings with the developer. Even twelve-year-old Tommy Wilson had drawn a map showing where the cruisers had parked.
Angela smiled for the first time since the arrest. "Tell Tommy the map matters. Then tell him to go play outside and let the adults do the rest."
"That's exactly what his father said."
She touched the bruised skin near her wrist. "Marcus, I keep hearing Griggs shout that I was resisting. I know I wasn't. I remember exactly what I did. But after enough people repeat a lie, your mind starts checking the memory for something you might have missed."
He felt a sudden ache that was harder to bear than anger. "You don't have to prove your memory to me."
"I know. I need to prove it to someone who can make the truth matter."
The next morning the bond review took less than an hour, though Diana had spent most of the night preparing for it. The new judge read the underlying allegations, questioned the prosecutor about the unidentified fugitive, and asked why the initial bond was so high for the charges actually filed. The prosecution could not supply a credible explanation. The judge modified the release conditions to require Angela to return for court and avoid interference with witnesses, without demanding financial security she could not reasonably post.
Angela walked out of the jail that afternoon into a square of bright sun. Marcus stood beside Diana near the parking area. She saw him, paused as though the fact of being free needed time to become real, then crossed the distance and let him put his arms around her. He tried to ask whether she was all right, but she shook her head and held him tighter.
"Let's go home," she whispered.
Brookside Street looked worse than Angela expected. Their front door was secured with temporary boards, and the living room was still crowded with belongings that the officers had pulled from cabinets. The neighbors had covered the broken window, put shattered glass in marked containers, and set aside personal items they did not want to handle without permission. The effort was touching, though it also made Angela realize how much of her private life strangers had been forced to see.