Francis pulled his laptop closer, his mind sharpening now, the exhaustion burning off under sudden clarity. "Two officers profiled and targeted residents based on race. A pattern across multiple years, evidence tampering, witness intimidation, falsified reports. That's not a local personnel matter anymore, Regina. That's a federal civil rights violation."
Regina's eyes widened slightly. "You're going over their heads." "I'm going over their heads," Francis confirmed.
He picked up his phone and called Larson directly. Not the assistant, not the scheduled appointment line. The personal cell number he'd been given for emergencies only. Larson picked up on the third ring.
His voice clipped with the kind of alertness that came from being woken early. "Francis, this better be important." "I need you to look at what I'm sending you," Francis said. "All of it. Right now."
He spent the next hour compiling everything into a single email. Puren's account written and dated, Oscar's signed statement, the buried files on Brown and Ashper, the timeline of the lost dispatch audio, and Bellamy's sudden recantation, all laid out in the methodical, airtight structure of a man who'd built federal cases for a living. He didn't soften any of it. He didn't need to.
He hit send at 8:42 that morning and waited. Larson called back 4 hours later, his voice different now. Not the cautious tone from the office meeting, but something harder, more decided. "I've read it twice," Larson said.
"This isn't a misunderstanding between you and one officer anymore. This is a pattern of civil rights violations with evidence of an active cover-up inside that department." That's what I've been trying to tell you. "I'm authorizing a formal federal civil rights investigation," Larson said.
"Full Bureau resources." I want everything you have transferred to my office by end of day, and I want you working this directly alongside our civil rights division. Francis closed his eyes, the relief hitting him harder than he expected. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet," Larson said. This is going to get worse before it gets better. They're going to fight this hard and you're the one who's already had a note pushed under your door. I want you and your wife careful.
We will be. Francis hung up and looked across the table at Regina, who'd been listening to his half of the conversation with her hands pressed flat against the wood like she was holding the table steady instead of the other way around. It's happening, he said. Federal investigation.
Full resources for the first time in days. Regina smiled. Small, cautious, but real. Then, "Let's finish this," she said.