For the first time, Maya saw Pike's certainty weaken. Not because the neighbor had supplied any fact the sisters had not already supplied, but because the words were coming from a white man Pike seemed instinctively more willing to recognize as a resident. The insult was too plain to ignore, and Naomi felt her sister draw a slow breath before she could answer. "You have heard exactly the same thing from us for hours," Maya said. "Nothing changed about the deed when he said it."
Keller's face hardened. "Agent Carter, I would prefer to complete this without further confrontation." Maya nodded.
"Then complete it. Verify the report and release the scene." He looked at her with a quick flash of irritation, then turned away and began speaking quietly to Pike. Whatever he said caused the sergeant to point once more toward the recording cabinet.
The lieutenant made one last attempt to expand the investigation. He suggested that the women might have pressured the caller to change a statement, even though no officer had identified the caller or confirmed a change had occurred. Naomi asked how a homeowner could intimidate an unknown person merely by standing on her own porch. Keller answered that possible witness interference was something the department had to consider. Maya said that inventing an additional possibility was not the same as establishing a fact, and the lieutenant's expression changed from irritation to open dislike.
Pike shifted his attention to the house's side window. He motioned Shaw closer, then pointed with two fingers in a movement that was small enough to seem casual if no one was watching. Shaw walked toward the porch steps, looking deliberately away from the window as he approached. Naomi followed him with her eyes. The sisters had spent enough time observing interviews to recognize an action meant to seem spontaneous.
"Officer Shaw," Maya called, "you are approaching the house. What are you planning to do?" Shaw stopped halfway up the steps and said he was checking the perimeter for officer safety. Maya indicated the open yard and the empty sidewalk behind him.
"The perimeter is there. The window is over here. Those are different things." His jaw tightened, and he looked toward Pike for instruction.
At the same moment, Pike came up from the driveway side of the porch and made another attempt to reach Naomi's phone. He had been watching her use it to document the conversation, and he lunged before either sister could ask what he intended. Naomi drew the phone away and stepped sideways; Pike's shoulder struck a porch post as his forward movement carried him too far. The impact was not serious, but it was loud enough to make Shaw turn and Cole shout from the path.
"Everybody stop," Cole said. "Please. Just stop touching people."
Pike backed away from the post, rubbing his shoulder. "She attacked me," he announced, his voice raised for the others. Naomi looked at his open hands and then at the untouched phone she still held. "You reached for my property," she replied. "I stepped out of your way. The camera saw it."
Shaw started up the remaining steps, but Mercer caught his sleeve and said his name with more force than before. Shaw hesitated, still looking at Pike, and the hesitation was enough to prevent a second collision. Keller moved between the officers with his jaw clenched. He had spent most of the evening inventing reasons to remain, and now his men had given the sisters still more evidence that the investigation was being used as an excuse for intimidation.
The lieutenant glanced up at the camera. "We will withdraw for now," he announced, putting special weight on those last two words. "Sergeant Pike, get your officers back to the vehicles. We can finish the paperwork at the station." Pike objected immediately, insisting that no one had searched the building and the women had assaulted him. Keller cut him off, this time with a sharpness that left little room for argument.