"Is a police sergeant's spouse prohibited from operating a consulting business?" Kim asked. Benton shook her head.
"Not automatically. But he must disclose conflicts that affect official procurement or enforcement decisions. And if the payments are tied to directing towing business, that's a very different situation. We need the financial records, not just the invoices."
The company had received forty-seven thousand dollars in consulting payments over two years. The amounts varied across months, sometimes rising after clusters of impounds involving Reigns. Several invoices offered only vague descriptions of services and were approved without supporting work products. A legitimate consultancy could have provided training, reports, or scheduling assistance, but the records contained little indication of what Patricia Voss had actually done.
Marcus asked whether city employees had ever reviewed the relationship. Benton found a brief memorandum marked no apparent conflict. It had been signed by a supervisor who reported to Voss during the previous administration. She placed the memorandum beside the invoices and looked at Marcus without speaking. The signature did not prove the payment scheme was criminal, but it showed why the arrangement had escaped meaningful challenge.
"We need an independent financial investigation," Marcus said. Kim nodded and contacted the county prosecutor's public-corruption team, summarizing the allegations without overstating them. The prosecutor agreed to review the packet, preserve relevant financial records, and determine which additional documents could be obtained through proper legal process. A separate municipal audit would examine whether the towing contract violated procurement or conflict-of-interest rules.
Marcus had worked corruption cases in a previous command. He knew that suspicious payments were not a conviction and that hurried searches for proof could destroy the chance to use it later. He also knew that the timing of the invoices, the signatures on the tows, and the dismissed citizen complaints were unlikely to be explained by coincidence alone. The gap between suspicion and proof was the place where patience mattered most.
At four-thirty, they ended the first review. Benton prepared a sealed copy of the relevant contract records, while Kim logged the complaints and tow authorizations for examination. Marcus carried a case summary upstairs, keeping the sensitive originals in controlled custody. He had been awake since before five, but fatigue seemed very far away.
The operations floor was busy with the late shift transition. A dispatcher was explaining a call to a patrol lieutenant, and two officers were filling out accident reports at a shared desk. Reigns sat near the window completing forms he had been assigned during restricted duty. Voss stood at the coffee machine pretending to read the duty roster.
Both men looked up as Marcus passed. Reigns's pen stopped in the middle of a sentence. Voss lowered his coffee cup without drinking from it. Marcus did not slow his pace or offer either man a hint about the contents of the folder under his arm.