She raised one eyebrow.
He corrected himself. “I mean, you don’t have to.”
“I know.”
She dressed in dark trousers and a long-sleeved blouse that covered the wrist marks. Then she changed her mind, removed the blouse, and put on a short-sleeved navy top.
James noticed.
“I’m not hiding evidence to make people comfortable,” she said.
At City Hall, Sarah Carter had already assembled a preliminary preservation order. All department records connected to Hutchkins for the prior five years were frozen: body-camera logs, dash footage, GPS history, complaint files, disciplinary reports, shift assignments, dispatch data, internal messages, and training records. Sarah had also contacted an outside law firm that specialized in public-integrity investigations.
“We need independence,” she told James. “Not decorative independence. Real authority to compel city records.”
James agreed.
Chief Donovan arrived carrying two thick folders.
He placed them on the conference table.
“What are those?” Imani asked.
Donovan sat slowly.
“Complaints.”
“How many?”
“Twenty-one over fifteen years.”
The room went still.
Imani did not look at James.
“Substantiated?” she asked.
“Three. Two resulted in counseling. One written reprimand.”
“And the other eighteen?”
“Unsubstantiated, insufficient evidence, or supervisor resolution.”
“What does supervisor resolution mean?”
Donovan looked uncomfortable. “Informal handling.”
“Meaning no independent investigation.”
“In some cases.”
“How many involved people of color?”
“We don’t track complainant race consistently.”
Sarah Carter opened one folder and began scanning forms.
“That is itself a problem,” she said.
Donovan rubbed his forehead.
“I agree.”
Imani watched him. “Did you know he patrolled our street repeatedly?”
“No.”
“Did anyone know?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Then find out.”
Donovan met her eyes. “I will.”
The outside investigation formally began that afternoon.
Its lead investigator was Evelyn Price, a retired federal magistrate judge in her sixties with a reputation for disliking both police-bashing slogans and police excuses. Her first condition for accepting the appointment was public authority to report findings without mayoral editing.
James signed the engagement letter immediately.
Price’s team began with timelines, not conclusions.
At 4:39 p.m., Hutchkins’s cruiser entered Riverside Heights.
At 4:44, dash audio captured him telling Brennan, “Let’s swing by Elmwood. That doctor woman’s usually home about now.”