Voss's expression went slack for an instant. "Sir, she presented suspicious credentials. I believed she was impersonating an investigator."
"What did you do to verify them?"
"I examined them."
"What did you do to verify them through the issuing agency?"
Voss glanced toward Keene. "Dispatch was working on that."
"Then you've restrained her without completing the check," Thorne said. "I suggest you finish it now."
He did not claim the Army could order a local officer to do whatever he wished. His words had force because he was a senior official who could confirm the underlying facts, and because more federal investigators were expected on the site. He took out his official telephone and contacted the CID liaison. Within a minute, he had the verification line available for Keene and dispatch. The response confirmed Danielle's name, assignment, and credential number.
Keene turned to Voss. "She's legitimate. We need to release her."
Voss stared at the phone as if it had betrayed him. "I still need my supervisor."
"You'll have him," Thorne answered. "But this verification is complete."
Voss fumbled with his cuff keys. Danielle watched his hands, noting the tremor that had not been present when he broke the badge. Before he reached her she spoke.
"Officer Keene, please witness the removal. And General, I need the broken pieces secured as evidence. One is in the waste bin and one is on the pavement."
Thorne looked down. He crouched enough to see the fractured fragment near the dispenser, then slowly straightened. The pieces were not the largest issue in the case, but there was something personal in his expression as he understood what had happened.
"You destroyed her credential?" he asked.
Voss swallowed. "I believed it was fake."
"And that justified breaking it?"
"I was proving it couldn't be used to intimidate me."
Thorne looked at Keene, who had gone pale. "Please ensure that statement is captured in your report."
Danielle's handcuffs came off. She rubbed the red indentations around her wrists and flexed her fingers. She did not feel triumphant. Her hands ached, the investigation was exposed earlier than planned, and a man with access to the pump controls might already be calling someone to destroy evidence.
"Sir," she said quietly to Thorne, "we have a second problem."
"The fuel account?"
"The officer reacted to the name of pump six before I described what I intended to inspect. He blocked my approach, refused independent verification, and asked for his captain. I think there is more here than an aggressive detention."
Thorne studied her face, then looked toward the station.
"Tell me what you need."
"Time, lawful access, and a record of what everybody does next."
Captain Everett Shaw arrived at 8:39 a.m., driving an unmarked department sedan with a flashing light concealed behind the grille. He emerged wearing his uniform coat neatly buttoned, a man in his mid-fifties with a precise haircut and the practiced expression of someone accustomed to resolving complaints in a corridor rather than in an open parking lot. His eyes went first to Voss, then to pump six, then to Danielle.