Only when the photographs were complete did Renee set her tablet on the counter. "Officer Morrow, I understand you questioned the document's authenticity," she said. "Let's answer that question first."
Travis unfolded his arms. "That's what I've been saying. A man shows up with a sealed envelope and wants to see command. You don't just let anybody through."
"No one asked you to let anybody through," Hannah said before she could stop herself. "I was calling the captain."
Renee looked at Hannah, then back at Travis. "The issuing record is available without admitting Mr. Dorsey beyond this desk. I am going to display it."
She entered the warrant number and verified the result against the federal court authentication packet. The screen showed a valid issuance that morning, a control reference, and Captain Gregory Weller as the designated local recipient. Renee compared those entries with the serial information on Malcolm's service report, using the same information Hannah had been prepared to use before Travis intervened. There was no uncertainty left about whether the document had existed or whether its authority had been fabricated.
"The warrant was valid when he arrived," Renee said. "It remains valid in the court record. Its original is now damaged."
Travis looked at the tablet for a long time. "That doesn't mean I knew it was valid."
"Correct," Renee replied. "That's why I am asking how you tried to find out."
"His identification looked wrong to me."
"What part?"
Travis shifted. "Something about it."
"Did you call the verification number?"
"No."
"Did you let Officer Bell complete her call?"
"No."
"Did you contact the issuing court?"
"No."
Renee entered the answers without comment. The absence of a lecture was more unsettling than a lecture would have been, because Travis could not argue with an accusation she had not made. His suspicion had been reduced to the only measurements that mattered for the immediate inquiry: the available options and the options he had refused to use. Whether his treatment of Malcolm had involved racial bias was a serious question, but Renee did not intend to claim she had proven it merely by examining a broken envelope.
The fragments were placed into a clear evidence sleeve, with their positions recorded before collection. One piece still held part of the judge's signature block; another showed the embossed federal marking near the top margin. Hannah watched the sleeve close and understood that every fragment had acquired a meaning Travis had not anticipated. A document he had tried to dismiss as fake was now the object investigators would use to reconstruct his actions.
"Officer Bell," Renee said, "I'd like you to walk me through what happened from the moment Mr. Dorsey approached your counter. Please tell me only what you saw and heard."