Porter removed a certified document and placed it on the counter. Reeves turned it toward him. "On hers." Dugan looked down.
At the top of the document was the official county seal. Beneath it was the appointment language approved by the Board of County Commissioners. His eyes moved lower.
Maya Williams, Sheriff of Carver County. Effective at 12:00 midnight Monday. Dugan read the page again. Mercer stepped closer. What is that?
Noah already understood. Reeves looked at the clock once more. It was one minute past midnight. "Captain," he said, "Maya Williams is now the sheriff of Carver County. I suggest you open that holding room door."
Mercer stared at the document. She never told us. Nobody answered him.
Dugan remained still for several seconds before turning toward the hallway. "Get her." A deputy moved quickly toward the holding area. Noah looked at Mercer.
The anger that had driven Mercer for most of the evening was gone. He appeared to be trying to reconstruct every conversation he had had with Maya since the traffic stop began.
A minute later, Maya entered the administrative area. She was no longer handcuffed. She did not smile. She did not look at Mercer first.
Her attention went to the evidence processing area. The black case had been repackaged. The dash camera carried a damaged equipment tag. A new evidence bag had replaced the one she had seen earlier.
Then she looked at Dugan. Reeves handed her a copy of the appointment document. Sheriff Williams. Maya accepted it.
Thank you. Mercer spoke before anyone else could. If you'd told us who you were, none of this would have happened. Maya looked at him.
She held his gaze for a moment, but did not answer. There were more important things to do. She turned to Reeves. I want every evidence system in this building frozen.
Dugan stepped forward. Sheriff, before you start issuing orders, there are details you need to understand. Maya looked at him. I understand enough to know that nothing else gets changed tonight.
She faced the dispatcher and the evidence staff. From this moment forward, nobody deletes, moves, edits, destroys, or reclassifies any item connected to this incident. Dugan tried again. There are routine processing procedures already underway.
They stop. You're personally involved in the incident. You can't run the investigation. I'm not going to.
That answer caught him off guard. Maya turned to Reeves. Contact outside investigators. I want independent preservation of the physical and electronic evidence.
I will not conduct the criminal fact-finding in a matter where I was detained. Reeves nodded. I'll make the calls. Maya looked toward Noah.
Who handled the dash camera after it came into this building? Noah hesitated. Mercer answered first. It arrived. corrupted.
Maya did not look at him. I asked who handled it. Noah said Mercer had it on the roadside. It came through evidence intake here.