"We need access to the device itself."
"Do you have a warrant, or a request from the independent team?"
Halbrook's expression tightened. "We're asking for voluntary cooperation. Refusing to provide evidence could look like obstruction."
"Voluntary cooperation means I can decline until the request is properly documented. You know that," Malik said. "I'm not withholding anything. I'm asking that evidence go through the independent process."
Halbrook moved one step up the porch. "You seem awfully concerned about who gets to look at the recordings."
"I'm concerned about chain of custody. You are an involved party in the complaint."
"Don't hide behind procedure, Chief."
Ward stepped forward. "Lieutenant, your operational authority in this matter was restricted yesterday. I want you to explain who authorized this visit."
Halbrook turned toward her with a thin smile. "The department has an interest in securing relevant evidence. A chief of police should understand that."
"Then bring a lawful request through the investigator," Ward said. "You will not enter this home on the basis of your own accusation."
Malik remained in the doorway, one hand resting lightly on the open door. The camera above his head displayed its small green status light, and he could hear the distant diesel rumble of the moving truck turning onto Elmwood Drive. It was an almost painfully ordinary sound, the noise of the furniture he had been waiting to bring inside. Halbrook glanced toward the truck and then back at Malik with the unmistakable irritation of a man who did not like being contradicted in front of witnesses.
"Step aside," he ordered. "We're examining the security equipment."
"No warrant, no consent," Malik replied. "You need to leave the porch and return this request to the people conducting the review."
The lieutenant reached for Malik's left forearm, trying to pull him away from the threshold. The contact was sudden and deliberate, and Malik instinctively rotated his arm free while moving sideways to create space. Halbrook stepped toward him again, and Malik placed both open palms against the lieutenant's upper chest just long enough to keep him from advancing through the doorway. He immediately released contact, stepped backward, and raised both hands where everyone could see them.
"Do not grab me again," Malik said. "I am not consenting to an entry."
Halbrook stumbled one step backward, more surprised than hurt, and flushed with anger. "You just put your hands on an officer."
"After you grabbed me at my front door."
"Tessa! Secure the premises. We're going inside."
Moreno remained at the lower step. Her eyes moved from Malik's raised hands to the lieutenant's outstretched arm and then to the camera mounted above the entry. She had witnessed every movement, and something in her posture changed as though she were tired of telling herself silence might keep a situation from getting worse. "Sir, we do not have a warrant," she said. "And no one has described an emergency that would justify entering without one."
"I'm giving you a direct order, Officer."
"Then I need you to put the order in the record. I cannot lawfully enter this house on the facts we have."