Ward looked up. "How much of that history can a supervisor alter?"
"Not the full audit trail," Moreno answered. "A person with high-level privileges might export a copy or try to remove a local file, but the server still records the operation. I preserved the relevant logs after the first incident because I was worried someone would try to change the story."
Malik turned toward her. "You did that before anyone asked you to?"
"The preservation notice had already gone out," she said. "I was doing what the notice required. But I also knew we had recordings of the property check being interrupted. I wanted there to be a record that couldn't quietly disappear."
Ward's expression sharpened with concern. "Are the copies in a controlled evidence location?"
"Yes, ma'am. I documented the export and submitted the access logs to records. I didn't take them home or send them to anyone outside the process."
Malik felt a measure of relief. The young officer had not tried to become a private investigator or create her own secret collection of evidence. She had used the existing preservation process, which meant the records might survive legal challenges that would arise if a witness had handled them casually. The distinction was important, and the fact that Moreno understood it told him something about the kind of officer she could become if the department learned to reward honesty instead of silence.
"Supporting this inquiry may make life uncomfortable for you," he said. "You know that."
Moreno gave a tired smile. "It's already uncomfortable. But I was standing there while he held you against your car, and I let him put that first cuff on you. I can't fix that by pretending the rest didn't happen."
"You'll have to give a complete account of your own conduct," Malik said. "The reviewers may not like every part of it."
"I know. I want them to have the truth anyway."
Ward called the state investigative bureau, which had already been approached about taking responsibility for the case. The new confrontation and the possibility of evidence manipulation made an outside review even more necessary. By afternoon, Detective Sarah Martinez had been assigned to coordinate the inquiry, working with a separate legal adviser so that the city's new chief would not be responsible for evaluating allegations involving his own treatment. Ward placed Moreno's preserved audit records on the evidence list and made sure the young officer would be interviewed independently rather than questioned through Halbrook's former supervisors.
Malik had just begun to unpack a box of books when Ward's phone rang again. The city manager listened silently for almost a minute, then asked the caller to repeat a detail. The color drained from her face, and Malik knew before she spoke that the conversation had produced another complication. Her eyes moved from the phone to Moreno and then to him.
"The initial review of Halbrook's body-camera files found an irregularity," she said. "A portion of the recording produced for investigators appears to be missing. The file history shows it was accessed after the preservation notice went out."
"By whom?" Malik asked.
"They haven't confirmed that yet. There may be an exported copy, a changed reference, or something else. I won't pretend we understand it until the technical examiner looks at the original logs."