The general glanced at her brother.
He sighed.
“Apparently everyone in this room has decided to become her.”
The general almost smiled.
The investigator continued.
“The tow operator received a call from the officer that morning.”
“Before the arrest?”
“Two hours before.”
“What did they discuss?”
“We are obtaining records.”
“Do you have texts?”
“Some.”
He slid a printed sheet across the table.
One message from the tow operator:
She’s coming today. Old lady’s funeral. Probably has whatever she kept.
Reply from the officer:
If vehicle matches update I can hold it.
The general read both lines twice.
“What update?”
The investigator placed another sheet down.
A supplemental report.
The original incident from earlier that day involved a black pickup suspected in a property theft.
At 11:07 a.m., the senior officer added a possible second vehicle.
Gray midsize SUV.
Out-of-state temporary registration.
The general’s rental.
No witness statement supported the addition.
No surveillance image.
No dispatch call.
The officer had entered it himself.
Her brother sat back.
“So he created the reason.”
The investigator nodded cautiously.
“That is currently one working theory.”
“How would they know what she was driving?”
The investigator looked toward the general.
She understood before he spoke.
“Rental reservation.”
“Maybe.”
“Airport camera.”
“Possible.”
“Or somebody saw me arrive yesterday.”
“Also possible.”
Her brother said:
“Does it matter?”
“Yes.”
The general looked at him.
“If someone inside a government system accessed travel information improperly, that is different from a tow operator seeing a car outside Mom’s house.”
Her brother rubbed his forehead.
“I hate all of you.”
The investigator smiled faintly.
“Healthy response.”
Then another thread appeared.
The towing company.
It held a contract with the town.
Six years of records showed hundreds of legitimate impounds.
Abandoned vehicles.
DUIs.
Arrests.
Expired registrations.
Nothing suspicious about most.
But investigators identified a smaller cluster.
Forty-three cases.
Tickets dismissed but towing fees unusually high.
Cash payments.
Missing receipts.
Vehicles searched at the impound lot without clear documentation.
Property removed and later returned after complaints.
Several motorists said they had been told that challenging citations could lead to additional storage charges.
One had audio.
A nervous twenty-two-year-old delivery driver had secretly recorded his conversation after his father advised him never to speak with authorities alone when money was involved.
The recording contained the senior officer’s voice.
“You want to spend three months fighting a ticket, go ahead.”
The driver asked: