“That doesn’t prove he knew who lived here.”
“No.”
The woman nodded.
“But it means he escalated the call before the officer arrived.”
“Could there be a legitimate intelligence basis?”
“Yes.”
“We ask.”
At 1:14 that afternoon, the department placed both the officer and supervisor on administrative leave.
Not because guilt had been proven.
Because the independent review now overlapped directly with their actions.
The body camera was secured.
Its battery had 78 percent remaining.
No mechanical defect.
Automatic firearm activation was enabled.
Metadata showed something important.
At 9:28:14, the camera automatically activated when the officer drew his weapon.
At 9:28:18, it was manually stopped.
Four seconds.
The officer had turned it off.
Four seconds after drawing on me.
The street video showed he had not yet spoken to me.
There was no plausible argument that he had ended an accidental recording after the encounter concluded.
He deactivated before issuing his first command.
That discovery changed the case.
My sister arrived before dinner.
She did not knock.
She used the spare key.
“Show me.”
“What?”
“Your shoulder.”
“I’m fine.”
“Show me.”
I lifted the sleeve enough.
Minor redness.
No bruise yet.
She looked furious.
“You should have gone to a doctor.”
“For a red shoulder?”
“For documentation.”
I stared.
“You’re becoming me.”
“Unfortunately.”
She looked at the porch through the window.
“What was he trying to do?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re investigating him.”
“Yes.”
“He shows up at your house.”
“Yes.”
“Turns off his camera.”
“Yes.”
“Pulls a gun.”
“Yes.”
“And you don’t know?”
“I have suspicions.”
She threw up her hands.
“You are impossible.”
“Suspicion isn’t evidence.”
“What evidence would satisfy you?”
“A connection showing someone knew my address and deliberately sent him.”
She stared.
“Maybe the fact he arrived is the connection.”
“Maybe.”
“Stop saying maybe.”
“No.”
She paced.
Then stopped.
“Was somebody inside your agency leaking?”
That possibility had been sitting in my mind all afternoon.
I had not said it.
Now my sister had.
The investigation was confidential.
The officer should not have known he was under expanded review.
My home address was not in the packets distributed to the department.
Only a limited internal team knew I had taken lead review responsibilities.
Two investigators knew they were meeting me at home.
Administrative scheduling staff could potentially see the meeting location.
A senior legal liaison.
A records analyst.
Very few people.
If the encounter was deliberate, information could have leaked from inside oversight itself.
That frightened me more than the officer.
The next morning, I was formally removed from direct review of his file.
My decision.
Also the director’s.
Conflict now existed.
I had become a complainant and witness.