“I know.”
Marcus sat.
“What do you want to do?”
“Continue.”
“Of course.”
“Not because I’m stubborn.”
“You are stubborn.”
“Also true.”
She looked at him.
“If we pull me out and send another team tomorrow, the department will spend tonight preparing.”
Marcus frowned.
“They already know.”
“Keller knows.”
“Hollister knows.”
“Davis knows.”
She shook her head.
“Most supervisors don’t.”
Marcus understood.
“You still want the two o’clock meeting.”
“Yes.”
“You cannot walk in looking like this.”
“I’m changing.”
“You need new glasses.”
“Already ordered.”
Marcus stared.
“You ordered glasses from the hospital?”
“Delivery exists.”
He laughed despite himself.
“This is why I drink.”
At 1:56 p.m., Police Chief Raymond Keller stood inside the department’s second-floor conference room.
Eight people waited.
Deputy Chief Paul Brennan.
Professional Standards Lieutenant Amy Chen.
Patrol Captain Stewart Lane.
Training Lieutenant Nicole Price.
City attorney Douglas Webb.
Sergeant Wade Hollister.
Officer Daniel Davis.
And Keller.
Hollister had protested Davis’s presence.
Keller insisted.
“No one discusses the incident before federal counsel arrives.”
Hollister sat rigidly.
His uniform looked freshly changed.
The old one had mud on one boot.
Davis looked sick.
At two precisely, footsteps approached.
The door opened.
Marcus Ellison entered first.
Dark suit.
Silver tie.
Black briefcase.
Then Iris.
The room froze.
She had changed into a charcoal pantsuit.
Cream blouse.
Low heels.
Her long dark hair was clean and straight again.
New glasses rested lightly on her face.
A discreet support brace was visible beneath the left sleeve.
In her right hand she carried a black folder.
Hollister stared.
The transformation disturbed him.
Not because Iris looked powerful now.
Because she was unmistakably the same woman.
Same face.
Same eyes.
Same calm.
Only the mud was gone.
Everyone stood except Hollister.
Chief Keller looked at him.
Hollister stood.
Marcus introduced himself.
Then Iris.
No one needed the introduction.
Iris took the seat directly across from Hollister.
She opened the black folder.
“Before we discuss the broader compliance assessment, we need to address evidence preservation resulting from this morning.”
Hollister shifted.
Iris continued.
“This is not a disciplinary hearing.”
She looked around.
“It is not a criminal interrogation.”
Another pause.
“No one in this room is being asked to waive counsel.”
Webb nodded.
Iris slid papers across the table.
“These preservation notices cover body-camera recordings, vehicle video, dispatch audio, CAD logs, duty rosters, use-of-force records, complaint files, training records, supervisory reviews, department-issued messages, and any personal devices used to record or discuss this morning’s event.”
Hollister looked down.
“My personal phone isn’t department property.”
Iris nodded.
“Correct.”
He looked surprised.
“That does not make potentially relevant evidence disappear.”
Webb intervened.
“We’ll handle collection through appropriate legal process.”
“Good.”