The commissioner agreed.
“Exactly.”
He opened the second folder.
Then placed a new document on the table.
“This is where our concerns become more serious.”
The chief looked down.
The document contained a summary of vehicle impoundments associated with a private towing contractor.
The contract was worth millions of dollars.
It covered towing, storage, and certain administrative services across several districts.
The contractor had held the agreement for years.
But the frequency of impoundments had risen sharply in three neighborhoods undergoing major redevelopment.
Many tows were legitimate.
Vehicles sometimes had to be removed because they were abandoned, obstructed traffic, or involved in incidents requiring lawful impoundment.
The problem wasn't that a towing contract existed.
It was the pattern.
Certain officers requested towing services at unusually high rates.
Some reports used nearly identical language.
Several vehicles were removed under circumstances where the documented justification was unclear.
And the same contractor repeatedly received the resulting fees.
The chief studied the summary.
“I've seen some of these numbers.”
The commissioner nodded.
“Have you examined the underlying incidents?”
“Not personally.”
“Who has?”
The chief looked toward the empty chair reserved for the deputy chief responsible for administrative operations.
Then he said, “That division reports through her office.”
The commissioner followed his gaze.
The chair remained empty.
He closed the folder.
“Where is she?”
The chief frowned.
“She was supposed to be here.”
A senior aide checked his phone.
Then answered.
“She sent a message saying she was delayed.”
The commissioner looked toward the vacant chair.
For several seconds, he was silent.
Then he spoke.
“Interesting.”
On the fourth floor, behind a locked office door, the deputy chief stared at her phone.
She had watched the confrontation unfold on a live security feed.
Not because she happened to notice it.
Because she'd been waiting.
Her office overlooked the headquarters entrance through a different camera system connected to the command operations network.
The video quality wasn't perfect.
But she could see enough.
The commissioner approached.
The sergeant blocked him.
They argued.
The sergeant pushed him.
Then came the slap.
At first, the deputy chief felt a sharp surge of satisfaction.
The encounter was escalating exactly as she'd hoped.
She expected the new commissioner to become angry.
Perhaps to grab the officer.
Perhaps to shove him backward.
Perhaps to say something threatening that could be separated from context and circulated as evidence of an unstable new leader.