Family members could operate legitimate businesses.
And consulting arrangements could involve real services.
But the investigators needed to know what services had been provided and whether any payments were connected to police-directed towing decisions.
They also discovered that a municipal employee involved in administering the towing contract had helped approve modifications benefiting County Line Recovery without properly disclosing a relevant personal relationship.
The inquiry grew beyond Hale.
And the evidence became more complicated.
The strongest records weren't financial.
They were the ordinary details employees had failed to reconcile.
A tow authorization dated after the truck was already removed.
A dispatch entry created hours after a vehicle arrived at the storage lot.
A disputed charge described as a mandatory municipal fee even though the relevant contract didn't support that description.
And a group of administrative notes copied almost word for word across unrelated incidents.
Laura's team examined those patterns carefully.
They interviewed dispatchers.
Tow truck operators.
Police employees.
And residents.
Some witnesses remembered little.
Others provided specific documents.
A few had been afraid to speak while Hale remained on active patrol.
The investigators did not promise that anyone who cooperated would receive a particular outcome.
They explained the process.
Preserved evidence.
And tested statements against records whenever possible.
One witness became particularly important.
He was a twenty-six-year-old tow truck driver named Caleb Morris.
Caleb had worked for County Line Recovery for three years. He was married, had a young daughter, and depended on his job to pay rent.
He had noticed unusual assignments.
Sometimes Frank Mercer instructed him to drive toward a location before a dispatch request appeared.
Other times, he was told that certain vehicles had priority even though they didn't seem to be creating a road hazard.
At first, Caleb assumed the arrangements were ordinary.
Then he saw invoices being adjusted after vehicles arrived.
He asked questions.
His supervisor told him to focus on driving.
Eventually, Caleb began saving his own legitimate work records because he worried that incomplete paperwork might later be blamed on him.
When the investigators interviewed him, he was frightened.
He didn't want to lose his job.
But he also didn't want to lie.
He described the calls.
The unusual timing.