"Not necessarily. There may be amendments or other authorized fees. We need the complete contract history."
Isaiah sighed.
"That's what Leonard kept saying."
Naomi looked up.
"What?"
"That every answer led to another piece of paper nobody wanted to give him."
She nodded.
Then she turned to the next section.
Leonard had copied information about other drivers.
The first was a woman named Sandra Alvarez.
She was thirty-nine, worked as a nurse at a regional hospital, and had been stopped after changing her legal name following a divorce.
Her temporary license was valid.
The officer who stopped her claimed the paper was suspicious.
Her vehicle was towed.
The traffic charge was later dismissed.
But the tow charges remained disputed.
The second was a white American electrician named Randall Hayes.
His truck was impounded after a stop involving an allegation that his registration was not current.
The registration had been renewed electronically two days earlier.
The motor vehicle database eventually confirmed the renewal.
But Hayes had lost nearly a week of work while trying to recover his truck and tools.
The third was a Black delivery driver named Elijah Pierce.
His vehicle had been taken after an officer alleged that his driving privileges were suspended.
The record later showed that the suspension had been cleared before the stop.
Elijah had borrowed money to pay the storage charges.
He was still repaying the loan.
Naomi looked at the names.
Then at the dates.
Some stops involved Malloy.
Others involved different troopers.
Several occurred within the same patrol district.
And one towing company appeared on every invoice.
Cedar Valley Recovery.
She drew a box around the company name.
Then another around the repeated fees.
Isaiah watched.
"What are you thinking?"
Naomi leaned back.
"I'm thinking Leonard was asking reasonable questions."
Isaiah waited.
"But we need to separate what we know from what we suspect."
"What do we know?"
"Multiple people reported disputed towing practices. Several underlying citations were dismissed or corrected. The same company appears repeatedly, and some invoices contain fees we can't reconcile with the contract copy."
Isaiah nodded.
"What do we suspect?"
Naomi looked toward the window.
"That the problems may be connected."
He leaned forward.
"And Derek Malloy?"
She looked at him.
"His conduct yesterday needs investigation on its own. If he's connected to improper towing practices, that needs separate proof."
Isaiah sighed.
"I know."
Naomi reached across the table and covered his hand.
"Dad, the best way to honor Leonard is to be accurate."
He looked down.
For a moment, he seemed older than seventy-four.
Then he nodded.
"That's what he would've wanted."