One payment occurred four days after the South Harbor raid.
Another followed the closure of the tire distributor.
A third followed the arrest of a warehouse owner who later sold his property.
The timing was consistent enough to warrant further investigation.
But timing alone was not proof.
We needed communications.
Contracts.
Bank records.
Witness testimony.
And a documented connection between the payments and police actions.
That connection arrived from an unexpected source.
A former employee of the development group.
He was a white American man in his early forties who worked in property acquisitions.
He contacted our office after hearing that investigators were examining the South Harbor raid.
At first, he refused to provide his name.
He said he feared retaliation.
Eventually, through counsel, he agreed to an interview.
He arrived carrying a laptop and a small folder of documents.
He looked exhausted.
For nearly two hours, he described a redevelopment operation that had become increasingly aggressive.
According to him, Sloane referred to certain business owners as "holdouts."
Some declined offers because they believed their properties were worth more.
Others wanted to preserve family businesses.
A few opposed redevelopment altogether.
The former employee said Sloane kept a separate list of properties that required "pressure."
I asked what that meant.
He looked down.
"At first, I thought it meant negotiation."
I waited.
He continued.
"More meetings. Better offers. Maybe zoning challenges."
"What changed?"
He swallowed.
"People started getting raided."
I leaned forward.
"Did Sloane discuss those raids?"
The man nodded.
"He'd hear about them before they happened."
I studied him.
"How far in advance?"
"Sometimes a few days. Sometimes a week."
"How did he explain that?"
"He said he had friends at the police department."
I made a note.
"Which friends?"
The man hesitated.
Then whispered, "Mercer."
The room became quiet.
I looked toward Dana.
She continued taking notes.
I turned back.
"Did you personally witness communications between them?"
He nodded.
"Yes."
"Do you have any records?"
The man opened his laptop.
Then showed us a collection of emails he said he had retained from his employment.
We did not treat the files as automatically authentic.
They would require preservation, validation, and comparison with records obtained from the original systems.
But their contents were troubling.
Several referred to specific properties.
One mentioned a "scheduled enforcement event."
Another stated that an owner should be offered a revised purchase agreement after "the business situation becomes clearer."
A third message, sent three days before the South Harbor raid, contained a short sentence.