Then turned toward the younger officer.
“Yours?”
“Recorded from before first contact.”
“Good.”
The sergeant's face tightened.
The lieutenant looked toward the general.
“I apologize for the situation.”
She shook her head.
“Don't apologize before you investigate.”
He seemed surprised.
“Ma'am?”
“You don't know everything yet.”
He nodded slowly.
Fair.
She continued.
“I want the caller identified if legally permissible.”
“We will handle it.”
“And I want the officers separated before statements.”
The lieutenant blinked.
She recognized that look.
Procedural surprise.
“You've done this before?”
The colonel almost laughed.
The general looked at him.
He stopped.
She turned back.
“I've conducted enough command investigations to know memory gets collaborative when people stand beside each other.”
The lieutenant nodded.
“Understood.”
The senior officer went to one patrol vehicle.
The younger to another.
The general remained beside the pump.
The colonel approached.
“We are twenty-eight minutes behind movement.”
“I know.”
“The commander at the destination has called twice.”
“I know.”
“What should I tell him?”
“The truth.”
The colonel smiled faintly.
“That may cause more calls.”
“Then stop answering.”
He laughed once.
The tension eased for half a second.
Then the convenience-store manager emerged.
Not the cashier.
Manager.
Middle-aged man wearing a branded polo.
He looked terrified.
“Officer?”
The lieutenant approached.
“Yes?”
The manager pointed toward the store.
“I think you need to see something.”
The general looked over.
The lieutenant followed him inside.
Three minutes later, he returned.
His expression had changed.
He walked directly toward the general.
“Ma'am.”
“Yes?”
“The call did not originate from a customer.”
She waited.
“It came from inside the store.”
The general looked through the window.
The cashier stood near the back.
“You have video?”
“Yes.”
“What does it show?”
The lieutenant paused.
“You pulled in.”
“Got out.”
“Inserted your card.”
“That's it.”
The colonel's jaw tightened again.
The lieutenant continued.
“The cashier called approximately thirty-five seconds after you exited your vehicle.”
The general looked toward the window.
“Thirty-five seconds.”
“Yes.”
“What did he report?”
The lieutenant took out a notepad.