“You told me.”
“What?”
Maya nodded toward garage door.
“You tried very hard to leave through one specific exit.”
Reyes stared.
Agent searched him.
Found a second phone taped inside ankle holster.
Hale swore.
Maya looked at Reyes.
“That one I didn't know about.”
The device contained almost nothing.
Encrypted app.
No contact names.
One recent notification:
BURN IT.
Timestamp:
Thirty seconds before fire alarm.
Maya looked toward conference room.
Then toward officers.
Someone inside precinct had sent it.
Reyes saw realization.
He smiled for first time since Hale appeared.
“You think I'm the problem?”
Maya looked at him.
“No.”
“Not anymore.”
That smile frightened Priya more than anything else.
Reyes was transferred to federal holding before midnight.
The precinct remained secured.
Every employee's city-issued device was logged.
Nobody's personal phone was seized without legal process.
Maya insisted.
The investigation would survive because procedure survived.
Not because panic justified shortcuts.
At 1:40 a.m., Maya finally sat inside Hale's office drinking terrible coffee.
Priya sat across.
Hale remained standing near window.
Laura Chen reviewed preliminary records.
“Fire alarm pull was basement east corridor.”
Hale said:
“No camera there.”
Maya looked up.
“Why?”
“Camera has been broken two months.”
“Work order?”
“Three.”
“Repair vendor?”
Hale hesitated.
“Metro Asset Recovery.”
Laura looked at Maya.
“Vane.”
“Exactly.”
Priya whispered:
“So whoever pulled alarm knew dead zone.”
Maya nodded.
“Could be officer.”
“Could be contractor.”
“Could be anybody given access.”
Hale said:
“Reyes will talk.”
Laura shook head.
“Maybe.”
Maya looked toward Hale.
“Tell me who you suspected.”
He stayed silent.
Laura said:
“Captain, now would be an excellent time.”
Hale sat.
For the first time that night he looked old.
“Deputy Chief Warren Cole.”
Priya inhaled sharply.
Maya said nothing.
Laura asked:
“Basis?”