And long meetings where attorneys argued about what could be proved rather than what everybody suspected.
But it worked.
The financial trail pointed toward a civilian logistics company that had submitted false documentation for shipments associated with military contracts.
Some equipment had been diverted before reaching its intended destination.
Other items had been falsely classified as damaged or obsolete.
Several expensive portable medical systems and communications components had then moved through commercial storage and freight facilities.
Westbrook Recovery operated one of those facilities.
Its towing business provided a convenient explanation for constant vehicle movements, warehouse activity, and transportation invoices.
But the records didn't match ordinary towing operations.
The company billed for storage that never occurred.
It received payments from entities with no apparent need for vehicle recovery.
And it recorded deliveries using vague descriptions that did not correspond to the equipment investigators were tracing.
At the center of those arrangements stood the company's owner.
His name was Wesley Pike.
He was forty-eight years old, a politically connected businessman who had built Westbrook Recovery from a small two-truck operation into the county's largest towing and vehicle-storage contractor.
He also happened to be the younger brother of Sheriff Warren Pike.
That relationship wasn't automatically illegal.
Families could own businesses.
Businesses could hold government contracts.
But the pattern of payments, referrals, and official actions raised questions neither brother could easily explain.
Westbrook received an extraordinary share of the county's nonconsensual towing business.
Complaints against the company were rarely sustained.
Drivers who challenged fees were repeatedly told that the sheriff's department had authorized the charges.
And several deputies who generated the most towing referrals had received benefits from businesses associated with Wesley.
Investigators began examining whether the relationship involved bribery, official misconduct, and fraud.
Then they discovered a series of payments routed through a consulting company controlled by an associate of the sheriff.
The amounts were irregular.
The descriptions were vague.
And several coincided with transfers of stolen equipment through Westbrook's storage facilities.
The case was becoming much larger than one deputy's violent traffic stop.
It was beginning to expose a system.
One that relied on legitimate authority to protect illegitimate transactions.
One that used ordinary paperwork to disguise theft.
And one that treated people who asked questions as obstacles to be removed.
I learned about the next development during a meeting with Thomas.
He arrived at my father's house carrying a folder, although he left the sensitive material inside his briefcase until we moved to a private room.
He sat across from me.
"Renata, we need to discuss your status."
I frowned.
"Medical?"
"Partly."
I waited.
He continued.
"You're a direct victim and an important witness in the roadside incident. You can't serve as the lead investigator on that part of the case."
I nodded.