Mark nodded.
"We can stop."
"No."
"Danielle—"
"No."
She pressed play again.
"If we're going to ask other people to live through recordings of the worst moments of their lives in court, I can watch mine."
So they did.
Until the end.
CHAPTER 7 — THE CHIEF
Chief David Hernandez requested a private meeting.
Danielle brought Mark.
Hernandez brought Lieutenant Briggs and the department's counsel.
Mulligan wasn't invited.
Hernandez began immediately.
"I've reviewed the available footage."
Danielle waited.
"There were significant failures."
"Significant?"
"Yes."
"That's an interesting word."
Hernandez accepted the criticism.
"The registration should have been checked before any custodial arrest."
"Agreed."
"Your identification should have been retrieved."
"Agreed."
"The statements recorded by the civilian witness are unacceptable."
Danielle leaned forward.
"Unacceptable isn't a finding."
The department attorney shifted.
Hernandez remained still.
"What are you asking for?"
"An independent investigation."
"We have internal affairs."
"I know."
"You're saying you don't trust them?"
"I'm saying the public shouldn't have to rely exclusively on a department investigating itself when the allegation concerns discriminatory conduct by one of its officers."
Hernandez considered that.
Mark spoke.
"We're also requesting preservation and review of prior complaints involving Officer Mulligan."
The department attorney objected.
"That goes beyond this incident."
Danielle turned toward him.
"Maybe."
"Then why request it?"
"Because if this is isolated, the records will help establish that."
The attorney said nothing.
"And if it isn't," Danielle continued, "we need to know that too."
Hernandez slowly nodded.
"I'll authorize the review."
The attorney looked at him.
"Chief—"
"I said I'll authorize it."
Danielle studied Hernandez.
For the first time since the arrest, someone inside the department appeared more interested in what happened than in protecting what it looked like.
That mattered.
But it wasn't enough.
Not yet.
CHAPTER 8 — THE OTHER STORIES
The first complaint was four years old.
A Black schoolteacher named Terrence Webb had been detained after Mulligan suspected him of entering a house illegally.
It was Terrence's house.
The complaint was closed after supervisors determined Mulligan had responded to a neighbor's call and eventually verified ownership.
The second involved a college student stopped while driving his father's luxury sedan.
The third involved a nurse questioned outside an apartment building where she lived.
Not every complaint was substantiated.
Some had incomplete evidence.