“Interview him. Ask what he meant by prior findings, what records he reviewed, and why the file doesn't document the steps required by policy.”
Naomi made a note.
“Do you want to connect the current review to the Carter investigation?”
“Not unless evidence establishes a legitimate connection. We're examining the department's handling of complaints because that is relevant to the current matter. The historical case has its own evidence and its own questions. If a broader pattern emerges, we'll document it carefully rather than force the cases together.”
Naomi nodded.
As she gathered her files, Marcus remembered Ethan's call the previous night.
“What about the potential complaint involving Jordan's brother?”
“I haven't received anything directly from him.”
“Don't contact him through the community center unless he has agreed to that. If he chooses to come forward, explain the process and document his consent. We should not put Ethan in the position of acting as an intermediary.”
“Understood.”
When the meeting ended, Marcus returned to his office and found an email from Patricia Greene.
She had written only a few lines.
I have been thinking about the interview. There is one detail I did not mention because I was unsure whether it mattered. After Raymond Keller told me to leave the matter alone, I heard him speak to someone on the telephone near the side entrance. I could not hear the entire conversation, but I remember him saying, “The woman has been asking questions.” I don't know who he was speaking to, and I cannot be certain those were his exact words. I thought you should know.
Marcus read the message twice.
He called Patricia.
“Thank you for sending this. Can you tell me more about what you remember?”
“I was walking toward the parking lot when I heard him. I had already decided to leave, but I stopped because I thought he might be talking about me.”
“Could you hear the other person's voice?”
“No. I only heard Keller.”
“Did he mention David by name?”
“Not that I remember.”
“Did he say anything else?”
“He said something about keeping the matter contained. But I don't know whether that was the exact phrase or whether I'm remembering it from something I heard later.”
“Did you tell anyone about this at the time?”
“No. I didn't even write it in my original statement because I wasn't sure what I had heard.”
Marcus thanked her and documented the call.
The new recollection was potentially relevant, but it came with an important limitation: Patricia had not included it in her contemporaneous statement and could not confidently recall the exact words. The passage of time could affect memory, particularly when a witness had spent years revisiting a frightening event.
He added it to the interview plan as a supplemental statement, making clear that it was a later recollection requiring corroboration.
Then he requested Keller's telephone and duty records for the relevant evening, if any survived and could lawfully be obtained. He also asked whether the hospital maintained security records or visitor logs from that period.
The hospital responded that its original security system had long since been replaced. No video records survived. A partial visitor log existed, but it did not list every person entering the administrative corridor.
The absence of a record could not establish that Keller had not been there. Nor could Patricia's recollection alone prove that he had made the call. The investigators would have to search for corroborating evidence elsewhere.
By late afternoon, the investigation had reached a new stage. They were no longer simply trying to determine whether a witness statement had been misplaced. They were tracing the path of a document through a system in which access, classification, and authorization had been controlled by people who now remembered the events differently.
At five o'clock, Marcus received a call from a number he did not recognize.
“Mr. Reed?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Martin Voss. I understand your office has been asking about the Carter case.”
Marcus sat upright.
“We have, Mr. Voss.”
“I have been following the public discussion. I would prefer not to discuss the matter over the telephone, but I believe I can clarify some of the administrative history.”
“Are you willing to come in for an interview?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow, if possible.”
“We can arrange that.”
There was a brief silence.
“Mr. Reed,” Voss continued, “before we meet, I want to tell you something. I did not authorize the death report. I did not supervise the officers who had custody of David Carter. But I signed documents connected to the administrative review.”
“Can you explain what those documents concerned?”
“Not accurately over the telephone. I would rather bring the records I retained.”
“Do you have original records?”
“Some originals, some copies. I kept them because I believed the review had been handled incompletely.”
Marcus felt his attention sharpen.