Chapter 12 - The Unauthorized Release
Officer Marcus Hale slammed the phone onto his desk.
"What do you mean he was released?"
The detention supervisor sounded equally confused.
"The system shows a signed release authorization thirty-seven minutes ago."
"Signed by whom?"
There was a brief pause as keyboard clicks echoed through the line.
"...Captain Richard Lawson."
Hale's face hardened.
"That's impossible. Captain Lawson has been attending a state training conference since yesterday."
Detective Susan Ortega immediately opened the department's internal personnel system.
She pulled up Lawson's schedule.
"He isn't even in the city."
Rachel watched the detectives exchange uneasy glances.
"So someone used his name?"
"It appears that way," Ortega replied.
Within minutes, security footage from the detention center was displayed on the conference room monitor.
At first everything looked routine.
Eric Whitmore was escorted from his holding cell by a corrections officer.
A man wearing a dark suit met them at the processing desk. He handed over official-looking paperwork.
The desk officer barely looked at the documents before unlocking the final security door.
Eric walked out.
No resistance.
No questions.
The timestamp showed that less than eight minutes had passed from the moment the paperwork arrived until Eric disappeared from police custody.
"Zoom in," Hale ordered.
The technician enlarged the image.
The man's face remained partially hidden by the angle of the camera, but one detail immediately stood out.
A gold badge clipped to his belt.
Not a police badge.
A courthouse credential.
Detective Ortega quietly took a screenshot.
"Whoever this is... he knew exactly which procedures to exploit."
Rachel folded her arms tightly around herself.
"If they can get someone out of jail..."
She looked toward Hale.
"...what else can they do?"
No one answered.
May you like
Because every officer in the room was asking themselves the very same question.
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