“Lieutenant, there’s something you need to know.”

He pointed toward the statement on the table.

“Officer Riker wasn’t looking for stolen records.”

He paused.

“He was trying to make me discredit evidence from a fifteen-year-old wrongful conviction.”

Chapter 13: The Recording That Survived

The independent investigation began immediately.

Investigators preserved the documents in the room, Arvand’s belongings, the facility’s access records, and the available communications.

The old camera truly was inactive.

There was no video of the interrogation itself.

But investigators had other evidence.

Jasmine’s radio request established that an undocumented interview was occurring.

Facility records showed when Riker entered the restricted corridor.

Arvand’s phone had been taken.

The prepared statement remained on the table.

And officers had found him restrained in a room not authorized for custodial questioning.

The investigation did not depend on a miraculous hidden camera.

It depended on ordinary records and people willing to report what they observed.

Meanwhile, the attorneys handling the Darius Bell case arranged for the old recording to be examined by qualified specialists.

The original storage device was preserved.

Its history was documented.

And investigators compared the recording with other authenticated records from the period.

The voices were examined.

The dates were reviewed.

The transcript was checked against the audio.

The findings supported the recording’s authenticity.

And what it contained was devastating.

Captain Vale could be heard discussing evidence supporting Darius’s alibi.

Riker questioned whether the information needed to be included in the report.

Vale dismissed him.

Then came the line Arvand had memorized.

“Tommy, the boy’s already signed. Stop asking questions.”

There was a pause on the recording.

Then Riker’s younger voice.

“But what if he wasn’t there?”

Vale answered sharply.

“That’s not your problem anymore.”

The room fell silent when investigators played the recording.

For fifteen years, the conversation had remained hidden.

Now it was being examined as evidence of possible misconduct in a case that had cost an innocent man much of his young adulthood.

Chapter 14: What Tommy Remembered

Riker was questioned during the independent review.

He denied attempting to coerce Arvand.

He claimed the interview concerned unauthorized possession of police records.

Investigators asked why there was no formal record of the detention.

Riker said the paperwork had not been completed.

They asked why he selected an unused interrogation room.

He said it was private.

They asked why Arvand had been handcuffed to a chair.

Riker claimed he believed the man might become combative.

The investigators examined the available evidence.

No report described Arvand threatening anyone.