This time, the investigation didn’t stay quiet. Officers were reassigned. Old crash photos were sent to independent analysts. The vehicle logs from that night were pulled up and checked against GPS records. Gaps opened like cracks in a pavement after a hard winter.
Vance watched from the edges. He wasn’t allowed to lead the inquiry, but he wasn’t shut out anymore. He answered questions without flinching, even when they involved people he once trusted. He named names when asked, and didn’t soften what he’d seen.