Ruiz had remained silent since entering the lobby. Now he turned to Dana. "Officer Mercer, did you deactivate your body camera during your contact with Miss Williams?"
Dana straightened. "It wasn't recording properly."
"That wasn't my question."
"I may have restarted it."
Paul glanced at the tablet. "The system records a manual deactivation."
Dana looked at him. "Who are you?"
"Paul Reeves. State investigator."
Harland stepped closer. "Captain, before anyone takes disciplinary action, I suggest we slow this down. We have an active matter involving Miss Williams's son."
Ruiz looked at him. "Is the son under arrest?"
For the first time since Maya returned, Harland hesitated. Maya said nothing.
Ruiz repeated the question. "Charles, is he under arrest?"
"He was being temporarily held while officers clarified his connection to evidence."
"Under what charge?"
"The determination had not been completed."
Ruiz's face changed. Maya reached into her folder and removed nothing; she simply rested one hand on it.
"That was the question I asked before I was removed."
Karen looked down at her tablet again. "There is another issue: the security restriction was entered using credentials assigned to the police liaison office, but no hospital emergency was open to support it."
Paul added, "And Isaiah's backpack was moved into an internal storage room without a property receipt."
Dana immediately said, "I was following Lieutenant Harland's instructions."
Harland turned toward her. The look lasted only a moment, but Dana seemed to realize she had spoken too quickly.
Captain Ruiz stepped toward the desk. His voice was quieter now, but the authority behind it was unmistakable. "Officer Mercer, until this is reviewed, you are being placed on emergency administrative suspension."
Dana stared at him. "Captain, you can't be serious."
"I am."
"This woman comes back with state investigators because she didn't like being told to leave, and now I'm suspended?"
Maya did not react.
Ruiz continued, "You manually disabled your body camera during a disputed citizen contact. You participated in moving property without documented intake. You enforced a medical area restriction that the hospital says was never authorized. You also refused to clearly state the legal basis for holding the patient."
Dana pointed toward Harland. "He ordered the lockdown!"
Harland's face became unreadable. Ruiz looked briefly at him, then back to Dana.
"His conduct will be reviewed separately. Right now, I'm giving you a direct order."