“I…I’m Tracy Beaumont,” I fumble out.

The desk officer immediately lets him pass through.

Mr. Jones slaps my shoulder. “It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Ms. Beaumont. This is Dom, my lead investigator.”

My hands tremble as I show them to the conference room we’ve taken over since last night. Mama’s home resting after dropping off Corinne at Tasha’s, where she’ll be staying for a few days. My chest swells with pride thinking about the moment Mama will meet the founder of Innocence X.

Steve soon enters, but it’s clear who’s taken over as alpha dog here. Mr. Jones has officers delivering him coffee and getting access to a computer in the conference room.

Over the next hour, we fill them in on everything we know. Including new suspicions that Daddy’s and Jamal’s cases are connected. Stephen Jones writes notes furiously. He makes calls and researches the story about the girl who was killed in the crowd by a gunshot.

“You think the gun is the same one?” Mr. Jones asks Steve.

“Sheriff brought in his son, Chris, last night,” Steve says. “He revised his statement. He was the first to find Angela, not Jamal. Richard is now suspected of attacking Angela, which led to her death. He needed that gun. May be the same one used in the Davidsons’ murder. Chris admitted his uncle knew about the meetup, delayed his arrival. He’s now spilling on the underground hate group and confirms his friend Scott stole his uncle’s gun and shot at the crowd at the Black Lives Matter march in April. Thought it would be funny. Suspects and witnesses have been filing in all morning.”

Mr. Jones lets out a long whistle. “This will be one hell of a story.”

I’ve gone over all the possible headlines in my story, too.

CORRUPTION IN CROWNING and JUSTICE FOR THE BEAUMONTS are my favorites.

“What’s this mean for our young client, Jamal Beaumont?” Mr. Jones looks to me.

“Steve said the charges are dropped.” I touch my hands to my face, still in disbelief.

“A few more official loopholes to go through,” Steve says. “But the DA’s receptive to dropping charges. He may need to serve some community service for running with a warrant.”

“Under these circumstances, I would hope that’s all. And even that feels unnecessary.” Mr. Jones nods at Dom. A secret language between the two. She’s already up and out, calling the district attorney’s office.

“Now, to complicated matters,” Mr. Jones says to me. “Has Steve told you that while we might have evidence to prove your father’s innocence, there are more hoops to go through?”

I hesitate before speaking, fold my hands in my lap.

“How long?”