"No, of course not. I can't pull a file out of Personnel and just carry it up here. It's on file, though. I just got through reading the working file and there's a private file on the guy, too, that would really bust things wide open."
The sergeant smiled sourly.
"Maybe it would. I suppose they'd pull it right out and hand it over, too."
He spun his chair around and fished a book from a shelf behind his desk.
"Here." He put the book on the corner of the desk. "Here is the regulation on this sort of situation."
He pointed out words, one at a time.
It was a long regulation, filled with complex terminology. It forbade seizure of records in any manner not definitely authorized by local statute. The sergeant went through it, getting full value from each word.
At last his finger came away from the page.
"Those are private records, you're talking about. On this planet, the law protects corporate records to the fullest extent. We'd have to have positive evidence that an incriminating document was in existence. We'd have to define its location and content within fairly narrow limits. Then we'd have to go before a local determinator and request authority for an examination of that document."
He slammed the book shut.