A major new report into alleged police collaboration with loyalist killers in Belfast has been put back until November.
Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan's investigators have uncovered new documents as part of their investigation into the murder of former RAF man Raymond McCord.
The inquiry is understood to have identified shocking levels of collusion between rogue Special Branch officers and a Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) unit operating in the north of the city.
Up to a dozen killings could be implicated as intelligence-gathering and the use of agents comes under intense scrutiny.
Damning evidence that terrorists were shielded from arrest and prosecution was expected to be confirmed in a dossier published this month. But those plans have been revised to allow the investigation team to study papers obtained within the last four weeks.
The arrests last month of former Royal Ulster Constabulary detectives Johnston Brown, Trevor McIlwrath and Tom Meek are believed to have contributed to the decision to keep working on the case.
All three were released without charge, but ombudsman staff want more time to plough through all material recovered during searches of their homes.
Mrs O'Loan's examination of alleged collusion began after a complaint was received from Raymond McCord Sr into the police handling of the investigation of his son's death.
The 22-year-old was beaten to death before his body was dumped in a quarry on the northern outskirts of Belfast in 1997. He is believed to have crossed the UVF's notorious Mount Vernon unit, led by a boss who was allegedly working for police Special Branch.
No one was ever charged with the murder.