The sheriff's expression hardened.
"Relevant to what?"
The legal advisor hesitated.
Then answered carefully.
"Whether someone used departmental authority to assist a private business dispute."
The room became silent.
The sheriff looked down at the document.
For several seconds, he didn't speak.
Then he looked toward the door.
The meeting continued, but his mind was elsewhere.
He remembered the developer's phone calls.
The complaints about the elderly homeowner.
The suggestion that the old man was obstructing progress.
And the conversation in which he'd told the sergeant to keep an eye on the property.
At the time, he'd considered the request harmless.
A routine favor for a businessman whose project the county supported.
Now that favor appeared inside an investigation involving planted evidence and an injured elderly resident.
The sheriff felt something he'd rarely admitted.
Fear.
He had spent decades telling others that law enforcement officers should have nothing to worry about if they'd done nothing wrong.
Now he found himself wondering how his own words would sound when investigators read them without the explanations he'd grown accustomed to providing.
The sergeant's formal interview was difficult.
He arrived with his attorney.
His uniform had been replaced by a plain shirt and dark trousers.
Without the badge, he seemed less imposing.
Still muscular.
Still broad-shouldered.
But no longer surrounded by the symbols of authority he'd relied upon for years.
He sat across from the investigators.
At first, he denied placing the pouch inside the pickup.
He suggested the security video might have been edited.
Then he claimed he had approached the truck because of a legitimate investigative concern.
When shown the relevant footage, he acknowledged entering the vehicle.
But he struggled to explain why he'd placed the watch beneath the seat.
The investigators asked about his communications with the development company.
He said he knew several employees through off-duty work.
They asked about the blue folder.
He claimed he couldn't remember why he'd mentioned it.
Then they presented the documented statement from the rookie deputy.
The sergeant looked toward his attorney.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Finally, the investigator asked whether the officer understood the seriousness of the allegations.
He nodded.
But his expression remained defensive.
The investigator continued.
"An elderly man was taken to the hospital after an encounter in which you used force against him."
The sergeant looked down.
"The man was resisting."
The investigator studied him.