"Correct."
Another said, "The family wasn't threatening anyone."
"Correct."
A third said, "The senior officer was escalating because he was angry."
Fletcher nodded.
"Yes."
He looked around the room.
"So what did I do?"
No one answered.
Fletcher pressed play.
The video continued.
The cake struck the ground.
The officer stomped on it.
The child screamed.
Fletcher stopped the recording.
"I waited."
His voice was low.
"I waited until the harm became so obvious that I could no longer pretend it was somebody else's responsibility."
He looked directly at the recruits.
"Don't make that your standard."
By the time Caleb's daughter turned nine, she had become fascinated with family history.
Her name was Lily.
She had inherited her father's curiosity and her grandfather's stubborn determination.
She loved science experiments, astronomy books, and old photographs.
One rainy afternoon, while visiting Marcus, she discovered a box of family memorabilia in the guest bedroom closet.
Inside were photographs, birthday cards, newspaper clippings, and a carefully folded blue-and-red Superman costume.
Lily lifted it from the box.
"Grandpa?"
Marcus was in the hallway.
"Yes, sweetheart?"
"Whose costume is this?"
He looked inside the room.
Then he smiled.
"That belonged to your dad."
Lily's eyes widened.
"Daddy was Superman?"
Marcus laughed.
"He certainly thought so."
She held up the small costume.
"It's tiny!"
"He was seven."
Lily examined the red cape.
"Can I try it on?"
Marcus hesitated.
The costume had become fragile with age.
He did not want it torn.
But he also disliked the idea of treating a child's clothing as something too sacred to touch.
"Carefully," he said.
Lily slipped the cape over her shoulders.
It was too small.
The fabric barely reached her waist.
She ran toward the mirror.
Marcus watched her turn from side to side.
"How do I look?"
"Like trouble."
Lily laughed.
Then she noticed a photograph lying near the bottom of the box.
It showed Caleb crying in Marcus's arms at the birthday party.
The destroyed cake was visible in the background.
Lily picked it up.