Sloane looked at her.
“I’m not prosecuting him.”
“No. You’re cross-examining reality.”
Walsh smiled.
“That’s why she’s deputy chief.”
Sloane ignored them.
The video continued.
Then they reached the station phone call.
Captain Reeves discovering Sloane’s identity.
Harlan saying:
“I didn’t know.”
Priya paused again.
“That sentence is going to destroy him.”
Sloane looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because it says the quiet part.”
Walsh nodded.
“He thinks who you are changes what he did.”
Sloane leaned back.
“That’s exactly the issue.”
Internal Affairs interviewed Officer Nolan Quinn on Tuesday.
Sloane did not attend.
She read the transcript afterward.
Quinn admitted he believed Harlan’s actions were unjustified before Sloane was placed in the cruiser.
The investigator asked:
“Why didn’t you intervene?”
Quinn answered:
“I tried verbally.”
“Why didn’t you stop the arrest?”
Long pause.
“He was senior.”
“Does seniority override law?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
Another pause.
“Because Officer Harlan has a reputation.”
“What reputation?”
Quinn hesitated.
“He punishes people who embarrass him.”
“How?”
“Bad assignments.”
“Reports.”
“Calling you unreliable.”
“Telling supervisors you’re soft.”
“Has he done that to you?”
“Yes.”
The investigator asked when.
Quinn described a previous incident involving a homeless man sleeping behind a pharmacy.
Harlan wanted to arrest him for trespass.
The store manager only wanted him moved.
Quinn suggested taking the man to a shelter.
Harlan called him “social worker” for the next two months.
Later, Quinn was removed from a desirable traffic assignment.
No paperwork connected the events.
But Quinn understood the message.
Sloane closed the transcript.
Priya sat across from her desk.
“Still think anomaly?”
“No.”
“How many complaints?”
“Internal Affairs is pulling them.”
“You already know, don’t you?”
Sloane looked at her.
“Unofficially, nine in six years.”
Priya’s eyebrows rose.
“Sustained?”
“Two.”
“Nature?”
“One discourtesy.”
“One improper detention.”
Priya leaned forward.
“Force?”
“Three allegations.”
“None sustained.”
“Body camera?”
“Two unavailable.”
“Convenient.”
Sloane said nothing.
Priya tapped the transcript.
“This could become federal.”
“It could.”
“You’re recused.”
“Obviously.”
“Good.”
Sloane looked offended.
“You think I need reminding?”
“I think somebody arrested you outside the house you waited ten years to buy.”
“Eleven.”
“Thank you for proving my point.”
Lillian Vaughn came to Sloane’s door Wednesday afternoon.
Sloane saw her through the camera.
For several seconds, she considered not answering.
Then she opened the door.