“Would you agree that sounds authoritative?”
“It sounds grammatical.”
Several people in the room shifted.
The attorney frowned.
“You are accustomed to exercising authority.”
“Yes.”
“Perhaps your manner came across as condescending.”
“Perhaps.”
“Could that have contributed to tension?”
Sloane looked toward Harlan.
“Tension is not legal justification for arrest.”
The hearing officer intervened.
“Move on.”
Later, Harlan testified.
He said Sloane’s behavior made him suspicious.
She appeared “too prepared.”
She knew “exactly what to say.”
She refused commands calmly.
He believed she might be using sophisticated deception.
Then came the question that changed the room.
The city attorney asked:
“When did you first become confident that Ms. Mercer was telling the truth?”
Harlan hesitated.
“When the station verified her employment.”
Sloane closed her eyes.
The city attorney continued.
“Not when property records verified ownership?”
“I still had concerns.”
“Not when vehicle registration matched?”
“Identity theft exists.”
“Not when Officer Quinn confirmed the property transfer?”
“I believed further investigation was appropriate.”
“But when you learned she was a federal prosecutor, you believed her?”
Harlan looked down.
“Yes.”
The city attorney waited.
“Why?”
Harlan had no good answer.
Because there wasn’t one.
His dismissal was upheld.
Officer Nolan Quinn remained on duty.
For months, he avoided Sloane.
Then one evening, she found him standing outside her gate.
Not in uniform.
Jeans.
Polo shirt.
Hands in pockets.
Sloane opened the door.
“Officer Quinn.”
“Ms. Mercer.”
“Sloane.”
He nodded.
“I wanted to apologize.”
“For what?”
He seemed surprised.
“For not stopping him.”
Sloane stepped onto the porch.
Quinn looked toward the railing where Harlan had shoved her.
“I knew he was wrong.”
“When?”
“Before the cuffs.”
Sloane nodded.
He looked at her.
“You’re not going to make this easier?”
“No.”
Quinn laughed nervously.
“Fair.”
He stared across the lawn.
“I kept telling myself I was junior.”
“That’s true.”
“That he was handling it.”
“He was.”
“That stepping in would create more confusion.”
“Maybe.”
Quinn looked at her.
“But really I was scared of him.”
Sloane said nothing.
“He had influence.”
“Schedule.”
“Training.”
“Recommendations.”
“I knew what happened to officers who challenged him.”
Sloane folded her arms.
“What happened?”
“They got labeled difficult.”
“Weak.”
“Unreliable.”
“Not team players.”
He swallowed.
“I didn’t want that.”
Sloane nodded.
“That makes sense.”
Quinn looked surprised again.
“You’re not angry?”