“I’m going to obtain the footage.”
“And then?”
“Follow evidence.”
Walsh watched her.
“You think this is bigger.”
“I don’t know yet.”
“You always say that when you think it’s bigger.”
Sloane looked toward the front window.
Lillian’s house sat directly across the street.
“I know Harlan had multiple chances to verify the truth.”
Walsh nodded.
“He rejected them.”
“Yes.”
“Quinn told him to run the property.”
“Yes.”
“The property confirmed ownership.”
“Yes.”
“And he arrested you anyway.”
“Yes.”
Walsh sat.
“That’s bad.”
“It’s also specific.”
“Meaning?”
“I want to know if he behaves this way often or if today was an anomaly.”
Walsh frowned.
“This is local misconduct. Let Internal Affairs handle it.”
“I intend to.”
“You’re saying that strangely.”
“I’m saying I won’t interfere.”
Walsh smiled.
“But?”
“No but.”
“Sloane.”
She looked at him.
“If Internal Affairs finds a pattern involving civil rights violations or falsified reporting, they’ll know where to send it.”
Walsh sighed.
“There’s the but.”
The body-camera footage arrived Monday morning.
Sloane watched it once.
Then again.
The second viewing was worse.
Not because the physical force looked more severe.
It did not.
Because seeing the encounter from Harlan’s chest camera removed every argument about confusion.
The facts were simple.
Sloane identified herself.
She explained the recent property purchase.
She offered dispatch verification.
Quinn suggested verification.
Harlan refused.
Sloane remained on the porch.
She made no attempt to enter the home.
She made no threatening movement.
She placed the pruning shears down before officers approached.
She did not raise her voice.
Then Harlan escalated after she said no to retrieving physical ID.
The body camera captured Sloane explaining why.
It captured Quinn saying:
“We could run the property.”
It captured Harlan answering:
“I’ve got it.”
Then came the cuffs.
The shove into the railing.
The cruiser.
The moment dispatch confirmed ownership.
And Harlan’s sentence afterward.
“Could be identity theft.”
Sloane paused the video.
Walsh sat beside her in the conference room.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Priya Shah sat on the other side.
Priya specialized in civil rights prosecutions.
She had not been invited as a prosecutor.
Only as a colleague Sloane trusted.
Priya stared at the frozen screen.
“He decided you were guilty before getting out of the cruiser.”
Sloane shook her head.
“We don’t know what he decided.”
Priya gave her a look.
“Fine. He behaved as though he had.”
“Better.”
Walsh leaned back.
“You’re impossible.”
Sloane resumed the footage.
At the station, another detail emerged.
Harlan told Sergeant Denton that Sloane “tried to retreat inside the residence.”
That never happened.
Priya paused.
“There.”
Sloane nodded.
“Potential false statement.”
“Not potential. It’s false.”
“We’d need intent.”
Priya stared.
“You are incapable of being a normal victim.”