Chương 6
“And you beat them.”
“Yes.”
“Did it feel good?”
“For about six minutes.”
She waited.
Reed looked toward the covered rendering of the new entrance sign. “Then the planning began, and everyone wanted a version of you that fit on a program.”
“There she is.”
“I did not ask them to lie.”
“You let them choose what to omit.”
“That is what ceremonies do.”
“That may be the problem.”
He gave her a tired look. “Do not make me defend ceremonies on the day before yours.”
“I’m not sure it’s mine anymore.”
Maya received a message and rose. “Colonel Wade has the first body-camera file.”
Grant stepped closer. “Is it complete?”
“From approximately three minutes before the contact until Sergeant Cole entered the office. The local storage worked.”
Reed said, “Play it.”
Maya hesitated. “The investigation team requested that witnesses not review each other’s evidence before giving statements.”
Evelyn sat down again. “She’s right.”
Reed looked displeased, then nodded. “When will we be interviewed?”
“Within the hour.”
“I have already seen the incident.”
“You saw the end,” Evelyn said.
He accepted that too.
The interviews took place separately. Evelyn was led to a small office containing a metal desk, two chairs, and a wall calendar still turned to the previous month. The investigator was Lieutenant Colonel Marcus Hill, an attorney from another installation who had been attending the rehearsal as a guest. His unexpected presence was the first useful coincidence of the morning, and even he seemed annoyed by it.
Hill set a recorder on the desk. “Sergeant Brooks, I need you to describe the event in your own words. Start with your arrival.”
Evelyn did.
She described Airman Dyer scanning her identification and waving her through. She described walking toward the memorial with the folded flag and the medal case. She described Cole stepping into her path and asking for a visitor badge. She told Hill she said she had not been issued one. Cole ordered her back to the checkpoint. She explained she was there for the rehearsal and showed her identification. He looked at it but did not take it. His radio spoke at least twice. She could not make out the words over the wind.
“What happened immediately before the case fell?” Hill asked.
“He told me to place everything on the ground.”
“Did you refuse?”
“I asked for a clean surface.”
“Why?”
“The flag.”
“Did you explain that?”
“I said, ‘I will not put this flag on wet stone.’”
“What did he say?”
“‘Then hand it to me.’”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Evelyn looked at the blank calendar. “Because I did not trust him with it.”
“Had he touched you at that point?”
“No.”
“Threatened you?”
“No.”
“Why didn’t you trust him?”
“He had not listened to anything I said.”
Hill nodded without approving the answer. “Then what?”
“He reached for the case. I turned my body. He struck downward with his forearm. The flag and case left my arms.”
“Did you believe he intended to damage them?”
“I don’t know what he intended.”
“Did you move toward the medal?”
“Yes.”
“Did he give a command?”
“He said, ‘Stop.’”
“Did you stop?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because my brother made the case, the medal was mine, and neither belonged on the ground.”
Hill was quiet for a moment. “Then he grabbed your wrist.”
“Yes.”
“Did the grip cause injury?”
“No. The glass did.”
“Did you feel threatened?”
Evelyn considered the question. “I felt humiliated.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“No. It isn’t.”
“Did you believe he might hurt you further?”
“I believed he would do whatever allowed him to remain correct.”
Hill’s pen stopped.
“Is that a yes?”
“It is the most accurate answer I have.”
When the interview ended, Evelyn was not allowed to return to the conference room until the others had completed theirs. She waited in a break room with an old refrigerator and a vending machine that refused her dollar bill twice. On the third attempt, it accepted the bill and failed to release the crackers.
She pressed the return button. Nothing happened.
“This base is being named after me,” she told the machine. “You could show some respect.”
Airman Dyer stood in the doorway, escorted by a master sergeant. He looked uncertain whether he was permitted to laugh.
Evelyn stepped aside. “You want something?”
“No, ma’am.”
“You’re staring at the chips.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“You’re twenty-one. That condition is temporary.”
He approached the machine and bought two bags. One fell. The other remained caught between the metal coil and the glass.
Dyer looked at her. “It’s not personal, Sergeant.”
She took the offered bag and sat at the small table. He remained standing until the master sergeant told him they had ten minutes.
Dyer opened his chips without eating them.
“What did you tell them?” Evelyn asked.
His eyes widened. “I’m not supposed to discuss my statement.”
“Good answer.”
He looked down at the bag. “I should have stopped him.”
“Maybe.”
“I told Sergeant Cole you were cleared.”
“When?”
“Over the radio. When you walked past.”
“Did he answer?”
“He said he didn’t have you on his roster.”
“And then?”
“I said your arrival notice was on the morning update.”
“What did he say?”
Dyer rubbed salt from his thumb. “He told me to remain at my post.”
Evelyn waited.
“I could see you from the gate,” he said. “I saw him step in front of you. I thought he’d check. Then he raised his voice.”
“You stayed at your post.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Were you ordered to?”
“Yes.”
“Did that make it right?”
His face reddened. “No.”
“Did leaving your post create another security problem?”
“Possibly.”
“So you had two responsibilities that did not fit together.”
He looked at her, surprised by the question.
“Yes.”
“What will you do next time?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s honest.”
“I hope there isn’t a next time.”
May you like
“There is always a next time. It just wears different clothes.”
He finally ate a chip. “Are you going to ask for Sergeant Cole to be discharged?”
