"I have three video sources," Robert said, "that directly contradict Officer Petrov's written report. I have Captain Rogers's testimony." She looked at Bishop.
"What I don't have, officially, on record, is yours. You're right there in every single frame." Bishop stared at the frozen image of himself on the screen for a long moment. Something broke loose behind his eyes.
"He said we were teaching him respect," Bishop said, his voice cracking. "That's exactly what he said. I heard it." He swallowed hard.
"I've heard it every night since it happened, over and over. I didn't say anything because I was scared of what would happen to me if I did." "Say it again," Robert said gently, sliding a recorder across the table. "On the record this time."
Bishop took a shaking breath. Then he told it all. Petrov's exact words. The fabricated call for backup.
The false radio report. Everything he'd carried silently for weeks. Then, almost as an afterthought, something that made Robert go very still. "There's something else," Bishop said.
"I heard some of the older guys talking months back, before any of this happened. Said Petrov had two other complaints that got buried a long time ago." Bishop looked down.
"Said the lieutenant who reviewed them, the one who's chief now, made them disappear quietly. Both times." Robert's pen stopped moving. She looked up slowly.
"You're saying Chief Hollander buried Petrov's prior complaints herself?" "That's what I heard," Bishop said. "I don't know for sure, but that's what people said." Robert sat back.
The full shape of the case settled into place in front of her. No longer a single officer's bad morning, but a chain of protection running straight up through the department's chain of command. "Thank you, Officer," Robert said, turning off the recorder. "That took courage."
Bishop didn't look like he felt courageous. He looked like a man who'd finally set down something heavy. Exhausted and hollow all at once. Robert closed the laptop.
Then she looked at Mackie, who'd been standing quietly by the door the entire time. "This isn't just enough to move it forward," Robert said. "This is enough to move it public." The confirmation hearing had been sitting on the City Council calendar for two weeks.
Delayed once already at Deputy Mayor Roy Cole's insistence. Buried under the vague language of pending review. Mackie walked into the council chambers that morning knowing exactly what Cole intended to do with it. Use the unresolved incident as an excuse to stall his appointment indefinitely.
Or worse, sink it altogether. He didn't know Robert was planning to make sure that never happened. The chamber filled slowly. A handful of reporters sat near the back.