Relief.
Now witnesses with authority had arrived.
He turned toward the Captain.
“Good.”
He pointed at the suited man.
“This guy’s refusing lawful—”
The Captain stopped so suddenly the Deputy Chief nearly collided with him.
His face drained.
The Sergeant noticed.
“What?”
The Captain stared at the burgundy suit.
Then the reddening cheek.
Then the Sergeant’s hand still halfway raised.
“Oh my God.”
The Sergeant frowned.
The Incoming Chief said nothing.
The Captain hurried forward.
“Sergeant.”
“Yes?”
“Step away.”
The Sergeant looked confused.
“I have this.”
“No.”
The Captain’s voice sharpened.
“Step away from him.”
The Sergeant lowered his hand.
“What’s going on?”
The Captain looked toward the Incoming Chief.
“Chief.”
The single word destroyed the morning.
The Sergeant’s face changed.
First confusion.
Then disbelief.
He looked at the man.
Then toward the Captain.
“No.”
The Captain stared.
“That is the Incoming Police Chief.”
Silence.
The younger officers looked toward one another.
The City Administrator stopped several yards away.
Her expression was impossible to read.
The Sergeant laughed nervously.
“This guy?”
Nobody answered.
The Incoming Chief opened his jacket.
Inside sat a black leather credential wallet.
He removed it.
Opened it.
Gold shield.
Command identification.
CHIEF OF POLICE.
The Sergeant stared.
His mouth opened.
Closed.
The Incoming Chief looked at the credential.
Then at the officer.
“You asked for identification.”
The Sergeant went white.
“Chief, I—”
The Incoming Chief raised one hand.
Not now.
The Sergeant stopped.
The Captain looked mortified.
“We were expecting you underground.”
“I know.”
The Incoming Chief put the credential away.
The City Administrator approached.
She looked at his cheek.
“Do you need medical attention?”
“No.”
She looked toward the Sergeant.
Then back.
“What happened?”
The Incoming Chief did not answer immediately.
Instead he looked at every officer standing nearby.
Some avoided his eyes.
One looked ashamed.
The Incoming Chief asked:
“How many of you saw the beginning?”
Four hands slowly rose.
“How many saw him put hands on me?”
Five.
“How many heard me say I had an appointment with command?”