The commissioner slowly looked back at the sergeant. Her voice dropped to a frighteningly quiet tone.
“Sergeant Mercer,” she said, “do you honestly have no idea who that is?”
Mercer’s confidence disappeared.
“No, ma’am.”
Hayes looked across the stunned morning shift and asked the question that caused the entire station to fall completely silent.
“Who handcuffed Lakewood’s new Chief of Police?”
For a moment, nobody moved.
Nobody breathed loudly enough to be heard.
Mercer stood beside the counter with one hand still hovering near his duty belt.
The younger officer who had tried to stop him earlier lowered his eyes.
One patrol officer actually took half a step backward.
Ethan remained exactly where he was.
Commissioner Hayes walked toward him.
Her heels struck the polished floor one measured step at a time.
She stopped directly in front of Ethan.
Then she looked at the handcuffs.
Then at Mercer.
Then back at Ethan.
“Chief Brooks,” she said quietly, “are you all right?”
Ethan looked at her.
“Yes, Commissioner.”
The words landed harder than anything else could have.
Mercer’s face drained of color.
“Chief…”
Ethan turned his head slightly toward him.
Mercer stared.
The title seemed to come out of his mouth without permission.
“Chief Brooks?”
Ethan gave him a calm look.
“Yes, Sergeant.”
Nobody said anything.
Commissioner Hayes extended her hand toward Ethan.
“Give me your wrists.”
Ethan placed his cuffed hands in front of her.
Hayes looked at Mercer.
“Keys.”
Mercer did not move.
The commissioner repeated herself.
“Sergeant Mercer. Keys.”
He fumbled for them.
His hands were suddenly unsteady.
The younger officer stepped forward.
“Commissioner, I can—”
“No,” Hayes said.
She did not raise her voice.
She did not need to.
“Let the sergeant who made this decision finish what he started.”
Mercer swallowed.
He removed the key from his belt and walked toward Ethan.
The entire morning shift watched.
He inserted the key into the first cuff.
Click.
The metal opened.
He moved to the second.
Click.
The other cuff fell away.
Ethan slowly lowered his hands.
A red mark had already formed around one wrist.
Hayes noticed it.
“So,” she said, “you arrived early.”
Ethan nodded.
“I wanted to see the station before everyone knew I was here.”
Hayes glanced around the lobby.
“I suppose you did.”
A few officers looked at the floor.
Ethan picked up his leather folder.
Mercer watched him do it.
Ethan opened the folder himself.
Inside was a signed appointment order bearing the city seal, a formal letter from the police commission, and a photograph that had been taken weeks earlier during the official announcement.
Mercer stared at the documents.
His lips parted.
Ethan closed the folder.
“I gave you several opportunities to verify who I was.”
Mercer looked ashamed, but Ethan continued before he could speak.
“You chose not to.”
The younger officer stepped forward again.
“Chief, I tried to tell him.”
Ethan looked at him.
“I heard you.”
The officer nodded.
“Thank you, Chief.”
Ethan turned toward the rest of the lobby.
“Everyone back to work.”
Nobody moved.
Ethan looked around once more.
“I said back to work.”
The station slowly came alive again.
Phones began ringing.
Chairs moved.
Doors opened.
Officers returned to desks.
But the atmosphere had changed.
Every person in the lobby now knew that the man they had watched being handcuffed was not an intruder.
He was the person who had been appointed to run the entire department.
And Ethan Brooks had not arrived that morning to make a speech.
He had arrived to observe.
Now he had seen enough to know that his first day was going to be very different from what anyone had expected.
Commissioner Hayes waited until the lobby had begun to clear before speaking again.
“Chief, my office.”
Ethan followed her upstairs.
The two senior commanders walked behind them.
None of them spoke until the office door closed.
Hayes turned around.
“I owe you an apology.”
Ethan shook his head.
“You don't.”
She frowned.
“I should have made sure the department received your photograph.”
“You did.”
“Not early enough.”
Ethan placed the leather folder on her desk.
“That wasn't the problem.”
Hayes looked at him.
“What was?”
Ethan paused.
“The problem was that a sergeant saw a person he didn't recognize and immediately decided that the person was lying.”
Hayes said nothing.
Ethan continued.
“That concerns me more than the handcuffs.”
The commissioner slowly sat down.
“You think Mercer has a problem?”
“I think this department may have a problem.”
Hayes studied him carefully.
“You've been chief for less than five minutes.”
Ethan looked toward the window.
“And I've already learned something.”
“What?”
He looked back at her.
“People here are very comfortable making decisions before checking the facts.”
Hayes leaned back in her chair.
“That is a serious accusation.”
“It's an observation.”
The room became quiet.
Ethan opened his folder again.
He removed a single sheet of paper.
“This is my first-day plan.”