"That review may not be comfortable," she warned.
"It shouldn't be," Charles said.
Preston knew none of this. At the Port Authority police facility in Queens, he sat in a holding area waiting for his attorney to arrive. The alcohol had worn off enough for him to feel the beginnings of a headache, and the antiseptic smell of the room seemed designed to strip away every trace of the expensive private life he had been invoking on the aircraft.
The officers were processing a reported assault on an airport security contractor. They had taken statements, reviewed preliminary video, and explained to Preston that his version of events would be recorded along with everyone else's. He protested repeatedly that he had been provoked, but each protest became less certain when someone asked what the provocation had consisted of.
He wanted to explain that the airline had embarrassed him. He wanted to explain that a stranger had used business connections to outmaneuver him. Those grievances mattered enormously to him, but he recognized that they did not explain why his elbow had struck another man's ribs or why witnesses described him trying to approach a passenger who was filming.
Eventually he was allowed to speak with his attorney, Gary Whitmore. Gary listened without interruption, asked for the booking documents, and advised Preston not to make public statements or contact anyone involved. Preston ignored the second instruction long enough to demand that his lawyer threaten the airline with a major lawsuit.
"There may be a contract dispute about the original ticket," Gary replied, "but that doesn't erase what happened after. We need to deal with the criminal allegation first."
"They humiliated me."
"A humiliating experience isn't automatically a defense to assault."
"You sound like you're taking their side."
"I'm trying to prevent you from making this worse."
Preston ended the call feeling betrayed by yet another person whose job, in his mind, was to remove obstacles. His phone had been taken as part of the normal property procedure while he was in custody, and he did not know the video had already reached millions of viewers. He still imagined this as an airport inconvenience that his lawyers would smooth over by Monday morning.
The first indication that it was becoming something else came when a supervisor told him Charles Sterling was requesting an urgent call through counsel. Preston assumed the firm wanted him back in New York to resolve an investment decision. When Gary finally connected them on a monitored legal-office line, Preston tried to lead with the same confidence he had carried onto the aircraft.
"Charles, this is a mess, but I can explain it. The airline gave away my first-class seat, and I ended up dealing with an impossible passenger."
"I've seen the video, Preston."
"It's been edited."
"We've requested the complete recording. The sections already available show you shouting at another customer, invoking Oakmont's name, and assaulting a security contractor."
"I didn't assault anybody. The guy grabbed me."