Monica resisted the temptation to ask an acquaintance at the federal building to check the county jail database. Her credentials remained with Underhill, and she did not intend to use official access for a private search. Instead she went to the Halden County Jail's public website, found the approved visiting procedure, and requested an available Thursday afternoon slot under the name Cory Hariston. She entered her relationship as a concerned visitor and supplied the required identification details in her own name. If he refused to speak to her, she would leave him alone.
At two on Thursday, Cory sat opposite her in a visiting booth divided by thick glass. He was twenty-four, with short twists in his hair and an orange uniform that looked too large across his shoulders. He lifted the black telephone cautiously and asked whether she was from the public defender's office. Monica introduced herself and said she wanted to ask about an arrest involving Sergeant Copeland and Officer Fowler. His expression changed when he heard the names.
"You're the woman from that video," he said after studying her face. "My mother showed me. The one reading numbers off a gun while the police had you on your knees." Monica confirmed that she was, then told him that she was visiting as a private citizen rather than conducting an official interview. She explained that she had discovered a question about a firearm serial number in her own case and that someone had pointed her toward his name. Cory held the receiver tightly, weighing whether another stranger in a government building was worth trusting.
At last he began at the beginning. He had been a third-year electrical apprentice in March of the previous year, four months short of qualifying for his journeyman examination, and was driving to a job site before dawn. He stopped for fuel on Route 9, where Copeland and Fowler pulled in behind him and told him he had an outstanding warrant from an unpaid speeding citation. He insisted that he had paid the ticket and that a stamped receipt was in his glove compartment. They ordered him not to reach for it.
"Same words they used on me," Monica said quietly. Cory nodded and continued, explaining that the officers had handcuffed him near the gas pumps while Fowler searched the car. The younger officer emerged with a handgun he claimed to have discovered beneath the driver's seat. Cory had never owned a handgun, and his grandmother had forbidden them inside the family home when he was growing up. He asked where the weapon had come from, but the officers treated his questions as further proof that he was uncooperative.