Ivy Penrose entered looking more frightened than Monica had ever seen her in the records room. She sat before the board, folded her hands tightly, and confirmed that she had witnessed Copeland approaching Monica's desk. Asked whether Monica had threatened the sergeant during that encounter, Ivy answered no. She described hearing Copeland say that nobody in the building worked for Monica anymore, and recalled the way he laughed when he described her detention to the other clerks. Ivy kept her eyes on the board instead of Copeland until the questions were finished.
Monica then presented her notes from the headquarters parking lot. She explained that Copeland had offered to revisit his arrest report if she stopped examining the records, and she read the relevant sentences from the page she had written immediately after the encounter. The board asked whether another person had been present. She identified Fowler, placing him near a patrol car approximately sixty feet away, and showed the simple map she had drawn at the time. No one was asked to take her account as proven merely because it was detailed, but the notes were preserved for comparison with any independent evidence.
Fowler was seated in the back row. When the board asked whether he had heard the conversation, he stood and said he could not hear clearly from where he was standing. Asked whether he had seen Copeland speak to Monica, he admitted that he had. He would not confirm the words. His hand moved automatically toward the cargo pocket on his trousers, then returned to his side when he noticed Monica watching him.
The three board members conferred before announcing that they would defer their findings until the related criminal matters were sufficiently resolved. They directed that all statements, notes, and witness accounts be preserved and that no adverse career finding be based solely on a pending charge. Copeland looked dissatisfied, but he could not claim that the board had ignored his complaint. Underhill remained seated until the room emptied, then stood and watched the sergeant leave without speaking. Monica did not mistake the silence for a verdict.
Friday afternoon, Ralph called while Monica was at Harriet's office. His voice had lost its usual amusement. Copeland was at his driveway with a tow truck and a new department document claiming that Monica's sedan required another examination as evidence. Ralph had refused to move the vehicle from the lift and was standing in the garage doorway while Copeland waited outside. Monica put Harriet on speaker, told Ralph not to touch anyone or obstruct a lawful court order, and drove back toward Larkspur Bend.
By the time she arrived, evening light had drained from the street. The tow truck's amber lights flashed across the houses, and Copeland stood at the bottom of Ralph's driveway holding a single sheet of paper. Ralph was in the open garage, unarmed and plainly visible, with the damaged sedan resting on its lift behind him. Monica began recording from the sidewalk and connected Harriet to the call. Her lawyer immediately asked Copeland to read the case number and identify who had signed the document.