Gary's eyes moved toward Margaret. "I didn't know who you were, Ms. Brooks." Imani felt a sadness greater than the anger she had felt at the gate.
There it was, the answer she had expected and hoped not to hear. "That's the part that should trouble you most, Mr. Whitlock," she said. "You didn't need to know who I was. You only needed to know what you owed a passenger holding a valid ticket."
She turned from him to the wider room. "I want to make something clear before we go further. I am not asking you to believe that this was wrong because it happened to a director, or because I can stand here and ask for the video. If it had happened to the nurse in complaint number fourteen, it would have been just as wrong. If it had happened to the retired machinist in complaint number one, it would have been just as wrong."
The mention of the other complaints changed the atmosphere. Gary's behavior was no longer presented as one unfortunate interaction with the wrong person. It had become a question about a system that accepted certain travelers' accounts and dismissed others. Imani saw Maya in the back row, shoulders squared, watching as though she were trying to determine whether she had done enough. She remembered how quietly the young attendant had brought her a cup of tea and said she was finally willing to speak.
"Mr. Pruitt," Imani said, "how many complaints have been filed against Mr. Whitlock in the last twenty-four months?" Doug stood with a stiff, practiced smile.
"I'd have to check our regional files. There are customer-service matters every week across a system this large." Imani opened the blue folder. "Fourteen. I read them on the plane in 31F. Every one of them was closed with the phrase No violation found."
Doug spread his hands. "Each case was reviewed at the regional level." Margaret leaned toward her microphone. "By whom, Doug?"
He hesitated. "By my office. We reviewed the available information and used the normal procedures." Margaret looked at the closing summaries on the screen, where Doug's approval initials appeared at the bottom of each file. "So when you say the regional level reviewed them, you mean you approved the conclusions."
"I approved what my team recommended," Doug said. "There are processes for this, Margaret, and we can't treat every complaint as evidence of wrongdoing." Margaret folded her hands.
"We don't need to presume wrongdoing to investigate a specific claim. We need to know whether you requested the information that could prove or disprove it." Doug did not answer immediately. Then he said, "The records available at the time were sufficient."
"For which question?" Imani asked. "Whether the traveler had somewhere to sit? Whether the gate departed on time? Or whether Gary took a seat a customer had paid for and gave it to somebody he preferred?"
Doug frowned. "You're simplifying a complex operation." Imani shook her head. "I'm asking you to separate a complex operation from a simple obligation. A passenger should not have to become a detective to receive a service the airline sold."