"This is a misunderstanding," Rourke said finally. "We received a complaint involving a possible disturbance and we responded." He paused, looking toward Karen for support.
"We had to secure the scene before we could determine what was happening." Marcus glanced at the grill, where the coals were still glowing beneath the lid, and then at Caleb, who had not let go of Estelle's hand. "You secured a birthday party from the birthday boy," he replied. "You did not determine anything first."
Officer Peter Shaw asked whether the party had a permit. Naomi looked at him in disbelief. "For a Sunday barbecue at our house?" she asked. Shaw did not answer, but his hand moved toward a small notebook as though he might still produce an infraction from something. Marcus noticed that the man who had blocked his mother had not once checked whether she was steady on her feet.
Rourke took two steps toward the gate and began talking into his shoulder radio. He spoke too quietly for the guests to hear all of it, but Naomi caught the words "identity confirmed" and "advising supervisor." While the sergeant waited for a reply, Officer Luke Harmon remained near the ruined gate, staring at the splintered latch. He was young, with light hair and an expression Marcus recognized from years of meetings with people whose consciences were beginning to argue with their paychecks.
"Officer," Marcus said to him, "was that gate closed when you got here?" Harmon swallowed, then nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Did anyone inside invite you through it?" Marcus asked. Harmon looked briefly toward Rourke. "No, sir."
The sergeant snapped his head around. "Harmon, I need you by the vehicles." Harmon hesitated, then moved toward the driveway without saying another word. Marcus noted the exchange, not because he intended to punish an officer for telling the truth, but because Rourke had just attempted to stop him from doing it. There was a difference between a department where people made mistakes and a department where mistakes were immediately protected by silence.
Karen stepped closer with her phone lowered to waist height. "I want to make sure everybody understands that I didn't ask anyone to hurt him," she said. "I reported a health hazard. These people have been testing my patience for years, and I have a right to enjoy my property."
The word people hung between her and the family like another piece of broken glass. Marcus looked at the visor on her head, the cup in her hand, the front-facing camera still recording. "You told them to cuff everybody," he said. "Do you remember saying that?"
"I was upset," Karen answered, changing her expression to one of injured innocence. "I couldn't breathe with that smoke, and then everyone started gathering around me. I felt threatened."
Imani, who had been standing beside the table with her phone in both hands, lifted it slightly. "Nobody went near you," she said. "You came through our gate and told them to throw my dad down. It's all here."