He could have given the answer that would sound best on a recording. He could have said he would never change a single choice. Instead he looked at the tabletop.

“I’d like to think I could prevent it from getting that far. I’d move away earlier. I’d ask a park employee for help. I’d choose a different path through the crowd. But once he was throwing a punch at me, I can’t promise I’d respond differently.”

It was not a perfect answer. It was his.

Ruiz stopped the recorder and told him the investigation would continue. She needed the original videos, medical information obtained through proper channels, and witness statements. The county attorney would decide whether charges were warranted.

Outside, the summer sun struck the pavement so brightly that Owen put on his sunglasses before reaching the truck. Someone had left a folded flyer beneath his windshield wiper. It advertised a fight-night watch party featuring the Riverside Park knockout.

He crushed it in one fist and tossed it into the bin.

Across town, Ruiz interviewed Bryce that afternoon. His lawyer, a sharp-featured man named Victor Hale, sat beside him. Bryce had been instructed to answer briefly. He followed the advice until Ruiz asked why he had put his hands on Owen.

“He disrespected me,” Bryce said.

Hale shifted in his chair.

Ruiz looked up. “Explain what you mean by disrespected.”

“He turned his back while I was talking.”

“After a child spilled mustard on your shoe.”

“That’s not all it was.”

“What else was it?”

Bryce searched for an answer that would not sound ridiculous when spoken aloud. He remembered the crowd, the camera, the way Owen had dismissed him. None of it amounted to an injury or a threat.

“He was acting like I wasn’t there.”

“And that led you to shove him?”

“I wanted him to stop.”

“Did you try to hit him after that?”

“No,” Bryce said automatically.

The room went silent. Hale put a hand on his forearm.

Ruiz did not argue. She opened a folder and placed a still image on the table. It showed Bryce’s shoulder turning, his right arm traveling forward, and Owen moving away from the line of the punch.

“We have more than one recording,” she said. “I’d like you to think carefully before answering again.”

Bryce looked at the image. He recognized his own body at the instant before everything had gone wrong. He could remember throwing the punch. The memory had not disappeared with the concussion. What he wanted to disappear was the reason he had thrown it.

“Yes,” he said quietly. “I tried to hit him.”

Ruiz did not smile. She turned to the next page.

“Tell me what happened after you decided to do that.”