And so her final instinct, standing in a house where she had tortured a good woman, was not remorse but public relations.

She wanted to keep it private.

She never understood that some things are true whether or not anyone is looking, and that those are precisely the things that matter.

This was always real.

The only thing that’s changing now is that other people are finally going to see it.” And I stepped aside to let them in.

Chapter 21 — The Officers

What followed was not dramatic, and I have come to think that its lack of drama was the most important thing about it.