The distinction sat on the patio table between us.

“Sir—”

“I want you to hear the whole thing, because you drove out here for it and because I’ve had seven years to be honest about it and nobody’s ever asked me.”

He looked out at the mountains. “I should have said no.

“There was no operational reason for you to run that investigation. There were six officers in your directorate who could have run it and four who could have run it well.

Your unique value was your knowledge of the architecture, and you could have given us that in an afternoon as a subject-matter expert and gone back to your children.