I listen to him. I don’t speak. And Bowman seems to know what’s going on because she doesn’t say a word to me either. She comes back with a laptop and clicks and taps away, the two of us in the same room, each acting like the other isn’t there.

Then the lawyer arrives—Diana Lukas. And once she’s there, it’s all out of my hands. She looks to be a few years younger than I am and wears a dark overcoat, her large hoop earrings glittering in the harsh light. She talks to Bowman like she knows her well, like the two of them are bickering, rivalrous siblings. I feel like I’m watching a performance they’ve both given more than once.

“Alicia, what are you trying to pull here?” Diana asks, not even bothering to say hello. Not even bothering to introduce herself to me. She has a large purse on her shoulder and holds an iPhone in her hand. “Do I have to remind you about the concept of due process?”

“Can we discuss this in the other room, Diana?” Bowman says, standing up. “I’m sure you have all kinds of crazy notions you want to throw at me. And maybe one or two of them will actually be connected to reality.”

“Ah, yes. I’m the crazy woman disconnected from reality, right? If a male lawyer came in here, you’d be shaking his hand, telling him what a good old boy he is.”

Bowman laughs. “You’re trying to paint me as a big bad part of the big bad system? You know I’m a woman married to a woman in Kentucky, right?”

“That doesn’t matter. You’re part of the system by virtue of that badge you tote. The fact that you’re married to a woman doesn’t change that. But have it your way.” She steps aside and makes a sweeping motion toward the door. Once Bowman goes out ahead of her, she turns to me and places her finger over her lips. “Not a solitary word, and I’ll have you home in an hour or so.”

“I have to pee.”

“Cross your legs.”

It takes longer than an hour. Seventy-five minutes later, Diana comes back into the conference room alone, closes the door, and tells me I’m free to go.

I have to pee so bad, my eyeballs are probably turning yellow. I’m not sure I understand what she’s saying. I must look at her like I’m a visitor to a country where I don’t understand the language.

“You can go home,” she says slowly. “Bowman is getting the release form ready now. You didn’t say anything important to her, did you?”

“I told the truth.”