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meeting began.
    For the next forty-five minutes I watched the men around the table discuss issues ranging from budget cuts to changes in the political atmosphere of Nashville. Not once did any of them ask me a question or direct any comment to me. To say I felt out of place would be a mammoth understatement. I felt like the token female in a hard-core men’s club. I truly had no idea why I was here.
    When the meeting concluded the room cleared without much fanfare. A few nods were tossed my way but nothing else. About the same time I decided this was my cue to leave as well, Chief Kent asked me to stay.
    I waited near the seat I’d kept warm for nearly an hour, mulling over yet again the fundamental question of why I had been asked to attend this meeting. I considered that surely if his intent had been to fire me he wouldn’t have had me sit in on this meeting. It didn’t make sense to fire an employee after exposing her to the worries and whims of all one’s chiefs. Adcock and Kent, on the other side of the room with their backs turned to me, continued a private conversation.
    I resisted the urge to shift from foot to foot, tried to remain patient. I couldn’t understand why I’d been asked to stay if the conversation didn’t include me. Just then the door opened and I glanced fully in that direction to identify who had entered the room. My jaw dropped and an entirely new kind of tension trickled through me.
    Detective Steven Barlow.
    So maybe I’d counted my chickens before they hatched. The weekend’s incident was the only reason I could think for having Barlow show up for a meeting with the chiefs that involved me.
    Let’s take our seats, Chief Kent suggested when Detective Barlow had moved around to the end of the polished conference table.
    My knees bent of their own accord, lowering me into my chair. Chief Kent resumed his seat directly across from me while Chief Adcock, the chief of Homicide, sat to his left. Barlow didn’t offer to move closer. Instead, he remained at the very end of the oval mahogany table designed to seat sixteen. That shouldn’t have made me uneasy, but it did. Truth was, he made me uneasy period.
    Miss Walters, Chief Kent began, I’m sure you’re aware that this weekend’s events have been discussed in-depth by Chief Adcock and myself during the past forty-eight hours.
    “Yes, sir.” I swallowed against the lump of uncertainty welling in my throat. How could I not have foreseen all this negative attention? I had foolishly assumed that everyone would be so thrilled I’d solved the case that I would be a hero…or at least admired and respected on some level. Man oh man, talk about failed expectations.
    Chief Adcock and I have considered at length how you managed this enormous feat. We’re intrigued with your somewhat raw investigative talent.
    Having said that …Chief Adcock picked up the ball next. We asked you to sit in on this meeting as a sort of test.
    A test? I wasn’t sure I understood. I glanced in Barlow’s direction but he kept his gaze focused straight ahead, not really looking at anyone in the room. My uneasiness scooted up a notch.
    “I’m not quite following,” I admitted, looking from one chief to the other.
    Barlow didn’t react, but the two chiefs exchanged a look. After a moment Kent took the lead.
    We’d like you to tell us as best you can, considering you had no advance notice of what was expected of you, what this meeting was about. Try to recall as many of the comments made by the various attendees as you can.
    I have to admit, that was about the last thing I expected him to say. But, if this little test would help me keep my job, I was definitely game. With that in mind, I did as requested. Taking my time, paying particular care not to leave anything out, I related everything I remembered about the meeting.
    When I’d finished I said as much.
    For several seconds no one in the room spoke or moved. I worried then that maybe my voice had shaken more