Chapter 6 - STERLING FINALLY TALKED
Major Thomas Sterling requested a formal interview with counsel present.
He had remained mostly silent after first day.
Now he wanted cooperation.
Why?
Because financial records were strong.
His attorney knew.
Sterling entered in civilian clothes.
Without uniform, he looked smaller.
Elena noticed but did not enjoy it.
Power should not depend on costume either.
He sat.
His lawyer said:
“My client is prepared to provide information about broader command failures.”
Of course.
Elena replied:
“In exchange for what?”
“We are not negotiating with you directly.”
Correct.
Prosecutors/appropriate authorities handle.
Then Sterling spoke.
“The association existed before I arrived.”
Likely true.
“Who created?”
“Previous leadership.”
“Did it collect mandatory money?”
“Not mandatory.”
“Did you retaliate against people who did not contribute?”
“No.”
Then Hayes’s evaluation drafts.
Sterling said coincidence.
Then training slots.
Coincidence.
Then Leo.
“Corrective discipline.”
Elena stared.
“You attempted to strike a nineteen-year-old over dropped water bottle.”
“I never touched him.”
“Because someone intervened.”
His jaw tightened.
Then shove against Elena.
He called instinct.
Still assaultive.
Then financial.
Sterling admitted using association funds for morale events.
Denied personal theft.
Vendor cousin?
“He was best bid.”
Records showed inflated.
Then:
“Did you receive kickbacks?”
“No.”
Investigators had bank deposits.
Cash.
Around $96,000 unexplained over three years.
Sterling claimed gambling winnings.
No records.
Then he shifted.
“General Aldridge knew.”
Elena leaned.
“Knew what?”
“The association.”
“Proof?”
“He attended events.”
Not enough.
“He knew his brother got contracts.”
That was true.
“He told me to keep morale high without asking headquarters for money.”
Interesting.
“When?”
“Commanders’ conference.”
Exact wording?
Sterling:
“Find creative ways to solve problems locally.”
Could mean many things.
Then:
“You interpreted that as coercive fundraising?”
“No.”
Then:
“What did you interpret?”
“Use private organizations, sponsors, donations.”
Some can be lawful within rules.
Then:
“Did he authorize retaliation?”
“No.”
“Did he authorize false invoicing?”
“No.”
“Did he authorize your cousin’s inflated vendor bills?”
“No.”
“Did he authorize you to threaten soldiers?”
Silence.
Then:
“So when you say ‘he knew,’ what exactly did he know?”
Sterling looked angry.
“He knew how things got done.”
That was belief, not fact.
Then Michael Aldridge.
Sterling admitted Michael offered “consulting support.”
Kickbacks?
He said vendor discounts.
Then $75k payment to Michael’s company.
For what?
“Leadership retreat planning and sponsor acquisition.”
Was work delivered?
Some.
Value maybe $15k.
Inflated.
Did General Aldridge get share?
Sterling claimed yes.
Proof?
No.
Then prosecutors later found no transfer from Michael to Sam directly tied to $75k beyond loan repayments.
Could still be indirect but insufficient.
Sterling wanted drag general.
Maybe because truth partly.
Maybe revenge.
Then Elena asked:
“Why did you tell people you had top cover?”
He smiled faintly.
“Because it worked.”
There.
Finally.
“You didn’t know you had top cover.”
“I knew nobody stopped me.”
That was enough in his mind.
Then:
“Did you believe General Aldridge would protect you?”
“I believed he preferred results to details.”
There.
Then:
“Were you right?”
Sterling looked through glass.
“For years.”
That was hardest truth.
General did not need to order abuse to create environment where abuser thrived.
Then Elena asked:
“Why Leo?”
Sterling shrugged.
“He needed discipline.”
“He dropped plastic bottle.”
“He was soft.”
There.
Hazing logic.
Break early.
Control later.
Then:
“Why shove me?”
“I thought you were nobody.”
Elena held his gaze.
There.
That sentence would follow him.
Not because insulting colonel worse.
Because it revealed ethics.
He behaved differently depending on perceived status.
He believed powerless people were safe targets.
Then:
“If I had been private?”
Sterling did not answer.
He did not need to.
Then cooperation ended.
Not with confession to everything.
May you like
Real investigations rarely deliver perfect villain monologue.
But enough.
