2-3-4 Challenge Book Discussions #1 discussion

Mickey gives Lankford a preview of what’s going to happen in the courtroom, giving him a chance to choose sides. Why do you think Lankford opted for suicide? Is that the only way for a dirty cop to go out? Should Mickey have given him advance notice? Did you see that coming?

Clearly Lankford's career would have been over. He may have lost his pension too. I didn't expect him to kill himself on the stand.

Mickey was trying to get him to not testify...to meet with him and the prosecutor outside of the courtroom. Lankford just couldn’t believe Mickey had not only figured things out but had the solid evidence to prove it.

It was this passage that gave me a clue as to what Lankford might do:

"Lankford walked with a steady but slow pace to the witness stand, his eyes staring at a fixed point on the wall behind it. I watched him closely. He looked like a man who was running equations internally while running on autopilot externally."

He was figuring out his options as he walked to the witness stand. Prison for a cop is awful. I also don’t think he could handle the disgrace.