There are two ways outgoing Chief Constable George Hamilton could have tackled last night's highly anticipated meeting of the Policing Board.
He could have apologised for the police handling of the arrest of two journalists following a ruling by the High Court that the search warrants issued against the men were "inappropriate".
Or he could have doubled down and defended the actions of Durham Constabulary officers acting as mutual assistant officers to the PSNI at his request.
In the end he chose the latter and it was a defensive Mr Hamilton who answered numerous questions from the board about the handling of the now infamous No Stone Unturned documentary investigation.
There has been global media interest in the arrest of the two journalists and Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey were both present at the dockside offices of the board yesterday.
Joining them were families of the six people who were murdered in the Loughinisland atrocity and Niall Murphy, a solicitor for one of the now exonerated journalists.
Read more:Police Ombudsman insists no complaint of theft made in Loughinisland documentary case
The Chief Constable is in his last few weeks in post, his Durham Constabulary counterpart Mike Barton was in his second last day in the top job.
The tetchy relationship between the PSNI chief and the Police Ombudsman Dr Michael Maguire, who is also retiring, was clear for all to see.
In a moment of drama Mr Barton held up a statement from a senior ombudsman investigator waving it in the air as evidence that his team were not acting without a statement of complaint as had previously been alleged.
He also read from a letter he had sent to Dr Maguire seeking clarification on a number of points not least what was to be done "about secret documents" now very much in the public domain following the release of the documentary that named key suspects in the UVF murders of six men.
Mr Barton appeared in a much more reflective mood saying he had changed his mind about a number of aspects of the case following the court ruling by the Lord Chief Justice and he apologised as a result of that.
Mr Hamilton on the other hand knows that the ghost of this investigation, the accusation that it was an attack on the freedom of the press, has damaged his legacy.
The case has to date cost £320,000 at a time when the police budget is under pressure.
George Hamilton admitted the case was damaging to police confidence but added he would rather 'do the right thing than have an easy life'.
The full High Court judgement has yet to be released and will no doubt throw up even more questions for both the PSNI and Durham Police, albeit with both forces under new leadership.
As the board meeting concluded Vice Chair Debbie Watters thanked both Mr Hamilton and Mr Barton. She was standing in for current Chair Anne Connolly who is - you guessed it - retiring from the post.
Read more: Loughinisland journalists right to protect sources, judge rules
