It must have been like High Noon at the Civil Service Branch on July 5 when Sheriff Lam Woon-kwong and Deputy Sandra Lee Suk-yee confronted Director of Immigration, Laurence Leung Ming-yin, and gave him a choice. Quit - or we fire you.
Notwithstanding his 30 years of service to the administration, Mr Leung immediately waved the white flag and had his resignation letter hand-delivered to Mr Lam, the Civil Service Secretary, that same afternoon.
In the months since then, the Government has been economical with the truth, stonewalling the media's questions and politicians' queries about the sudden departure of Mr Leung. But the bombshell revelations he dropped on Friday have brought matters to a head.
Apparently, Mr Leung was prepared to risk his reputation being tarnished. He not only revealed that he had effectively been ordered to go; he also explained how he had been investigated by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) a few months earlier.
There must be some very compelling reasons for Mr Leung to suddenly be so frank and open. Perhaps, he may, indeed, have been unfairly treated. But one thing is certain - the saga has left the Government with a public relations disaster on many fronts.
On the face of the evidence offered to Legco by Mr Leung, the Government as an employer was unfair to one of its top employees. It was far from honest in hiding at least part of the truth, and it failed to hold itself accountable to the legislature and the public on an important matter which has aroused great public interest.