People were often frightened. Memories could be incomplete. Emotions could make it difficult to explain what had happened in the correct order.
But there was one thing he had learned never to do: dismiss a person's account simply because the person being accused wore a police uniform.
Brooks looked toward Margaret again.
SERGEANT WILLIAM BROOKS: "Ma'am, I want you to know that I'm listening. If you need a moment before continuing, that's completely fine."
Margaret nodded slowly.
She appreciated the older officer's calm voice, although she was still struggling to understand how the morning had taken such an unexpected turn.
MARGARET COLE: "I don't know what else to say. I was walking, and suddenly he was shouting at me. Before I could even understand what he wanted, he hit me."
Brooks listened without interrupting.
MARGARET COLE: "Then he told me to stay back, as if I had done something wrong."
She lowered her eyes, embarrassed by the fact that her voice had begun to tremble.
MARGARET COLE: "I have lived in this city for more than forty years. I've walked through places like this hundreds of times. I've never had anything like this happen to me."
Brooks took a breath.
SERGEANT WILLIAM BROOKS: "I'm sorry you experienced that. We need to establish exactly what happened, and we'll speak with the witnesses who were here."
Margaret looked at him carefully.
MARGARET COLE: "Does that mean someone will actually listen to what I say?"
The question made Brooks pause.
It was not an accusation directed specifically at him. It sounded more like a question from someone who had suddenly discovered how uncertain an ordinary person's position could feel when confronted by an authority figure.
SERGEANT WILLIAM BROOKS: "Yes, ma'am. Your account matters."
For the first time since he had approached her, Margaret seemed able to take a slightly deeper breath.
Marcus stood nearby, listening to their exchange.
He had intervened because he believed the officer's behavior was wrong, but he understood that the most important part of the next few minutes was not his own anger. Margaret had been the person struck. She was the person who needed to be heard.
He stepped back slightly to give her room to speak.
Across the plaza, Officer Daniel Reed remained beside the patrol car, restrained by the officers who had responded when he fell.
His earlier confidence had given way to visible frustration.
OFFICER DANIEL REED: "Sergeant, can I speak to you for a moment?"
Brooks turned his head toward him.
SERGEANT WILLIAM BROOKS: "I will speak with you shortly, Reed. Stay with the officers for now."
OFFICER DANIEL REED: "This whole thing is getting blown out of proportion."
Brooks did not respond immediately.
He looked toward Margaret, then toward the people standing near the barriers.
SERGEANT WILLIAM BROOKS: "We'll determine what happened after we hear the accounts and secure the scene."
Reed looked away.
He seemed dissatisfied with the answer, but the officers beside him maintained their positions. The sergeant had made it clear that the situation would not be settled simply because Reed wanted it to be.
A few feet away, one of the responding officers began speaking with a witness who had been standing near the courthouse steps.
The witness was a middle-aged woman carrying a brown handbag. She had seen the confrontation from the moment Margaret stopped in front of Reed.
She explained that she had been walking toward the courthouse entrance when she heard the sharp sound of the slap.
WITNESS: "I turned around because it sounded like somebody had dropped something heavy. Then I saw the officer standing in front of that woman."
The responding officer listened carefully.
WITNESS: "She looked completely shocked. She was holding her face, and he was telling her to stay back."
The witness glanced toward Margaret.
WITNESS: "I didn't understand why he had done that. She wasn't attacking him."
The officer made a note of her account and asked her to remain available in case additional questions were necessary.
Other witnesses were beginning to offer their own recollections.
A man who had been standing near the metal barriers said he had seen Reed raise his hand. Another visitor recalled Marcus approaching and demanding an explanation. Several people had watched the confrontation that followed, although not everyone had seen every movement clearly.
Their accounts differed in small details, but the central events were becoming clearer.
Margaret had been struck.
Marcus had approached the officer and questioned his behavior.
The confrontation had escalated.