VICTORIA HAYES: "Good."
The captain paused before continuing.
CAPTAIN RICHARD BENNETT: "I understand you came here for a scheduled professional meeting. We have confirmed that the appointment was recorded in our system. I regret that your visit was disrupted."
VICTORIA HAYES: "I still intend to complete the meeting if the relevant person is available. But I also want to make sure that what happened at reception is not treated as a misunderstanding that can be resolved by retrieving my badge."
CAPTAIN RICHARD BENNETT: "It will not be treated that way. The badge has been documented and secured. The physical contact, the handling of your identification, and the failure to follow the verification process will all be examined separately."
Victoria nodded.
VICTORIA HAYES: "That's important. I understand that officers sometimes need to question credentials. I have no objection to verification. My objection is to the way the process was handled."
CAPTAIN RICHARD BENNETT: "That distinction is clear."
SERGEANT LAURA COLLINS: "We will also document whether the front desk had the appointment information and what steps were available to Officer Miller when you asked him to contact a supervisor."
VICTORIA HAYES: "Thank you."
Captain Bennett closed the folder.
CAPTAIN RICHARD BENNETT: "I will not promise a specific disciplinary outcome before the review is complete. But I can promise that the evidence will be examined and that the findings will not be based solely on one person's rank or position."
VICTORIA HAYES: "That's all I can reasonably ask at this stage."
For the first time that morning, Victoria felt that the process was moving in a direction she could trust. That did not erase the confrontation, and it did not guarantee a particular outcome. It simply meant that the department was beginning to treat the incident as something that deserved a serious examination.
Captain Bennett stood.
CAPTAIN RICHARD BENNETT: "Sergeant Collins will be your point of contact for the incident record. If you have additional documentation or need to provide further information, please send it through the designated channel."
VICTORIA HAYES: "I will."
CAPTAIN RICHARD BENNETT: "And again, Agent Hayes, I apologize for what occurred here."
VICTORIA HAYES: "Thank you, Captain."
She rose and shook his hand. The gesture was professional, not a declaration that everything had been resolved. The investigation was still in progress, and Derek's formal account had yet to be completed.
As Victoria left the conference room, she looked down at the incident reference number in her folder. It was a small piece of paper, but it represented something concrete: a documented record that could be followed up, rather than a verbal promise that might be forgotten once she walked out of the building.
***
Derek sat alone in the designated office, staring at the blank statement form in front of him.
The room contained a desk, two chairs, and a cabinet filled with procedural manuals. A clock ticked above the door. The ordinary quiet made it difficult for him to distract himself from the questions he knew were coming.
He began writing that he had been concerned about security.
He described Victoria's arrival, the badge she presented, and the fact that he had initially questioned her identity. He wrote that he believed he was protecting the precinct.
Then he reached the part where he had grabbed her braids.
His pen stopped.
There was no convenient way to describe the action as a routine security check. There was no policy that transformed pulling someone's hair into a standard method of verifying identification. The footage would show what he had done, and Ethan's statement would describe what he had seen.
Derek crossed out a sentence and started again.
He wrote that the situation had become tense.
That was true, but it did not explain who had made it tense or what he had done in response.
He wrote that he had acted impulsively.
That was closer to an admission, but it did not explain why he had chosen to take the badge and throw it away.
He stared at the page for a long time.
A knock sounded at the door.
OFFICER DEREK MILLER: "Come in."
Sergeant Collins entered with another folder.
SERGEANT LAURA COLLINS: "How is the statement coming along?"
OFFICER DEREK MILLER: "I'm working on it."
SERGEANT LAURA COLLINS: "Take the time you need to provide an accurate account. If you need clarification about the form, ask."
OFFICER DEREK MILLER: "I know how to write a statement."
SERGEANT LAURA COLLINS: "Then you should have no difficulty following the instructions."
Derek looked up sharply, but Sergeant Collins did not react to his tone.
OFFICER DEREK MILLER: "Do I have to include every little detail?"
SERGEANT LAURA COLLINS: "Include the details relevant to the incident. The purpose is to establish what happened, not to write a description of every person who entered the building that morning."