Victoria looked away first, not out of fear, but because she had no interest in turning the encounter into a contest of stares.
Inside the interview room, Sergeant Collins offered her a chair and placed a blank statement form on the table.
SERGEANT LAURA COLLINS: "Take your time. Start with why you came here, then describe what happened in the order you remember it. If you don't remember a detail, it's better to say so than to guess."
VICTORIA HAYES: "Understood."
SERGEANT LAURA COLLINS: "You can include the exact words you remember, but don't worry if you can't recall every sentence verbatim."
Victoria sat down, set her phone beside the form, and took a slow breath. She had spent years learning to remain composed under pressure, but composure did not mean that the incident had no effect on her. Her scalp still felt sore where Derek had grabbed her braids. More than that, she was troubled by how casually he had treated the authority of another agency and how confidently he had assumed that his position gave him the right to behave that way.
She began writing.
Outside the room, the precinct continued its ordinary work, but the atmosphere had changed. Officers who had been joking near the hallway returned to their desks. A dispatcher lowered her voice when speaking over the phone. The people who had witnessed the confrontation were now aware that what they had seen might become part of a formal review.
Captain Bennett stood beside Sergeant Collins's workstation, reading the appointment details she had retrieved.
CAPTAIN RICHARD BENNETT: "The meeting was confirmed?"
SERGEANT LAURA COLLINS: "The office record shows a scheduled appointment. I'm waiting for confirmation from the person Agent Hayes was due to meet."
CAPTAIN RICHARD BENNETT: "When you receive it, add it to the incident file."
SERGEANT LAURA COLLINS: "I will."
CAPTAIN RICHARD BENNETT: "And I want the camera footage reviewed before anyone draws a final conclusion about the sequence of events."
SERGEANT LAURA COLLINS: "That's already in progress."
The captain nodded and looked toward the reception desk, where Derek was speaking quietly with another officer. The conversation stopped as soon as Derek noticed the captain watching.
CAPTAIN RICHARD BENNETT: "Miller, come to my office when Sergeant Collins has finished arranging the statements."
OFFICER DEREK MILLER: "Yes, sir."
CAPTAIN RICHARD BENNETT: "Until then, do not contact the witnesses about this incident."
OFFICER DEREK MILLER: "I wouldn't do that."
CAPTAIN RICHARD BENNETT: "Then following the instruction should be straightforward."
Derek gave a stiff nod.
As the captain walked away, Derek remained at the desk for several seconds, his hands resting against the counter. He looked toward the interview room, then at Ethan, who was printing a record of the staff roster.
OFFICER DEREK MILLER: "You really think you needed to say all that?"
Ethan stopped the printer from feeding a second sheet. He did not turn around immediately.
OFFICER ETHAN BROOKS: "Captain asked what I saw."
OFFICER DEREK MILLER: "You could have said you weren't sure."
OFFICER ETHAN BROOKS: "I was sure."
Derek stepped closer, lowering his voice.
OFFICER DEREK MILLER: "You have been here long enough to understand that situations aren't always as simple as they look."
OFFICER ETHAN BROOKS: "I understand that. I also understand what I saw."
Derek studied him, apparently surprised by the answer.
OFFICER DEREK MILLER: "Be careful, Brooks. You don't know everything that's going on."
OFFICER ETHAN BROOKS: "Then I suppose the review will help establish it."
For several seconds, neither man spoke. Ethan collected the printed pages and placed them in the designated tray. Derek finally turned away, but the exchange had left a new tension between them.
Inside the interview room, Victoria reached the part of her statement describing the moment Derek had taken her badge. She paused, looked at the blank space at the bottom of the page, and continued.
She did not write that Derek was a bad person. She did not speculate about what he believed or why he had acted as he had. She recorded what he had said, what he had done, what she had asked him to do, and who had been present.
When she finished the first page, she reviewed it carefully. Her account was clear, chronological, and specific.
Sergeant Collins waited without rushing her.
SERGEANT LAURA COLLINS: "Would you like another few minutes to review it before we continue?"
VICTORIA HAYES: "Yes, please."
SERGEANT LAURA COLLINS: "Of course."
Victoria read through the statement once more. Near the middle, she corrected the approximate time of her arrival based on the timestamp in her appointment confirmation. She also added that she had requested a supervisor before the physical confrontation, because that detail mattered to the sequence of events.
After completing the correction, she placed the pen down.