He looked around the room.
Several officers were working quietly, but he noticed that conversations stopped whenever he approached. A colleague who normally greeted him in the morning pretended not to see him. Another officer gathered his papers and moved to a different desk.
Ethan interpreted their behavior as disloyalty.
It did not occur to him that they might be reconsidering what they had previously accepted as normal.
He returned to his report and added a short statement acknowledging that physical contact had occurred. He described the slap as an isolated reaction and wrote that he had stopped once the confrontation was under control.
The words looked official enough on the screen.
But the report did not explain why Claire had fallen, why she had been struck again while on the floor, or why several people had heard her asking him to stop.
It was an incomplete account, shaped less by a desire to record the truth than by a desire to limit the consequences.
At the other end of the station, Laura Price was coordinating the evidence collection.
She contacted the security administrator, confirmed the relevant camera locations, and requested that the footage be copied to a protected archive. She also began identifying employees who had been present during the confrontation.
The administrative employee at reception provided her account first.
She described Claire's arrival, Ethan's demand for identification, and the moment he grabbed Claire's uniform. She confirmed hearing the slap and seeing Claire fall beside the counter.
When Laura asked whether she had seen Ethan kick Claire, the employee took a breath before answering.
ADMINISTRATIVE EMPLOYEE: "Yes. I saw him move toward her while she was on the floor. I was frightened, and I didn't know whether he would turn on me if I tried to stop him."
LAURA: "Thank you for being honest. Please describe only what you personally saw or heard."
ADMINISTRATIVE EMPLOYEE: "I will."
LAURA: "Did anyone tell you what to write?"
ADMINISTRATIVE EMPLOYEE: "No."
Laura recorded the response and asked the employee to review the statement before signing it.
Daniel was interviewed next.
He described seeing Ethan grab Claire's uniform, hearing her ask him to let go, and witnessing the slap. He also confirmed that he had seen Ethan shove Claire to the floor and kick toward her while she was down.
Daniel admitted that he had hesitated before intervening.
DANIEL: "I should have moved sooner."
LAURA: "You're here now, and you're giving a statement. Focus on what happened, not on what you wish you had done differently."
DANIEL: "I was afraid he would turn on me."
LAURA: "Did he threaten you during the incident?"
DANIEL: "He told me to stay out of it. Later, he warned me to be careful about what I said."
LAURA: "Did he ask you to change your account?"
DANIEL: "Not directly. But he made it clear that he didn't want me involved."
Laura recorded the statement without adding assumptions.
By early afternoon, the department had collected several accounts that broadly agreed on the sequence of events. The accounts were not identical in every detail, as one might expect when people observed an incident from different positions. But the central facts were consistent: Ethan had initiated the physical confrontation, struck Claire, pushed her down, and continued using force while she was trying to protect herself.
The security footage would provide another source of evidence.
Laura arranged to review it with Hayes in the designated conference room. Claire was invited to attend, although she was told that she could decline if she preferred to take a break.
She chose to attend.
When the footage began playing, the room became quiet.
The camera showed Claire arriving at the front desk, speaking with the administrative employee, and waiting beside the counter. Ethan approached her several minutes later. Their initial conversation appeared tense but not physically aggressive.
The recording captured Ethan reaching for Claire's documents. It showed her holding them away and speaking to him. Then Ethan grabbed her uniform.
The slap was visible.
So was Claire's attempt to step away.
The footage continued as Ethan shoved her to the floor and moved toward her again. Although the camera angle did not capture every detail with perfect clarity, it showed enough to contradict his claim that Claire had simply lost her balance during a mutual struggle.
Hayes watched without speaking.
When the footage ended, Laura paused the recording.