The officer asked him to identify any written report he had prepared.
OFFICER:
"Have you completed an incident report?"
DANIEL REED:
"Not yet."
OFFICER:
"Do not prepare or amend any report without following the formal instructions you have been given. Any required account will need to be complete and accurate."
DANIEL REED:
"Understood."
The interview continued for several more minutes.
Daniel provided the details he could remember, including the approximate time he entered the hallway and the point at which he approached Josephine.
He was asked to distinguish what he had personally seen from what he had been told.
The distinction proved more difficult than he expected.
He remembered being told that Maya Reynolds might be in the courthouse.
He remembered believing Josephine matched the description.
He did not remember receiving a confirmed photograph.
He could not identify a document establishing that Josephine was the person named in the assignment.
And he could not point to any action by Josephine that justified the force he had used.
When the interview ended, Daniel remained seated for a few seconds.
OFFICER:
"Is there anything else you want to add to your account?"
Daniel looked toward the closed door.
DANIEL REED:
"I want to say that I didn't know she was a judge."
OFFICER:
"That fact has already been recorded. Is there anything else relevant to the events themselves?"
Daniel lowered his gaze.
DANIEL REED:
"No."
The officer closed the folder.
OFFICER:
"Then we will continue reviewing the evidence. You will be informed of any further requirements."
Daniel left the room with the realization that the investigation would not be determined by how regretful he appeared or how frightened he felt about the consequences.
It would be determined by what he had done, what he had known, what he had been instructed to do, and whether his conduct complied with the applicable rules.
Meanwhile, Rebecca Shaw had begun reviewing the available footage.
The first recording showed Josephine exiting the elevator and walking along the hallway.
She was carrying her briefcase in her right hand.
She was not running.
She was not attempting to hide from anyone.
She did not appear to be following Daniel or trying to avoid him.
The next section showed Daniel approaching her and stepping into her path.
Rebecca paused the recording.
She examined the distance between the two people, then resumed playback.
The conversation lasted only a short time before Daniel reached for Josephine.
The recording captured the briefcase falling and the papers scattering across the floor.
It also captured the slap.
Rebecca watched the sequence twice.
There was no need to rely solely on memory for the central physical act. The recording provided a direct account of what had occurred in the corridor.
The second camera angle showed several bystanders reacting.
One person stood up from a bench. Another moved toward the elevator. A man began recording with his phone.
Then Thomas Gallagher entered the frame.
Rebecca watched as Thomas moved between Daniel and Josephine and ordered the officer to step away.
She recorded the time of his intervention.
The footage did not reveal Daniel's private thoughts, nor did it establish why he had received the assignment. Those questions required additional evidence.
But it documented the sequence of the confrontation with considerable clarity.
Rebecca then compared the recording with the statements collected from Peter Lawson and the other witnesses.
The accounts differed in minor details, as might be expected when people observed an unexpected event from different positions.
One witness had been looking toward the elevator.
Another had been seated with a partial view of the corridor.
Peter had been passing the courtroom entrance when he noticed Daniel raising his voice.
Thomas had arrived during the later part of the confrontation.
Despite those differences, the accounts were consistent on the essential sequence: Daniel stopped Josephine, she questioned him, the confrontation escalated, and he struck her.
The evidence was beginning to establish a clear chronology.
However, the question of why Daniel believed Josephine was Maya Reynolds remained unresolved.
Rebecca requested the complete dispatch record, including the original message, any attachments, and the time at which the information had been entered into the system.
The first set of records arrived later that afternoon.
The assignment referenced Maya Reynolds and described her as a woman who was expected to appear at the courthouse.
But the record did not contain a photograph of Josephine.
It did not identify Josephine by name.
And the material initially provided to Daniel did not establish that the woman he encountered was the person he was looking for.
Rebecca continued checking the associated documents.