Dawson stood near the door, arms crossed.
Bennett watched her.
The judge noticed both officers.
"Officer Dawson."
She looked up.
"Yes?"
"When you stopped me, did you know my name?"
"No."
"Did you know my position?"
"No."
"Did you recognize me?"
"No."
"Then why did you believe I was dangerous?"
She hesitated.
"You fit the description."
"What description?"
"A man in a dark suit carrying a briefcase."
The judge nodded.
"How many men in dark suits entered this building this morning?"
Dawson didn't answer.
"Officer?"
"I don't know."
"How many?"
"I don't know."
"Exactly."
The assistant suddenly spoke.
"We have the account."
Everyone turned.
"Whose?"
The assistant looked at the screen.
"Officer Dawson's."
The room went silent.
Dawson stared at him.
"What?"
"The visitor entry was deleted using your credentials."
"No."
Lewis turned.
"Rachel."
"I didn't delete anything."
The assistant pointed to the screen.
"Your badge ID."
She stepped toward the monitor.
"That's impossible."
The judge watched her closely.
"Do you have your badge?"
She touched her belt.
"Yes."
"Was it ever out of your possession?"
"No."
"Did anyone use your workstation?"
"No."
"Did you log into the security system this morning?"
"No."
Lewis frowned.
"Then how did your credentials delete the entry?"
Dawson looked genuinely frightened now.
"I don't know."
The judge did not accuse her.
That made the moment worse.
"Then someone used your identity."
She looked at him.
"Sir?"
"Someone wanted the system to make it appear that you deleted that entry."
Dawson's face tightened.
"Why?"
The judge looked at the screen.
"That's what we're going to find out."
The assistant continued searching.
Another record appeared.
At 7:31 A.M., an access request had been submitted.
The visitor name was Michael Turner.
A federal attorney.
The judge knew him.
"That's strange," he said.
Lewis looked over.
"Why?"
"Mr. Turner isn't scheduled to appear today."
"Maybe he came anyway."
"No."
The judge looked at the time.
"Michael Turner is in Chicago today."
Everyone turned toward him.
"How do you know?"
"Because I spoke with him last night."
The room became silent again.
The assistant opened the camera archive.
The visitor record had been created at 7:31.
At 7:34, a man entered through the north entrance.
At 7:36, he walked toward the security office.
At 7:38, the record was deleted.
At 7:40, he left through a side corridor.
The judge leaned toward the screen.
"Stop."
The footage froze.
"Zoom in."
The assistant did.
The man's face became clearer.
He wore a gray suit.
No briefcase.
No identification badge.
He looked directly into the security camera before walking away.
The judge stared at him.
He recognized the face.
He just couldn't remember from where.
Then Dawson spoke.
"I've seen him before."
Everyone turned.
"Where?"
She swallowed.
"I don't know."
The judge looked at her.
"You just said you've seen him."
"I mean... I think I've seen him."
"Where?"
She stared at the frozen image.
"Outside the courthouse."
"When?"
"Last week."
The judge's expression changed.
"Doing what?"
"Watching."
"Watching what?"
"The building."
The room went silent.
The judge looked at Lewis.
"Has anyone reported him?"
Lewis shook his head.
"Not to me."
The judge turned toward Dawson.
"Did you report him?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"I thought he was a reporter."
"He wasn't carrying a camera."
"I know."
"Then why?"
She hesitated.
"Because he wasn't doing anything illegal."
The judge nodded slowly.
"That's reasonable."
Dawson looked surprised.
"But now," the judge continued, "we have evidence that someone using your credentials deleted a visitor record associated with him."
She lowered her eyes.
"I understand."
The judge walked toward the security office door.
"Lock the system."
Lewis nodded.
"No one deletes anything. No one modifies anything. No one accesses the archived footage without my authorization."
The judge stopped.
"And don't tell anyone about this yet."
Lewis looked at him.
"Not even courthouse administration?"
"Not yet."
"Why?"
"Because we don't know who is involved."
Dawson looked at him.
"Do you think I'm involved?"
The judge turned.
"I think you made a serious mistake this morning."
She lowered her head.
"But I also think someone may have used that mistake to hide something."
Her eyes lifted.
The judge's voice remained calm.
"Those are two different problems."
Dawson nodded slowly.
The judge walked away.
He had been assaulted in front of a camera.
He had been insulted by an officer who did not know who he was.
But now something else bothered him.
The officer who had slapped him might not have been acting entirely on her own.
And someone had apparently wanted him to be stopped before he entered the courthouse.
The question was why.
The answer came less than twenty minutes later.
The courthouse chief security officer received a phone call from an unknown number.
He answered.
"Lewis."
Nothing.
Then a man's voice spoke.
"You found the deleted entry."
Lewis froze.
"Who is this?"
"You shouldn't have looked."
Lewis glanced toward the judge.
"Who are you?"
The caller ignored the question.
"Tell the judge to walk away."
Lewis said nothing.