He looked toward the badge again.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then the desk phone rang.
Brooks reached for it, but Kane's hand moved toward the receiver at the same time. Their fingers stopped just short of touching it.
Both of them looked at the phone.
The ringing continued.
The next call could provide the missing confirmation. It could clarify the identity of the man standing in handcuffs and establish whether Kane's accusation had any factual basis. It could also raise new questions about the way the encounter had been handled.
Nobody in the room knew exactly what the caller would say.
But everyone understood that the conversation could no longer be treated as an ordinary disagreement between an officer and a stranger.
Kane slowly withdrew his hand.
Brooks picked up the receiver.
"Conference room," she said. "Sergeant Brooks speaking."
She listened.
Her expression became more focused, and she reached for the notes beside the incident report.
"Yes," she replied. "We are still here. The individual is present, and the officer who initiated the request is with us."
She paused to listen to the response.
Then she looked toward Cross.
"Understood. We can provide that information."
Kane watched her face, trying to read the result before she had finished the call.
Brooks asked a final question, listened to the answer, and wrote a short line on the paper in front of her. She did not smile. She did not look toward Kane with satisfaction. Instead, she placed the pen down carefully and asked the caller to repeat one detail.
The second confirmation was slower.
When the caller finished, Brooks thanked them and ended the conversation.
The room remained silent.
Kane's voice was low when he finally spoke.
"What did they say?"
Brooks looked down at the written information.
"They've completed another part of the verification."
"And?"
"They've asked us to remain available while the final confirmation is issued."
Kane exhaled sharply.
"So we're still waiting."
"Yes."
He looked toward Cross.
The handcuffed man stood beneath the fluorescent lights, a faint mark of blood still visible beneath his nose. His posture had not changed. He had not celebrated the progress of the call or used the uncertainty to taunt the officer.
That restraint seemed to trouble Kane more than an argument would have.
"You must be enjoying this," Kane said.
Cross's voice remained quiet.
"No."
"Everyone is treating me like I'm the one on trial."
"Everyone is asking for the facts."
Kane shook his head.
"You think the badge is going to solve everything."
Cross paused before answering.
"The badge will establish my identity. It will not change what happened in this room."
Brooks looked up from the report.
Parker stopped writing for a moment.
Kane stared at Cross, and the meaning of the statement settled over the room. Even if the verification confirmed the man's identity, the punch would remain a separate event. The refusal to check the credentials would remain a separate decision. The witnesses would still have their observations, and the incident report would still contain the sequence of events.
The identification was only one part of the problem.
Kane had been treating it as though the entire encounter depended on proving the badge false. If he could establish that Cross had lied, he might be able to justify his earlier behavior. If the badge proved genuine, however, the explanation he had relied upon would collapse.
He had placed too much of his position on a conclusion he had never verified.
Brooks closed the folder.
"Until we receive the final response, nobody is going to speculate about the result," she said. "We'll preserve the records, complete the documentation, and follow the instructions we receive."
Kane did not answer.
Cross looked toward the phone, then back at the officer.
The room seemed to be waiting again, but the silence had changed. At the beginning of the night, Kane had controlled the pace of every exchange. Now he was waiting for an external decision, one that could not be forced by his voice or settled by his rank.
He glanced at the cuffs around Cross's wrists.
"Keep him there," he said to Parker.
Parker did not move immediately.
He looked toward Brooks.
She spoke before Kane could repeat the command.