Claire had no intention of allowing her position to influence the process. She would provide her account as a witness, preserve the evidence, and leave the formal findings to the appropriate authorities.
The court administrator, Daniel Price, arrived at her chambers shortly after the first reports were assembled. He was a careful, methodical man who preferred documents to rumors and written records to secondhand explanations.
COURT ADMINISTRATOR DANIEL PRICE: "Judge Bennett, the security supervisor has confirmed that the hallway footage is being preserved. We have also received preliminary statements from several witnesses."
JUDGE CLAIRE BENNETT: "Have they confirmed whether Officer Hayes had an active assignment involving Maya Reynolds?"
DANIEL PRICE: "Not yet. The department is reviewing the information he received. We have asked them to confirm the source of the message and whether any warrant or formal instruction was associated with it."
Claire nodded.
JUDGE CLAIRE BENNETT: "Please make sure those questions remain separate. We need to establish whether he had an assignment, what that assignment actually authorized, and whether his actions were consistent with it."
DANIEL PRICE: "Understood. The distinction will be included in the request."
He placed a folder on her desk.
DANIEL PRICE: "There is another matter. Officer Hayes has stated that he believed the woman he approached matched the description in the message. He has not yet provided a detailed explanation of why he was certain."
Claire opened the folder and examined the initial summary.
JUDGE CLAIRE BENNETT: "Then we should not treat his belief as proof that the identification was reasonable. It is a statement about what he thought, not evidence that the identification was correct."
DANIEL PRICE: "That is how I have described it in the preliminary notes."
JUDGE CLAIRE BENNETT: "Good. We must be careful not to let the officer's conclusion become the starting point for the investigation."
Daniel made a note before leaving to coordinate with security.
Across the courthouse, Victor Hayes was waiting in a separate administrative office. He had been instructed not to return to his regular assignment until his supervisor had reviewed the incident. No final decision had been made about disciplinary action, but the department wanted to ensure that the investigation could proceed without further confrontation.
Victor sat with his hands clasped in front of him.
He had replayed the slap in his mind repeatedly. At first, he had focused on the shock of discovering that Claire was a judge. Then he had begun thinking about the witnesses, the cameras, and the possibility that the incident would be reviewed by people who would not accept his explanation at face value.
He knew that his behavior had looked terrible.
What troubled him most was the possibility that the records would reveal how little he had actually known when he approached her.
His supervisor, Lieutenant Susan Walker, entered the office carrying a tablet and a thin folder. She was in her early fifties, with short dark hair and a measured manner that made it difficult to distract her with excuses.
LIEUTENANT SUSAN WALKER: "Officer Hayes, I need your account of the incident from the beginning. Start with the information you received about Maya Reynolds."
Victor straightened.
OFFICER VICTOR HAYES: "I received a message saying that a woman connected to a pending case might be in the courthouse. I was told to look for her near the courtroom corridor."
LIEUTENANT SUSAN WALKER: "Who sent the message?"
OFFICER VICTOR HAYES: "I believe it came through the case coordination channel."
LIEUTENANT SUSAN WALKER: "You believe it came through that channel, or you can identify the sender?"
Victor hesitated.
OFFICER VICTOR HAYES: "I need to check the message."
Susan set the folder on the table.
LIEUTENANT SUSAN WALKER: "You understand that we cannot assess your actions without knowing what instructions you actually received."
OFFICER VICTOR HAYES: "I understand."
LIEUTENANT SUSAN WALKER: "Did the message include a photograph?"
OFFICER VICTOR HAYES: "No."
LIEUTENANT SUSAN WALKER: "Did it provide a precise physical description?"
OFFICER VICTOR HAYES: "Not a detailed one."
LIEUTENANT SUSAN WALKER: "Did it tell you that Ms. Reynolds had an active warrant?"
Victor looked down.
OFFICER VICTOR HAYES: "No, not specifically."
LIEUTENANT SUSAN WALKER: "Did it authorize you to detain someone based solely on a general resemblance?"
OFFICER VICTOR HAYES: "No."
Susan waited, giving him an opportunity to continue.
Victor had expected questions, but the directness of the exchange left him with little room to hide behind vague descriptions.
LIEUTENANT SUSAN WALKER: "Then explain why you stopped Judge Bennett."
OFFICER VICTOR HAYES: "She was walking toward the courtroom area, carrying papers, and I thought she matched what I remembered."
LIEUTENANT SUSAN WALKER: "What did you do to confirm her identity before you stopped her?"
OFFICER VICTOR HAYES: "Nothing."
LIEUTENANT SUSAN WALKER: "Did you ask her name?"
OFFICER VICTOR HAYES: "Not before I ordered her to stop."