Security Technician: "Understood."
Patricia Monroe: "And keep the access information restricted to the review team."
Monroe ended the call and immediately informed the chief judge that the assignment record required closer examination.
The discovery did not establish that anyone had deliberately misled Cross.
There could have been a routine administrative explanation.
A clerk might have entered information incorrectly.
A request might have been copied from an earlier assignment.
Someone might have changed a record to correct an innocent mistake.
But the timing was unusual enough that it could not be dismissed.
Meanwhile, Victoria had been taken to a medical room to have her injury assessed.
The examination confirmed bruising and tenderness along her cheek, along with a small injury near her lower lip.
The clinician recommended that she continue monitoring the area and seek further evaluation if the symptoms worsened.
Victoria listened carefully, asked a few questions, and accepted a written record of the examination.
She did not want the injury exaggerated.
She did not want it minimized.
She wanted it documented accurately.
Afterward, she returned to her chambers with the medical report secured in a separate envelope.
Evelyn Price had arranged for the day's first hearing to be reassigned to another judge.
Several attorneys had already been notified of the change.
Victoria reviewed the updated calendar, then closed it.
She could not concentrate on the scheduled cases while the incident downstairs remained unresolved.
There were too many unanswered questions.
She knew that the courthouse had procedures for handling allegations against officers working inside its building, but she also knew that procedures were only useful when people followed them honestly.
A report could be written.
A recording could be stored.
A witness could give a statement.
Yet if the wrong person controlled the process, even good evidence could be overlooked or misrepresented.
Victoria did not assume that would happen.
She simply refused to leave the process to chance.
When Chief Judge Bennett returned, she brought news that the independent review had formally begun.
Chief Judge Eleanor Bennett: "The review will be handled by an administrator who was not present during the incident. The security footage and dispatch records are being preserved."
Victoria Hayes: "And the report Cross submitted?"
Chief Judge Eleanor Bennett: "It has been secured in its original form."
Victoria: "Good."
Chief Judge Eleanor Bennett: "The administrator will also review the witness statements and request an explanation of the assignment change."
Victoria looked at the chief judge.
Victoria Hayes: "Has Lauren Mitchell been interviewed?"
Chief Judge Eleanor Bennett: "Not yet. The review team is trying to establish where she was during the confrontation."
Victoria: "I don't want anyone suggesting that her name proves anything until she has given her own account."
Chief Judge Bennett nodded.
Chief Judge Eleanor Bennett: "That's the right approach."
Victoria leaned back slightly.
The initial shock had begun to fade, but the physical discomfort remained.
She had also started to feel the exhaustion that often followed a sudden, frightening event.
Still, she remained alert to every new detail.
The case was no longer simply about whether Cross had used force without justification.
His report had introduced a second issue: why had he believed that Victoria was the person he was supposed to detain?
And if he had been following instructions, were those instructions based on reliable information?
Later that morning, Lauren Mitchell arrived at the security office.
She was in her early thirties, with dark-blond hair pulled into a loose ponytail and a charcoal coat draped over one arm. She carried a slim handbag and a folder containing documents for her scheduled hearing.
She appeared nervous when Patricia Monroe approached her.
Patricia Monroe: "Ms. Mitchell? I'm Supervisor Monroe. We need to ask you a few questions about an incident that occurred on the fourth floor this morning."
Lauren Mitchell: "What incident?"
Monroe studied her carefully.
Patricia Monroe: "A confrontation involving Officer Daniel Cross and Judge Victoria Hayes."
Lauren's expression changed.
For a moment, she seemed unable to decide how to respond.
Lauren Mitchell: "I don't know anything about that."
Patricia Monroe: "Officer Cross included your name in his initial report. He stated that you witnessed the confrontation."
Lauren looked down at the folder in her hands.
Lauren Mitchell: "He did?"
Patricia Monroe: "Yes. We need to establish whether you were present and what, if anything, you saw."
Lauren shifted her weight.
Lauren Mitchell: "I was at the courthouse this morning, but I wasn't standing beside them."
Patricia Monroe: "Where were you?"
Lauren Mitchell: "Near the clerk's office, waiting to confirm something about my hearing."
Patricia Monroe: "Did you see Officer Cross approach Judge Hayes?"
Lauren hesitated.
Lauren Mitchell: "I saw him walking down the corridor."