Patricia Monroe: "Did you see him touch her?"
Lauren looked toward the door.
Lauren Mitchell: "I heard people shouting."
Patricia Monroe: "Did you see the slap?"
The question seemed to make Lauren uncomfortable.
She tightened her grip on the folder.
Lauren Mitchell: "Not clearly."
Monroe did not challenge the answer.
She simply recorded it and continued.
Patricia Monroe: "Did you tell Officer Cross that you could confirm his version of events?"
Lauren's eyes widened slightly.
Lauren Mitchell: "No. I haven't spoken to him about what happened."
Patricia Monroe: "Have you spoken to anyone else about the incident?"
Lauren Mitchell: "No."
Patricia Monroe: "Did you receive any messages asking you to provide a statement?"
Lauren paused.
The silence lasted long enough for Monroe to notice.
Patricia Monroe: "Ms. Mitchell, I need you to answer as accurately as you can. If someone contacted you, we need to know who it was and what they asked."
Lauren glanced at her phone, which lay inside the open handbag.
Lauren Mitchell: "I received a message earlier."
Patricia Monroe: "From whom?"
Lauren Mitchell: "I don't know the number."
Patricia Monroe: "What did the message say?"
Lauren took out her phone but did not immediately hand it over.
She looked at the screen.
Lauren Mitchell: "It said someone might ask me about the officer in the corridor."
Patricia Monroe: "Did it ask you to give a particular account?"
Lauren Mitchell: "Not exactly."
Patricia Monroe: "What did it say?"
Lauren swallowed.
Lauren Mitchell: "It said I should keep my statement simple and avoid getting involved in anything that wasn't relevant to my hearing."
Monroe stopped writing.
Patricia Monroe: "When did you receive that message?"
Lauren checked the timestamp.
Lauren Mitchell: "A little after nine."
Patricia Monroe: "May I document the message and its time?"
Lauren hesitated, then nodded.
Lauren Mitchell: "Yes."
Monroe photographed the screen using the approved evidence procedure and recorded the details.
The message did not explicitly tell Lauren to lie.
It did not directly instruct her to support Cross.
But its timing was troubling, particularly because Cross had already named her in his report as someone who could confirm his account.
Monroe asked Lauren to preserve the original message and any related communications.
Lauren agreed.
Before ending the interview, Monroe asked one final question.
Patricia Monroe: "Ms. Mitchell, did anyone tell you that Officer Cross was looking for you this morning?"
Lauren's face grew tense.
Lauren Mitchell: "Someone mentioned that an officer might need to speak with me."
Patricia Monroe: "Who mentioned it?"
Lauren looked down at the folder in her lap.
Lauren Mitchell: "A man from the courthouse."
Patricia Monroe: "Do you know his name?"
Lauren shook her head.
Lauren Mitchell: "I didn't ask."
Patricia Monroe: "Can you describe him?"
Lauren thought for a moment.
Lauren Mitchell: "He was wearing a dark suit. He seemed to know where I was supposed to go."
Monroe recorded the description.
The interview had produced no definitive explanation, but it had revealed a new line of inquiry.
Someone had contacted Lauren shortly after the confrontation.
Someone had apparently told her that an officer might need to speak with her.
And Lauren's name had appeared in Cross's report despite her denial that she had discussed the incident with him.
Monroe ended the interview and informed the independent administrator.
Within an hour, the review team had collected the original security records, the witness recording, the preliminary statements, and the information about Lauren's message.
The investigation was beginning to take shape.
But the evidence did not yet point to a single explanation.
At least three possibilities remained open.
Cross might have mistaken Victoria for someone else and then tried to justify his actions after realizing the seriousness of the mistake.
Someone might have given him inaccurate information, creating a chain of errors that escalated into a physical confrontation.
Or someone might have used the assignment to direct Cross toward the wrong person for reasons that had not yet been established.
The review team refused to choose among those possibilities prematurely.
That decision frustrated people who wanted an immediate answer.
Some courthouse employees believed Cross had simply lost his temper.
Others wondered whether the assignment had been mishandled.
A few privately questioned why the officer's report had been written so quickly and why Lauren's name had appeared in it.
Victoria heard some of these comments as she moved between her chambers and the administrative offices.
She did not participate in the speculation.
Instead, she asked that each concern be documented and referred to the independent administrator.
She understood that an investigation could be damaged by premature conclusions just as easily as it could be damaged by deliberate concealment.
That afternoon, Chief Judge Bennett requested a private meeting with Victoria.