HOLLISTER: "What did you say?"
Cole hesitated.
COLE: "He's injured."
HOLLISTER: "Then he should have thought about that before creating a disturbance."
Walter tried to straighten his jacket.
WALTER: "I have asked for medical attention several times."
HOLLISTER: "And I have told you we're processing the incident."
WALTER: "You can process the paperwork without putting your hands on me."
Hollister's expression hardened.
HOLLISTER: "You still don't understand who you're dealing with."
Walter looked directly at him.
WALTER: "I understand exactly who I'm dealing with."
The sheriff tightened his grip on the jacket.
Hollister's voice rose.
HOLLISTER: "You think you're above the law because you once wore a uniform?"
Walter shook his head slightly.
WALTER: "No. I think the law applies to everyone."
For a moment, the hallway became completely silent.
The officers nearby had stopped talking.
Cole stood rigidly, watching the sheriff's hands.
Hollister leaned closer.
HOLLISTER: "You should have left when I gave you the chance."
Walter's eyes moved briefly toward the deputy.
Then he looked back at the sheriff.
WALTER: "You had the chance to let me finish breakfast."
Hollister's jaw tightened.
He released the jacket with a sharp movement.
Walter's body shifted backward, and he caught himself against the wall.
The sheriff stepped away, breathing heavily.
HOLLISTER: "Take him back."
Cole did not move immediately.
HOLLISTER: "Now!"
The deputy reached for Walter's arm.
At that moment, the telephone on the reception desk rang.
The clerk answered.
She listened for several seconds, then looked toward the corridor.
CLERK: "Sheriff? There's a call for you."
Hollister turned.
"Who?"
The clerk covered the receiver.
CLERK: "A woman asking about Walter Hayes."
Hollister looked annoyed.
"Tell her he's being processed."
The clerk returned to the phone.
CLERK: "He's unavailable at the moment."
A pause followed.
The clerk's expression changed.
CLERK: "Yes, ma'am. I understand."
She listened again.
Then she looked directly at Hollister.
CLERK: "She says this concerns his medical condition and the preservation of evidence."
The sheriff rolled his eyes.
HOLLISTER: "Tell her to contact the county attorney."
The clerk hesitated.
CLERK: "She asked for your name."
Hollister stepped toward the desk.
HOLLISTER: "She already knows my name."
The clerk listened to the caller once more.
Then she slowly lowered the receiver.
CLERK: "She says she knows who you are, Sheriff."
Hollister frowned.
"So?"
The clerk glanced toward Walter.
CLERK: "She also says she'll be there soon."
The sheriff gave a short laugh.
HOLLISTER: "Wonderful. Another person coming here to tell me how to do my job."
Walter remained silent.
But for the first time since entering the station, he felt a little less alone.
He knew Tessa would not arrive shouting or making threats. She would ask questions, request records, and pay attention to details. She would listen carefully to every answer.
That was what made him confident.
The sheriff, however, interpreted the silence differently.
He assumed Walter was waiting for someone powerful to save him.
He did not understand that the person on her way was not coming to negotiate a private favor.
She was coming to establish what had happened.
And she was bringing the questions that Hollister had spent years avoiding.
Meanwhile, at Pine Ridge Diner, Darcy had not returned to her normal routine.
The breakfast rush had ended, but the broken plates remained in a cardboard box near the kitchen. A cleaning employee had mopped the floor, and the overturned table had been placed back in its original position.
Yet the diner did not feel the same.
Customers who had witnessed the incident had left quietly. Some had paid without saying anything. Others had stood outside for several minutes before driving away.
Darcy kept looking at the empty corner booth.
Walter's coffee mug was still on the counter.
She picked it up and carried it to the sink.
Then she stopped.
There was a small smear of blood on the edge of the table where Walter had fallen.
Darcy stared at it.
She had known Walter for twelve years. She had seen him come in during snowstorms, sit quietly after his wife's funeral, and help an elderly customer carry groceries to a car when the man could barely walk.
He had never caused trouble.
Not once.
Darcy walked into the office and opened the security monitor.
The system displayed several camera feeds.
One showed the entrance.
Another showed the counter and the pie display.
A third captured most of the dining area.
She selected the recording from that morning.
The footage began with Walter entering the diner.
It showed him greeting her, choosing his usual booth, and sitting down.
Then the sheriff appeared.
Darcy watched the interaction unfold.
She saw Hollister approach the booth.
She saw Walter look up.
She saw the sheriff pull the table away and seize the old man's jacket.
Then came the fall.
The image was not perfect, but the sequence was clear enough to raise serious questions about the official report.
Darcy paused the recording.