He looked toward the handcuffs still secured around Victoria's wrists, then back at the documents.
OFFICER JACK REYNOLDS: "I need to review the remaining details before I can give you a final answer."
Victoria's expression hardened.
VICTORIA HAYES: "You have had my identification, the registration, and the original report. You have confirmed that the vehicle's registration is different from the one in that report. What specific detail remains that justifies keeping me here?"
Reynolds did not immediately respond.
Outside the room, Sergeant Hale had begun reviewing the intake record in greater detail. He was no longer satisfied with the vague explanation that the officer was still investigating. He wanted to know precisely what had justified the initial detention, what steps had been taken to verify the suspicion, and why the available evidence had not been examined before Victoria was transported to the station.
He also wanted to know why the officer had continued to question her claim to be a state attorney without attempting to verify her professional identity.
That detail had initially seemed secondary to the vehicle investigation, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
If Victoria was who she said she was, the department might soon face a much more serious situation than a routine misunderstanding over a vehicle description.
And if Reynolds continued to disregard information that could be checked independently, the consequences might extend well beyond the interview room.
At that moment, a telephone rang at the front desk.
Hale answered it, listened carefully, and reached for a notepad.
The caller was asking about a woman named Victoria Hayes.
Hale glanced toward the corridor.
He had not yet learned the full reason for the call, but the name was familiar now. It was the same name printed on the vehicle registration, the same name recorded on the driver's license, and the same name belonging to the woman Reynolds had brought into the station.
As the caller began explaining why they were trying to reach her, Hale's expression changed.
He asked the caller to repeat the information, then wrote several words on the page.
When the conversation ended, he remained still for a moment, looking at his notes.
Then he picked up the telephone again and began making another call.
Inside the interview room, Victoria could hear the muffled sound of voices outside, but she could not make out what was being said. Reynolds stood near the table, waiting for the next instruction from the desk sergeant, while Victoria continued to demand a clear explanation for her detention.
Neither of them knew that the inquiry had begun to reach people beyond Central Precinct.
Victoria's name was no longer simply an entry on a vehicle registration.
It was a name someone at the station had recognized, a name connected to a professional office that could independently confirm her identity, and a name that was about to change the way the department understood the encounter.
For the first time that afternoon, Reynolds looked genuinely uncertain.
He had approached Victoria believing that her appearance and behavior gave him enough reason to suspect her. He had ignored her explanations, dismissed her professional claim, and treated her requests for verification as challenges to his authority.
Now the records contradicted his original assumption, his supervisor was examining the case, and someone had contacted the station specifically asking about the woman he had detained.
The investigation he had believed he controlled was beginning to move beyond his reach.
Victoria sat upright, her hands still restrained, and watched him carefully.
VICTORIA HAYES: "Officer Reynolds, I have been patient with you. I have answered your questions and provided the information you requested. I am asking you one last time: are you going to verify my identity and let me contact my office, or are you going to keep me here without a clear explanation?"
Reynolds looked at her but said nothing.
Outside, Sergeant Hale placed his hand over the telephone receiver and turned toward the interview-room corridor.
He had just received information that could establish exactly who Victoria Hayes was, and he intended to find out why that information had not been confirmed earlier.
The next few minutes would determine whether Reynolds was prepared to correct his mistake—or whether his refusal to reconsider his assumptions would create a much larger problem for everyone involved.