Tiffany: "Emily, be careful what you say."
Emily's shoulders stiffened.
Officer Reed: "Please do not interrupt the witness."
Tiffany: "I am not interrupting. I am correcting her."
Officer Reed: "She is describing what she observed."
Emily looked down at her hands.
Emily: "I am only telling you what I saw."
Officer Turner: "Thank you. We may need your full statement in a moment."
The young employee nodded and stepped back toward the counter, though she remained close enough to hear the conversation.
Marcus rubbed his palm against the side of his trousers. He was beginning to realize that his instinct to smooth things over might not be enough. If the incident was recorded, the store would need to explain why it had allowed a customer to be assaulted on its premises. If he tried to pressure a witness, the consequences could become even more serious.
He had always thought of himself as a practical manager, someone who could handle difficult people without letting emotions interfere with business.
Yet the practical decision was becoming increasingly clear.
He needed to tell the truth.
The difficulty was that he had not personally witnessed the slap. He had arrived only after hearing the commotion, and he could not honestly claim to know everything that had happened before that moment.
What he could do was refuse to let Tiffany dictate the account.
Marcus turned toward her.
Marcus: "Ms. Whitmore, I will cooperate with the officers and provide any information I have."
Tiffany: "You had better."
Marcus: "But I cannot ask them to ignore what the witnesses have reported."
Tiffany looked at him with open hostility.
Tiffany: "I thought you understood how business works."
Marcus: "I understand that we have responsibilities to everyone who enters this store."
Tiffany: "You understand nothing."
The accusation was delivered in a low voice, but its effect was immediate. Marcus's jaw tightened. For years, he had worked to build a reputation as a manager who could protect the store's customer relationships while maintaining professional standards. Tiffany's contempt reduced all of that effort to a single insult.
He wanted to remind her that Bellgrave House was not her personal property. He wanted to explain that his employees were not servants and that customer loyalty did not grant anyone permission to strike another person.
Instead, he chose his words carefully.
Marcus: "I am going to make sure the incident is handled properly."
Tiffany: "You will regret taking this attitude with me."
Marcus did not answer.
Officer Reed asked Tiffany to move a few steps away from Natalie so that the officers could continue their questions without the two women speaking over one another. After another frustrated glance, Tiffany finally complied, though she did so with the exaggerated reluctance of someone who believed that following an instruction was a humiliating concession.
Natalie watched her move toward a nearby display.
The scratch on Natalie's cheek had begun to sting more sharply. She could feel the tension in her jaw, and the impulse to rub the affected area returned. She resisted it. There was no reason to pretend she had not been hurt, but she did not want to make a spectacle of the injury either.
She had learned to separate the physical discomfort of a moment from the decisions that needed to be made afterward.
The officers were asking questions. Witnesses were present. The boutique had security cameras. Those were facts that mattered.
Tiffany's opinion of her did not.
Officer Turner took out a small notebook and began recording the basic details. He asked Natalie to confirm her full name and whether she needed medical assistance. Natalie answered each question calmly, providing the information requested without adding unnecessary commentary.
Officer Turner: "Can you tell me what happened immediately before the slap?"
Natalie: "I was standing beside the leather accessories display. Ms. Whitmore approached me and began questioning why I was there. I told her I was waiting for someone from the store's management team. She became angry, and the argument escalated."
Officer Turner: "Did you threaten her at any point?"
Natalie: "No."
Officer Turner: "Did you touch her?"
Natalie: "No."
Officer Turner: "And then she struck you?"
Natalie: "Yes."
Officer Turner wrote down the response.
Officer Turner: "Was anyone standing close enough to see the entire interaction?"
Natalie glanced toward Emily, then toward a man who had been browsing a display near the entrance.
Natalie: "The sales assistant saw the slap. I believe the gentleman near the entrance may have seen part of the conversation."
Officer Turner turned toward the man and asked whether he would be willing to provide an account of what he had observed.
The man looked uncomfortable, but he nodded.
Customer: "I saw the woman in pink hit her. I didn't hear the whole conversation, so I can't tell you what led up to it. But I definitely saw the slap."
Officer Turner: "Thank you. We appreciate your cooperation."
Tiffany made a frustrated sound.
Tiffany: "This is unbelievable. You are interviewing strangers as though their opinions mean more than mine."