Sarah stepped away from the circle long enough to pull up the branch procedures on her workstation. The policy instructed employees to retain suspicious instruments only under specific conditions, record identifying information, contact the issuing bank, and protect customer confidentiality throughout the review. Nothing authorized a manager to set paperwork on fire or seize someone's wallet for public display. She read the relevant paragraph twice, angry with herself for needing a written rule before trusting what her conscience had already told her. Then she called Jennifer Hayes, the regional manager, and left a brief message requesting immediate intervention.
At 2:49, Marcus announced that police were on their way. The words sent a current of excitement through the spectators who had begun treating the confrontation as entertainment. Kara's live-stream viewer count crossed four hundred, and the teenager by the ATM had posted a clip of the lighter flicking open. David could hear snippets of online commentary being read aloud by people standing near the counter. Some described him as a scammer; others asked why a bank employee would destroy an item that might be evidence.
"Would you like to sit over there?" Thomas asked, pointing toward a row of leather chairs beside the window. David looked at the guard, noting the embarrassment behind his professional expression. "Am I under arrest?" he asked. Thomas shook his head and explained that they simply wanted him to remain until the police arrived. David agreed to sit because he wanted witnesses to remember that he had not resisted, even though the request made him feel like a suspect rather than a customer.
From the chair, the burned fragments remained visible on the marble. A cleaner approached with a broom, but Sarah stopped him gently and asked that the area be left undisturbed until it could be photographed and documented. Marcus objected that there was no reason to preserve garbage, and Sarah answered that the material had become relevant to an incident report. It was the first unambiguous disagreement she had voiced in front of him that afternoon. Marcus's eyes hardened, but there were too many phones pointed their way for him to respond as he normally would.
David's phone vibrated with a reminder that the board's executive session would begin in ten minutes. His chief of staff had sent a message asking whether he wanted a video link in case he was delayed by the deposit. He began to reply, then stopped when Marcus noticed the lit screen and accused him of contacting accomplices. David looked up slowly, unwilling to believe what he had heard. "It's a work message," he said, "and I am entitled to respond to it."
"Not while we're sorting out this fraud," Marcus snapped. David asked again whether he was being detained under a lawful order or merely asked to wait. The manager ignored the distinction and demanded that the phone be switched off. Thomas glanced toward Ramirez, who had just arrived from the back corridor and was listening to the exchange. "We can't order him to turn off his phone simply because you don't want him using it," Ramirez said quietly, but Marcus pretended not to hear.