"Then why switch it to manual override?"
"That was the only way to test the feed from the desk."
"Is that standard procedure?"
"I don't know."
"You worked that station for almost three months."
"I don't maintain the equipment."
Benton looked toward the union representative, then back at Reed. "Did you know the room camera was not producing usable video while Judge Williams was inside?"
"I knew the indicator was inconsistent."
"Did you tell her that?"
"I told her it was under maintenance."
"But it wasn't."
Reed said nothing. Benton let the silence continue for several seconds. Then she closed the folder.
"We're having the system examined independently."
Reed's posture changed. "For what?"
"To determine whether the missing audio was a technical failure, a consequence of the manual override, or something else."
"I already told you what I did."
"And the system will tell us what it did."
The interview ended shortly afterward. Reed left with his union representative without speaking to anyone in the hallway.
Benton returned to her office and called Maya. "I have an update."
Maya was between court matters and kept the call brief. "Go ahead."
"We confirmed that Reed activated manual override on the recording system during your detention."
Maya was silent for a moment. "Under his own credential?"
"Yes."
"Before or after I confronted him about the camera?"
"The timing is consistent with what you described."
"And there was a maintenance problem?"
"No maintenance ticket existed before the incident."
Maya did not sound surprised. "Preserve the original log."
"We already did."
"Good."
Benton expected another question about Reed. Maya asked something else.
"Who has authority over this investigation?"
Benton paused. "Internal Review is handling the evidence. Security Administration is cooperating."
"That is not what I asked."
Benton understood the distinction. "Ultimately, the administrative chain includes the Chief Judge's Office."
Maya looked at the documents on her desk. "Then make sure every preservation request is in writing."
"I will."
After the call, Benton forwarded the technical log to the designated evidence archive and recorded the transfer.
Less than an hour later, Chief Judge Thomas Whitaker received a briefing on the same findings. He read the summary twice.
Outside his chambers, courthouse staff continued with the afternoon docket. Inside, Whitaker focused on one line: Manual override activated during detention.