Whitaker looked back at her. "That sounds simple from where you're sitting."
"It is simple. It may not be comfortable."
He picked up the technical report. "You have a missing recording, an officer claiming a security concern, a witness who saw only part of the encounter, and a clerk who says she did not hear enough to make a determination. We also have a system log that shows an override but does not yet prove why it happened."
"Then finish the investigation."
"That may happen."
"May?"
Whitaker set the report down. "I am considering whether an internal administrative disposition would serve everyone better."
Maya's expression changed. Now the conversation was clear. "What disposition?"
"Reed can be reassigned."
"That addresses his location, not his conduct."
"His report can be corrected."
"A false report is not cured because someone edits it later."
"He can receive a formal reprimand."
"He used a baton to control a detention he never properly verified."
Whitaker raised one hand. "I'm not defending that."
"You're trying to contain it."
"I'm trying to keep one officer's bad decision from damaging the entire courthouse."
Maya looked at him for several seconds. "The courthouse was damaged when the decision happened. Hiding it does not undo that."
"No one is talking about hiding anything."
"Then reopen the review."
Whitaker did not answer.
Maya continued, "You have a technical log showing Reed activated manual override after I was placed in that room. You have an independent witness who documented the incident before he knew who I was. You have a report containing claims that are already inconsistent with what the witness saw. There is enough to continue."
"There is enough to proceed carefully."
"You keep using that word when you mean slowly."
Whitaker's voice became firmer. "Maya, I have spent more than thirty years in this system. I know what happens when a story like this leaves the building before the facts are controlled."
"The facts are not something you control."
"I control how this court responds."
"That is different."
The room went quiet.
Whitaker removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I can have Reed transferred out of courthouse security by the end of the week. No confrontation, no prolonged hearing, no press cycle. His report gets corrected. You receive a formal written apology, and we review the security procedures privately."
Maya stared at him. "And the manual override?"
"Handled administratively."
"The false statement that I tried to push past him?"
"Corrected."
"The baton?"
"Addressed in his discipline."
"The fact that he refused verification when he had my name?"
Whitaker did not answer immediately.
Maya shook her head once. "You keep describing corrections. I'm asking for answers."
Whitaker's expression hardened. "What answer do you want?"