"Under what legal authority?"
"Criminal trespass and obstruction."
"Obstruction of what?"
"My investigation."
"What facts support criminal trespass, Mr. Keller?"
Keller’s face reddened, the veins in his neck bulging slightly. "You are in a restricted courtroom."
CHAPTER 4
"So are you."
"I work here."
"So do I."
"You cannot prove that."
"You have explicitly prevented me from retrieving my identification."
"You could have stolen someone’s access card."
"From whom?"
"I don’t know!"
"Then you have no report of a stolen card to base your reasonable suspicion on."
Keller stepped toward the side stairs that led up to the bench. "Do not make me come up there."
Adrian did not step back. Instead, his gaze moved deliberately up toward the courtroom camera mounted flush above the clerk’s station. A small, steady green light glowed beneath the lens. The automated recording system was active.
"Is this interaction being recorded?" Adrian asked.
Keller glanced over his shoulder at the camera. "That is none of your concern."
"It should concern you."
The bailiff’s thick hand tightened around the cuffs. "You think a camera is going to help you?"
"I think facts usually help."
Keller opened the small swinging door at the base of the bench's stairs. "You people always think you can talk your way out of consequences."
Adrian’s face became dead still. The air in the room seemed to drop ten degrees. "You people?"
Keller stopped with one foot on the first stair. For the first time since he had entered the room, the bailiff seemed to realize that his own words might be moving faster than his ability to defend them.