“Yes.”
“I know that.”
Danielle looked furious.
“I just keep needing to say it.”
Vanessa understood.
Reality sometimes required repetition before the mind accepted it.
She touched her cheek.
“I'm fine.”
Danielle stared.
Vanessa sighed.
“Physically.”
“Better.”
They sat.
After several minutes Danielle asked:
“Did he know who you were?”
“No.”
Danielle’s expression changed.
“That's worse.”
Vanessa looked toward her.
“Exactly.”
“He thought you were…”
Danielle stopped.
Vanessa finished.
“No one who mattered.”
Silence.
Danielle shook her head.
“I hate that.”
“So do I.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Nothing right now.”
Danielle frowned.
Vanessa continued:
“There is an investigation.”
“You're a judge.”
“Which is why I am staying out of it.”
Danielle laughed in disbelief.
“Of course.”
“What?”
“Someone assaults you and your first concern is proper jurisdiction.”
Vanessa smiled faintly.
“Process matters.”
“He didn't care about process.”
“That is not permission for me to stop caring.”
Danielle leaned back.
“Sometimes I don't know whether you're admirable or exhausting.”
“Both.”
“Definitely both.”
Derek Morrow's version appeared through his attorney the next day.
He claimed Vanessa refused lawful security instructions.
Reached suddenly toward her bag.
Verbally threatened his career.
Physically resisted.
Created a security concern.
The slap was described as “a defensive open-hand control technique during an escalating confrontation.”
Vanessa read that phrase twice.
Then a third time.
Defensive open-hand control technique.
She almost admired language's ability to hide reality.
Her attorney, Rachel Stein, sat across from her.
“Don't respond.”
“I wasn't going to.”
“You made a face.”
“I am permitted faces.”
“Not publicly.”
Vanessa set the statement down.
“He says I reached toward my bag.”
“You did.”
“For my phone.”
“Yes.”
“He grabbed me.”
“Video.”
“He says I resisted.”
“Video.”
“He says I threatened him.”
“You said he was making a mistake.”
“Yes.”
Rachel nodded.
“Let evidence work.”
Vanessa laughed.
“Everyone keeps telling me that.”
“Because you're used to controlling the record from the bench.”
“I don't control records.”
Rachel stared.
Vanessa smiled.
“Fine.”
Rachel continued:
“The key evidence is body-camera footage.”
“Has it been released?”
“Not publicly.”
“Reviewed?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
Rachel hesitated.
“I'm not supposed to discuss details.”
Vanessa looked at her.
Rachel sighed.
“It is not good for him.”
That was enough.
Two days later, an independent investigative team interviewed Vanessa.
She sat in a conference room at another federal building.
No robes.
No special chair.
Witness.
That was important.
The investigator, Thomas Bell, began:
“Judge Cole, I know you've told parts of this story several times.”
“Yes.”
“I need the complete version.”
“Understood.”