Maya continued walking until she reached the same section of the reception desk where her medical file had been knocked to the floor. Dana stepped into her path.
"Miss Williams, I'm not going to tell you again."
"You won't have to."
Maya placed a black leather credential wallet on the counter and opened it.
For several seconds, Dana simply stared. The identification inside carried a state seal above Maya's photograph and title:
**Maya Williams, Deputy Inspector General**
*Maryland Public Safety Integrity Office*
The waiting room seemed to become quieter around them. Dana looked from the credentials to Maya's face, as if trying to reconcile the woman she had ordered out with the official standing in front of her.
"You never said who you were."
Maya closed the wallet, but left it on the counter. "You never asked anything except whether I would leave."
Dana's mouth opened, but no answer came.
Harland approached from the treatment corridor, moving more slowly than Dana had. His face remained composed, although his attention passed over every person behind Maya before settling on her credentials.
"Deputy Inspector General," he said. "If you had identified yourself earlier, this situation could have been handled differently."
Maya turned toward him. "That is exactly what concerns me."
Harland's expression tightened.
Maya looked to the woman beside Paul. "Ms. Grant."
Hospital compliance counsel Karen Grant stepped forward with a tablet in her hand.
"Who authorized the emergency security lockdown?" Maya asked.
Karen had already been checking. "Hospital emergency management did not. Administration: no. Dr. Caldwell: no clinical authorization appears in the system."
Maya looked directly at Harland. "Then who ordered it?"
Harland answered without hesitation. "We received information indicating a potential law enforcement security risk. Temporary containment was appropriate."
"Appropriate under whose authority?"
"Police authority."
Karen shook her head. "Lieutenant, police can request assistance, but you cannot independently place an emergency department into internal security lockdown through hospital access controls."
Harland glanced at her. "We were protecting evidence."
Maya's voice remained measured. "What evidence?"
He did not answer.
Paul stepped beside Maya and placed his tablet on the counter. "We have already issued preservation notices for the hospital access control logs, police liaison terminal activity, and the security camera system."
Dana looked sharply at Harland. That reaction was small, but Captain Ruiz saw it.