“On what grounds?” he asked.
That question—simple, direct—hung in the air longer than expected. It wasn’t defiance. It was clarity. And it unsettled them.
“For obstruction,” the first officer snapped. “Turn around.”
A woman near the register whispered, “What is happening?” Another customer began recording more openly now, the phone no longer hidden.
“What exactly am I obstructing?” the man asked, his voice still controlled, but now carrying a quiet firmness that made people listen.
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