Okay, you're not walking headfirst into this. This is not your battle. Maybe if it was someone you worked with before, you'd consider approaching them to see what's going on. For now, though, watching them might be your best option.

You silently back away until you're hidden behind the corner, allowing you to somewhat observe their conversation.

"Hearsay? HEARSAY???" Elizabeth squawks out a bizarrely guttural noise that's too abstract for you to fully articulate. "Do you hear the words you're saying? I'm telling you that someone else DID IT! I SAW HER WITH MY OWN EYES!"

"We have no actual evidence that she did any of this besides your own words." The WELL-DRESSED MAN does his best to ignore Elizabeth's frankly feral behavior. "If we believed in every rumor we heard, we would be hunting down some psychotic grey-skinned man."

"I—Huh?" Elizabeth is knocked off balance by what he said. You can't lie; you are as well. Why did he...

>1 SUCCESS!

You stifle a cough. You have to stay silent; you can't let them know you're here.

"Whatever! You're just trying to distract me! You're..." Elizabeth looks around the hallway she's in. It seems like his words got under her skin. "You're just using him as a scapegoat. You know he's innocent."

"What qualifies as 'innocence' in this situation is rather vague, wouldn't you agree?" The WELL-DRESSED MAN mirthlessly laughs. "You have to admit that he had some blame here, regardless if the 'real culprit' you're suggesting is to blame."

"Why, wasn't he related to that August case? Why are you defending him, exactly?" A hint of bitter amusement lingers in his words.

Elizabeth's knuckles turn white as she tightens her fists. "You know that's not why you're punishing him!"

"Of course not." His expression shifts into a serious, dour frown. "Maybe you forgot that our suspect was found sneaking into the room in question, which he didn't have access to, with a stolen keycard."

"What, are you going to say your mystery girl put him up to that?"

"You KNOW damn well he was authorized to be there!" Elizabeth throws her hands in the air, clearly getting exasperated. "SHE's the one who spun up that whole story about him 'stealing' and 'breaking' into there!"

"This 'she' you're referring to is a highly trusted staff member. Levying an accusation like that against her with no evidence—"

"UGGHHH!!! You're hopeless! You're not listening to a SINGLE WORD I'm saying!"

"She's the one who wanted to steal it! He's just a scapegoat, and you're eating RIGHT OUT OF HER FUCKING-" "Language, Ms. Baker."

"It's Liz! You know everyone calls me Liz!"

"Regardless of your personal pet theory, he's the one who was found with the stolen item. He's the one who confessed to stealing it. Unless you can actually give me solid evidence-"

Liz interrupts him with another snarl. "ASK LITERALLY ANYONE WHO KNEW HIM AND THEY WOULD TELL YOU THE SAME THING! HE'S NOT THE ACTUAL THIEF!"