He wrote:
Dr. Carter, I understand you may decline. I am not contacting you to dispute findings. I would like to ask you one question about the stop if your office believes contact is appropriate.
Calvin read it.
“What do you want?”
Simone thought.
“Meet.”
“Why?”
“Curiosity.”
“That gets investigators killed in bad novels.”
She smiled.
“Public building.”
“Counsel present.”
“Fine.”
They met in a state conference room.
Mercer wore civilian clothes.
No uniform.
That changed him visually.
Less authority.
More ordinary.
Simone disliked how much clothing affected perception.
He sat across.
His union attorney beside him.
Laura Kim sat beside Simone.
No one recorded secretly.
Official recording on table.
Simone began:
“You requested the meeting.”
Mercer nodded.
“Thank you.”
Then silence.
He looked nervous.
Interesting.
“My question is…”
He stopped.
Started again.
“If Lieutenant Hale hadn't arrived, what were you going to do?”
Simone had asked herself that for months.
“I don't know.”
He looked surprised.
“You didn't have a plan?”
“I had options.”
“Provide ID.”
“Call my office.”
“Ask for your supervisor.”
“Continue challenging detention.”
“Which?”
“I genuinely don't know.”
Mercer looked down.
“I thought you were testing me.”
“No.”
“You weren't trying to see how far I’d go?”
“No.”
“I was walking complaint locations.”
His face tightened.
“So I really just…”
“Stopped me.”
“Yes.”
Silence.
Mercer swallowed.
“I spent months thinking maybe you designed the interaction.”
Simone looked at him.
“Would that make it easier?”
“Yes.”
Honest.
“Why?”
“Because then I could tell myself I failed a test.”
“And if there was no test?”
He looked toward the table.
“Then that was just how I acted.”
There it was.
The difficult part.
Simone waited.
Mercer continued:
“I didn't think I was prejudiced.”
“Maybe I’m still not.”
“I don't know.”
Simone said:
“You may never get a clean answer.”
He looked up.
“I thought investigators had answers.”
“We have findings.”
“Different thing.”
He almost smiled.
Simone continued:
“Bias is not always an identity.”
“Sometimes it is a decision pattern.”
“You can change patterns without solving your soul.”
Mercer laughed once.
“That sounds bleak.”
“It’s practical.”
He nodded.
Then:
“I’m sorry.”
Simone remained still.
“For what?”
He had apparently expected that.
Good.
He said:
“For detaining you without enough basis.”
“For ordering ID as though refusing conversation made you more suspicious.”
“For the way I talked about the neighborhood.”
“And for believing your lack of explanation was something I was entitled to overcome.”
Simone listened.
No mention of her title.
Good.
Mercer continued:
“I also know apologizing doesn’t change the report.”