“Daniel.”
He looked at her.
“You didn't know.”
“That doesn't make it easier.”
“No.”
She leaned forward.
“But it matters.”
He stared at their joined hands.
For several moments, neither spoke.
Then Natalie asked, “What do you need?”
Daniel looked up.
The question reminded him why he had married her.
She didn't ask whether he would become distracted again.
She didn't ask whether the investigation would ruin their plans.
She didn't tell him to forget the past.
She simply asked what he needed.
He took a breath.
“I need to know what happened to that man.”
Natalie nodded.
“Then start there.”
The following morning, Daniel met Margaret Wilson in a small conference room at the public accountability office.
She was sixty-four, with silver-gray hair, tired brown eyes, and the posture of someone who had spent years carrying more grief than her body could comfortably hold.
She wore a simple blue cardigan over a white blouse.
In her hands was a canvas tote bag.
Daniel stood when she entered.
“Mrs. Wilson.”
She studied his face.
Then looked at his hands.
“You're younger than I expected.”
He smiled gently.
“I get that sometimes.”
She sat.
For a moment, she seemed uncertain how to begin.
Daniel placed a glass of water in front of her.
“Take your time.”
Margaret opened the tote bag.
Inside were documents organized into plastic folders.
Death certificate.
Arrest records.
Hospital paperwork.
Letters from attorneys.
Copies of complaints.
And several photographs of a young Black American man.
Jonathan Wilson had been thirty-two when he died.
He worked as a delivery driver.
He had a six-year-old daughter.
He was engaged to be married.
In the photographs, he had a wide smile and bright eyes.
One showed him holding his daughter on his shoulders at a county fair.
Another showed him standing beside a delivery truck.
A third captured him laughing at a birthday party.
Margaret placed that photograph in front of Daniel.
“That was two months before.”
Daniel studied it.
“He looks happy.”
“He was.”
Her voice trembled.
“He had problems. Everybody does. But he worked. He loved his daughter. He was saving for a house.”
She swallowed.
“And then one night he didn't come home.”
Daniel waited.
Margaret explained that Jonathan had been stopped after leaving a late shift.
According to the original police report, he was suspected of driving under the influence.
He disputed the allegation.
He was taken to Riverside Central for processing.
The report claimed he became agitated.
An officer documented that Jonathan refused instructions.
Another wrote that he appeared disoriented.