“She’s Lieutenant Colonel Danielle Carter.”
Mercer frowned.
“She already said that.”
Walsh shook his head.
“No, Sergeant.”
He glanced at Danielle.
Then back at Mercer.
“She’s tomorrow morning’s instructor.”
Silence.
Even the neighbors seemed to stop moving.
Mercer looked at Walsh as though he had spoken another language.
“What instructor?”
“The constitutional policing workshop.”
Walsh’s voice became quieter.
“She’s teaching our department.”
Mercer slowly turned toward Danielle.
The handcuffs were still hanging from his fingers.
Danielle looked at them.
Then at him.
Her voice remained calm.
“Tomorrow’s first section is reasonable suspicion.”
No one said anything.
“The second is investigative detention.”
Walsh looked down.
“The third is identification requests.”
Mercer’s face changed.
Danielle took one final sip of coffee.
“And after this morning, Sergeant, I believe we have a case study.”
Mercer immediately returned the handcuffs to his belt.
The sound of metal against leather seemed unusually loud.
Linda Harper stepped backward.
Danielle looked toward her.
Linda stopped.
Mercer cleared his throat.
“Well.”
Danielle waited.
“It appears there’s been a misunderstanding.”
“No.”
Mercer blinked.
Danielle set the coffee mug on the stone wall beside the driveway.
“A misunderstanding is when two people have incomplete information.”
She looked directly at him.
“I gave you information.”
Mercer’s face tightened.
“You refused ID.”
“I told you where it was.”
“You wouldn’t retrieve it.”
“You ordered me not to enter my house.”
Walsh closed his eyes briefly.
Mercer looked toward the neighbors.
The audience was still there.
Danielle continued.
“You had the address.”
Silence.
“You had my name.”
Silence.
“You had a package displaying both.”
Walsh looked at the package.
Danielle continued.
“You had a computer capable of verification.”
Mercer said nothing.
“And you chose handcuffs before using it.”
Linda interrupted.
“Officer, I really did think something was wrong.”
Danielle turned.
“Based on what?”
Linda crossed her arms.
“You were walking around outside.”
“My house.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“You did know my name.”
Linda looked away.
“I forgot.”
“You remembered enough to watch me from across the street.”
“That isn’t fair.”
Danielle’s expression stayed neutral.
“I’m not discussing fairness.”
She pointed toward the patrol cars.
“I’m discussing why two police units were sent to my home.”
Mercer stepped in.
“Ma’am, we responded to a call. We don’t control who calls.”
“No.”
Danielle nodded.
“But you control what you do when you arrive.”
Walsh looked at Mercer.
Mercer said, “Nobody got hurt.”
Danielle’s face changed.
That sentence bothered her more than the threat of handcuffs.
“Nobody got hurt.”
Mercer seemed relieved.
“Yes.”
Danielle repeated it.