“Did you recommend verifying the property?”
“Yes.”
“When?” “Near the beginning.”
Pierce muttered something too quietly to understand. Rebecca looked at his body camera.
“Both cameras active?”
Blake touched his chest. “Yes.”
Pierce did not answer. Rebecca looked directly at the red indicator on his camera.
“Good.”
She turned toward Marcus. “Did they ask what you do for a living?”
“Yes.”
“You told them?”
“No.”
Pierce frowned. Rebecca nodded slowly.
“Good.”
Marcus looked at her. “It shouldn’t matter.”
“I agree.”
Pierce looked between them. “What shouldn’t matter?”
Rebecca turned toward him. “Mr. Ellison spent twelve years as an Assistant United States Attorney.”
Pierce’s expression changed. Rebecca continued.
“For most of that time, he prosecuted civil-rights violations and public corruption.”
Aaron looked toward Marcus. The yard remained silent.
“He then served seven years as chief counsel to the state inspector general.”
Pierce swallowed.
“And last year,” Rebecca said, “the mayor appointed him chair of the Crescent Metropolitan Civilian Accountability Commission.”
Nothing about Marcus physically changed. Same barbecue-stained T-shirt.
Same muscular frame. Same Black skin.
Same red marks on his wrists. Only the résumé changed.
Marcus lifted his hands slightly. “That expression right there is the problem.”
Pierce blinked. “Sir?”
Marcus gave a humorless smile. “Five minutes ago I was ‘the big guy.’”
“Now I’m sir.”
Pierce opened his mouth. Marcus stopped him.
“When you thought I was nobody important, knocking food out of my hand felt reasonable.”
“When you learned I chair the board that reviews officer misconduct, suddenly you’re trying to explain.”
Pierce shook his head. “That isn’t what happened.”
“Then tell me what changed.”
No answer came.
Rebecca stepped closer. “Do not apologize yet.”
Pierce looked at her.
“You don’t understand what you’re apologizing for.”
“I was acting on a citizen complaint.”
Rebecca nodded. “A complaint is information.”
She paused. “It is not a verdict.”
“The caller said he didn’t belong here.”
“He told you he owned the house.”
“She described aggressive behavior.”
Rebecca gestured toward Marcus. “What aggressive behavior did you personally observe?”
Pierce stared at him. “He challenged instructions.”
“That is speech.”
“He’s physically intimidating.”