The tag belongs to a security staffing agency. They pulled the employee record it's assigned to and property crimes ran that employee's photo against the original hallway footage that got his attention. The image Reed set down was grainy but usable. A woman's face caught at an angle badge photo pulled from an employee file at the same agency that staffed loading dock security for three buildings on that block including Hian Systems. Her name's Renee Castillo.
Reed said, "Same build, similar hair. She worked a shift that ended 20 minutes before the theft was flagged." Mercer studied the photo for a long moment. "That's not," He stopped. "Not what?
She doesn't look exactly like Dana Carter. Close enough that a machine reading 4 seconds of hallway footage flagged them both as similar candidates." Reed said, "That's what the system was built to measure. How alike two strangers can look on bad footage, not who they are." Mercer set the photo down slowly.
This doesn't clear anything yet. It's an access tag assigned to her. We don't know when she handled it or how it ended up in that drain. It's more than we ever had on Dana Carter. You're already treating this like it's solved.
I'm treating it like it's stronger than what you've got, which is a rewritten report. And a woman who's been sitting for 2 days on a similarity score you already knew was weak. You have physical evidence pointing towards someone else. Mercer's jaw tightened. The investigation isn't finished until I close it, then close it accurately.
What should have ended it there didn't. Mercer reopened his own submitted report instead of Reed's file. He added a line at the bottom, typing slower than usual, as if some part of him already knew how it would read to someone else. "New lead identified. Does not eliminate original candidate as person of interest.
Pending full print analysis." Reed read it over his shoulder. "You're keeping her in the file." "I'm being thorough." The print doesn't point to her.
What exactly are you still waiting to confirm? "Procedure says we verify chain of custody before we release anyone from—" "She was never charged, Cole." There's nothing to release her from except your own report. Mercer stood and walked to the window. The photo of Renee Castillo still on the desk between them.
When he spoke again, his voice was quieter, but no less certain. "If I close this out today and say I had the wrong person from the start, that goes in my file, not hers. Mine." "It should," Reed said. "That's the part you keep trying to avoid."
"You don't know what that costs." "I know what it's already costing her." Reed didn't wait for a response. He picked up his notepad, added a line beneath the others. New lead identified via physical evidence.
Original candidate's file remains open without cause and dated it. Then he did something he hadn't done with the earlier note. He photocopied the page and walked it down the hall, placing it directly in the intake tray for the department's internal review office. Mercer saw him do it through the glass. He didn't say a word.