“See? This is what I mean. You’re threatening me.”
“No.”
Malcolm put the pen away.
“I’m telling you what I’m going to do.”
The distinction hung between them.
Malcolm turned.
He had taken four steps when Prescott said:
“Doctor.”
Malcolm stopped.
He did not turn immediately.
Then he looked back.
Prescott opened his mouth.
For one second, Malcolm thought he might apologize.
Instead he said:
“You made this harder than it needed to be.”
Malcolm looked at him for several seconds.
“No, Officer.”
His voice was quiet.
“I made you explain it.”
Then he walked away.
The entire encounter lasted eight minutes and fourteen seconds.
Malcolm did not return directly to the hospital.
He walked three hundred yards to a second bench near the eastern entrance, sat down, and wrote everything he remembered before memory had time to reorganize it.
Exact wording where possible.
Approximate times.
Prescott’s physical position.
The radio exchange.
The moment the officer described the encounter as self-initiated.
The verification through Psychological Services.
The final statement.
You made this harder than it needed to be.
Malcolm knew memory was not a video recorder.
Even trained professionals unconsciously reconstructed events.
So he wrote while the sensory details were still fresh.
The wind.
The red body-camera indicator.
The untouched sandwich.
The old man with the spaniel.
The woman with the gray stroller.
At 12:39 p.m., he called Internal Affairs.
“This is Dr. Malcolm Pierce.”
The intake investigator recognized the name.
“Doctor?”
“I need to file a citizen complaint regarding Officer Nolan Prescott, badge 5439, Twelfth Precinct.”
A pause.
“You’re filing as a department contractor?”
“No.”
Malcolm’s answer was immediate.
“I’m filing as the civilian he stopped.”
That distinction became important.
The investigator began recording.
Malcolm gave the date.
Time.
Location.
Badge number.
The words used.
The dispatch verification.
Then he added:
“I have a contractual relationship with Psychological Services. Because I am the complainant, I should be excluded from any clinical fitness evaluation involving Officer Prescott that arises from this incident.”
The investigator stopped typing for a second.
“You’re formally recusing yourself?”
“Yes.”
“Understood.”
“I can provide factual observations, but I should not issue a fitness opinion.”
“That makes sense.”
Malcolm leaned back against the bench.
“One more thing.”
“Yes?”
“Please preserve his body-camera footage immediately.”
“I’ll send the hold.”
“And the dispatch audio.”
“Understood.”
“And CAD records showing whether there was a suspicious-person call associated with Riverside Park.”
The investigator paused.
“You know the process.”
“I work around it.”
By 1:05 p.m., preservation notices had been issued.
Malcolm returned to the hospital.
His afternoon schedule included three appointments.
The first was a veteran patrol sergeant seeking clearance to return after a fatal traffic collision.
The second was a recruit undergoing a pre-employment evaluation.