Content Warning: This section of the guide contains discussion of death by suicide and mass murder, which feature in the source text.

After retirement, Hodges at first struggled to let go of his identity as a police detective, or “Knight of the Badge and Gun” (21). He relearned humility in Mr. Mercedes with the help of Holly Gibney and her cousin Janey. He regained his younger identity as a detective, restoring a sense of honor and justice that had been eclipsed as he became more arrogant about his abilities. That arrogance caused him to make a major mistake in the Mercedes Killer case that resulted in unnecessary deaths. His hubris resulted in a severe depression after his retirement, which lifted only after he recognized his failings.

Having recovered his more noble identity, Hodges underwent a symbolic death (heart attack) and rebirth. Since then, he has been working with Holly doing skip-tracing, finding lost pets, and very occasionally helping solve small cases for ordinary people like his young friend Jerome’s sister.

Hodges has unfinished business in the form of Brady Hartsfield, the killer he caught and who is now confined to a hospital. Somehow, Hodges’s instinct tells him Brady still has some life in him.