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Earl laughed. “Those aren’t open for public inspection. I don’t suppose you have a court order, do you?”
He was right, except he’d forgotten there was an exception to that. “The arrested parties are allowed free access to their reports.”
“And you mean you?”
I nodded. “Yep.”
“And which of your many would that be?” Earl asked.
Despite his attempt to rile me, I kept my hands in my pockets. “When I was accused of driving old man Thornbury’s tractor into the lake.”
“Okay.” Earl shrugged and picked up the coffee pot to fill a mug.
Devlin’s face contorted. “I already showed you that one.”
“Only the first page, Dickie.”
Devlin stiffened. “That should be enough,” he shot back. His defensiveness said it all—there was more to the story.
“I want the whole fucking thing.”
Devlin moved back to his chair and sat. “It’s in the batch that got moved offsite.”
“Aw, shit, Dev,” Earl said. “Those didn’t go yet. Check in the brown cabinet.” He pointed to the side.
Devlin sighed, rose, and pulled keys from his belt. It took a minute, but eventually he handed me the yellowed pieces of paper. “This doesn’t leave the station.”
I nodded. “Fine. I’ll take a copy.”
“Come back tomorrow. The copier’s not working,” Devlin said.
“Give ’em to me,” Earl demanded. “You gotta learn how to reset that thing.”
As soon as I had my copy of the report, I left, leaving Devlin’s snarl behind.
I started reading as soon as I settled into the seat of my truck. It began totally differently than the copy Devlin had shown me before.
Mr. Reginald Lerner, a citizen of Peterville, visited this station to report that he and his daughter, Angela Lerner, had witnessed the driving of a tractor into the lake at or near Sunset Road by one Boone Benson, a resident of Clear Lake at five PM the prior afternoon.
I had to stop and choke down the urge to puke all over myself upon reading it. That accusation had ruined my life.
An investigation of the lakeshore in that vicinity did yield tire marks consistent with a tractor. After summoning a local tow operator, a tractor was recovered from the lake and identified by this officer as likely belonging to Wilbur Thornbury, a citizen of Clear Lake. Mr. Thornbury was summoned and identified the tractor as his. He stated that it had been stolen the prior evening by parties unknown. Juvenile suspect Boone Benson was arrested and brought in for questioning.
Breathe, I told myself as I shut my eyes and remembered the inside of the cell old Earl Pollock had placed me in. The pain of that day returned.
How could Angela have hated me enough to lie like that?
Ten seconds later, I picked up the paper and resumed reading on the second page. I needed to know all the words so I could shove them in Angela’s face and confront her with the ugliness of her actions.
Established facts: The tractor had been stolen, a violation of Virginia code 18.2-95, and had been deposited in the lake, a violation of town code 144.
The following day this officer interviewed the minor witness, Angela Lerner, who at first only replied that she was with her father when he said she was. Upon further questioning, the witness was unable to establish either the time or the location of the alleged tractor sighting. When confronted about her whereabouts for the time in question, she admitted that she was with a friend in Peterville and not with her father.
What the fuck?
I rubbed my eyes and re-read that sentence. Angela hadn’t accused me of being involved with that stupid tractor incident after all. My heart raced. It didn’t make any sense. I’d been locked in that stinking cell instead of being on the field with my team without even being accused of a crime. The only evidence had been what Angela’s father passed on to the cops.
This officer then re-interviewed the witness’s father, Reginald Lerner, who insisted that he had relayed his conversation with his daughter truthfully. The father then suggested that his daughter was romantically involved with Boone Benson and was lying to protect her boyfriend.
