Suicide

Richard Flask

WOODS
I went to see Richard Flask in prison.

LINLEY
Really? Couldn't you just have talked with his lawyer?

WOODS
I tried to make an appointment with Kelly Searwood but she decline and told me that she is no longer the lawyer of Richard Flask.

LINLEY
Got Flask himself a new lawyer?

WOODS
No, but after Kelly Searwood defended the pedophile Flask in court she got a lot of death threats.

LINLEY
Well, that's understandable.

WOODS
It is, but Kelly Searwood could have backed out before the trial. Kelly did not decline and paid a heavy price for it. Now she doesn't want to have anything to do with Richard Flask!

LINLEY
What was your objective of meeting Flask?

WOODS
I wanted to know more about Charles Deepriver, the president's son. It was somehow strange, but when I read the police report about the investigation I noticed that the name Charles Deepriver is not mentioned anywhere.

LINLEY
This could mean that he wasn't a suspect!

WOODS
Maybe, but in the police report are not only the suspects and the victims mentioned but as well as all teachers of the junior high school on Saint George with background checks. One name is missing, Charles Deepriver.

LINLEY
Maybe the police intervened and kept the name Deepriver out of the records. They probably knew the damages it would incur to the reputation of the president. That's not an unusual procedure!

WOODS
Well, it is not an unusual procedure, but Deepriver wasn't the president back then. He was just a minor local politician. So, this all is weird.

LINLEY
What about Flask?

WOODS
I wasn't comfortable about meeting this creep! He abused children and recorded it and then distributed it. I thought I would meet a depraved man but the man I met didn't act like a psychopath.

LINLEY
Psychopaths know how to act around people.

WOODS
I think this was the creepiest part of it. He looked like an ordinary teacher to me. Someone you wouldn't expect to be a pedophile. Someone who drugs children makes them complacent, then abuses them in front of the camera and thereafter drugs them again and erases their short-term memory.

LINLEY
How did he act around you?

WOODS
Well, I immediately got the notion that he is an authoritative figure. Flask liked to lead the conversation.

LINLEY
That's how they corner children. They are teachers, they are authorities, and then take advantage of poor souls.
Did this monster feel any remorse?

WOODS
I didn't ask him whether he felt remorse. I feared that it could stall the conversation. I wanted to get Flask to talk about Charles Deepriver. If I had talked about child abuse and whether he feels guilty, he probably would have confronted me with a prepared defense and this would have been the end of the interrogation.
So, I tried to avoid the abuse as best as possible. I started to fake interest in his life. He told me:
- I didn't want to be a teacher, my mother wanted me to be a teacher I wanted something different but I couldn't find my way.

LINLEY
Do you think that people like Flask are capable, to tell the truth? Remember that Flask in one way or another must be aware that pedophilia is considered despicable and repugnant. Therefore pedophiles try to pretend that nothing is wrong with them and their sick inclinations.

WOODS
I think so too, but my goal was to get him talking and then steer the conversation towards Deepriver. Sometimes you have to make a detour to reach your destination.