Under Suspicion

Public Service

“Public Service”

Scene:  Late the following morning, in the detectives’ room at the station.  Officers Wry and Earnest sit with detectives Miller and Washington, looking at items taken from the rooms of Earl Reynolds.

Miller:  Well, here it is, gentlemen.  What do you think?

Earnest:  I admit, his apartment wasn’t what I expected.  Just a sorry little two-room job that used to be a garage or storage shed or something.

Washington:  You gotta remember, the guy’s out on parole and he’s working for minimum wage.  He was probably lucky to find even thatplace to rent.  Even if it is a pretty good distance from the house.

Wry:  (Gestures to items on a table.)  So we’ve got duct tape, rope, handcuffs, and, creepily enough, a pile of teen-girl magazines in the bedroom and teeny-bopper posters on the wall.  And did you notice all the heavy carpets and drapes and wall coverings?  Perfect for sound-proofing.  Personally, I’m convinced he’s gonna do it, but all this stuff is circumstantial.  Is it enough to nail him?

Miller:  Good question.  As you say, by itself, nothing we found today is all that incriminating, but the tail we put on Reynolds the other day says he’s been staking out a particular house for the past couple of days—the house of a twelve-year-old girl.  Looks like he’s about ready to make his move.

Earnest:  Unless he does it today, it’s game over.  As soon as he gets back to his place he’ll know we’ve been there and he’s being watched, and he’ll lay low and ditch whatever plan he has.

Miller:  True, we’d be back at square one.

Wry:  So we keep him from going home.

Miller:  What do you suggest?

Wry:  (Shrugs.)  Put a couple of black-and-whites in the area—not too close to his place, but maybe just in the neighborhood somewhere.  Have a couple of uniforms conspicuous on the street—they can knock on a few doors with some public-service information or something—it doesn’t really matter as long as they’re visible.

Washington:  What do you think that’ll do?

Wry:  Maybe nothing, but Reynolds may not want to chance coming face-to-face with a cop, so he just might stay away.  If he does, where would he go except maybe—

Miller:  To the girl’s house, the one he’s been staking out.

Wry:  Right.  Your guy tailing him can update us on where he goes, but my money is on him going back to watch the house.  And if he goes near it, we can at least get him on trespassing charges.  That’d be enough to send him back up, wouldn’t it?

Miller:  Yes, it would.  In fact, the conditions of his parole are pretty strict, especially where young girls are concerned. It’s even possible we could nail him from what we’ve got here—what we took from his place—as it can be interpreted as intent on his part to associate with a young girl or girls, but I wouldn’t want to bet on that unless I absolutely had to.  (Silent for a few seconds, then continues.)  I like your plan, Wry.  I think it can work.  By having an officer presence there, we can hopefully keep him from his home, so he won’t see the warrant and know we’re onto him.

Washington:  And it’s a reasonable deduction that he’ll go to the girl’s home, if only to wait for the uniforms to clear out of his neighborhood.  Hell, for all we know, he might even try to make the grab tonight.

Earnest:  How long would we wait and watch?

Miller:  (Shrugs.)  Until he either crosses the line, at which point we can take him, or... until he heads for home, in which case we’ve likely lost him.  For now, at least.

Wry:  (Gets to his feet.)  So when do we start?

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                                                                    To be continued....