what’d you say your name was again?”
“Samantha Kincaid. Call me Samantha.”
“Well, you obviously don’t know my daughter. She don’t want help from no one. Always been that way, too. It’s like she decided when she turned ten or something that she was grown.”
“Did Detective Calabrese explain what Kendra’s lifestyle has been while she was on the street?”
“I wouldn’t call it much of a lifestyle. But, yeah. That guy and his partner a blond guy, real young came by the Safeway on Sunday to break the news to me. They told me Saturday night she was assaulted. Guess they wanted to say the other stuff in person.”
They probably wanted to watch her response. Kids who run away are often the victims of abuse by their parents. If anything would set a parent off, it would be learning that their kid has been shooting up and turning tricks. They wanted to make sure she didn’t seem the type to take her anger out on Kendra physically.
“How has Kendra been doing since she’s been home?”
“Alright, I guess. Like I said, she don’t really talk to me.”
“Well, I was calling mainly to introduce myself and to let you know I’m handling the case. The police have arrested one of the suspects. His name is Frank Derringer. He’s in jail for now, but we have to take the case to a grand jury within a week, and Kendra’s going to need to testify for that. I’ve got it scheduled for Friday. Assuming the grand jury indicts Derringer, the court will schedule the case for trial. Most cases don’t actually go to trial, but if this one does, it will probably be in a couple of months and Kendra will need to testify. Do you have any questions for me?”
“Do you know when the cops are going to give Kendra her stuff back? Her keys were in her purse, and I don’t know whether to get a new set cut.”
“I’m not really sure, Ms. Martin. It can take the crime lab a few weeks sometimes to finish working on evidence. Depending on what they find, we may need to keep the evidence sealed for trial. I can find out about her keys for you, if you’d like.”
“Whatever. I can get a new set cut at the store tomorrow. Am I going to have to come to any of these things? I can’t afford to take time off work.”
“You’re certainly welcome to come with Kendra as support, but I don’t think you’ll need to testify until the trial. I’ll make sure Kendra has transportation to the courthouse when she needs to come down here.”
“Alright, then. I better be going. You need anything else?”
“Would it be OK if I dropped by your home tonight to meet Kendra?” I asked.
“You’ll have to talk to her about that. You want me to get her?”
“No, that’s OK, I’ll try talking to her later.” If Mom didn’t care, I’d rather just drop in on Kendra unannounced. Wouldn’t want her running off anywhere. “Feel free to call me if you have any questions. Let me give you my direct line.”
“Um, I can’t find a pen right now. If I need anything, I can look it up, right?”
I told her that she could, even though I knew she wouldn’t.
I devoted the rest of my day to the routine drudgeries of the drug section of the Drug and Vice Division. The DA assigned me to DVD because I used to prosecute drug cases when I was in New York. I accepted the assignment because I wanted to keep working as a prosecutor when Roger and I moved, and the Portland U.S. Attorney’s Office wasn’t hiring. In most people’s eyes it was a step down: I went from handling cases involving nationwide distribution conspiracies and literally tons of dope to prosecuting sad-sack hustlers for dealing eight-balls of methamphetamine and as little as a single rock of crack cocaine.
But while I may have lost the prestige of a federal prosecutor’s office, I had developed a niche as part of the vice section of DVD, prosecuting the monsters who lure, coerce, and force women into prostitution. The less-experienced DVD attorneys shied away from those
“Samantha Kincaid. Call me Samantha.”
“Well, you obviously don’t know my daughter. She don’t want help from no one. Always been that way, too. It’s like she decided when she turned ten or something that she was grown.”
“Did Detective Calabrese explain what Kendra’s lifestyle has been while she was on the street?”
“I wouldn’t call it much of a lifestyle. But, yeah. That guy and his partner a blond guy, real young came by the Safeway on Sunday to break the news to me. They told me Saturday night she was assaulted. Guess they wanted to say the other stuff in person.”
They probably wanted to watch her response. Kids who run away are often the victims of abuse by their parents. If anything would set a parent off, it would be learning that their kid has been shooting up and turning tricks. They wanted to make sure she didn’t seem the type to take her anger out on Kendra physically.
“How has Kendra been doing since she’s been home?”
“Alright, I guess. Like I said, she don’t really talk to me.”
“Well, I was calling mainly to introduce myself and to let you know I’m handling the case. The police have arrested one of the suspects. His name is Frank Derringer. He’s in jail for now, but we have to take the case to a grand jury within a week, and Kendra’s going to need to testify for that. I’ve got it scheduled for Friday. Assuming the grand jury indicts Derringer, the court will schedule the case for trial. Most cases don’t actually go to trial, but if this one does, it will probably be in a couple of months and Kendra will need to testify. Do you have any questions for me?”
“Do you know when the cops are going to give Kendra her stuff back? Her keys were in her purse, and I don’t know whether to get a new set cut.”
“I’m not really sure, Ms. Martin. It can take the crime lab a few weeks sometimes to finish working on evidence. Depending on what they find, we may need to keep the evidence sealed for trial. I can find out about her keys for you, if you’d like.”
“Whatever. I can get a new set cut at the store tomorrow. Am I going to have to come to any of these things? I can’t afford to take time off work.”
“You’re certainly welcome to come with Kendra as support, but I don’t think you’ll need to testify until the trial. I’ll make sure Kendra has transportation to the courthouse when she needs to come down here.”
“Alright, then. I better be going. You need anything else?”
“Would it be OK if I dropped by your home tonight to meet Kendra?” I asked.
“You’ll have to talk to her about that. You want me to get her?”
“No, that’s OK, I’ll try talking to her later.” If Mom didn’t care, I’d rather just drop in on Kendra unannounced. Wouldn’t want her running off anywhere. “Feel free to call me if you have any questions. Let me give you my direct line.”
“Um, I can’t find a pen right now. If I need anything, I can look it up, right?”
I told her that she could, even though I knew she wouldn’t.
I devoted the rest of my day to the routine drudgeries of the drug section of the Drug and Vice Division. The DA assigned me to DVD because I used to prosecute drug cases when I was in New York. I accepted the assignment because I wanted to keep working as a prosecutor when Roger and I moved, and the Portland U.S. Attorney’s Office wasn’t hiring. In most people’s eyes it was a step down: I went from handling cases involving nationwide distribution conspiracies and literally tons of dope to prosecuting sad-sack hustlers for dealing eight-balls of methamphetamine and as little as a single rock of crack cocaine.
But while I may have lost the prestige of a federal prosecutor’s office, I had developed a niche as part of the vice section of DVD, prosecuting the monsters who lure, coerce, and force women into prostitution. The less-experienced DVD attorneys shied away from those
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