observation.
To Paul and the chief, the video was great news. It was perfect, iron clad evidence for a future jury. Fred knew their mantra before either of them spoke. To a jury, visual aids are infinitely more effective than verbal arguments. To these two men, Slivers was already guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and the investigation was, for all practical purposes, over.
“Pass the video tape and the written eyewitness accounts on to the DA, and let the legal system take over,” the chief ordered. “Meanwhile, let’s quickly arrange for a meeting with the press. They’re practically tearing down my office door.”
Paul and the chief shook hands and were giddily slapping each other on the back as they exited the conference room. It seems more like a college football game victory than a bloody murder case, Fred thought.
Jim and Fred remained stoically fixed in their chairs without uttering any comment. It was apparent that they both found something inconsistent in the video which had not been noticed by either Paul or the chief.
Jim looked at Fred. “Something does not compute!”
Fred nodded and said, “I agree. I’m not really sure what it is but something bothers me. Something is missing or inconsistent in Slivers’ actions. Something was not happening that should have been; but I can’t identify for the life of me what I am missing. I want to view that video again, perhaps more than once.” His secretary, Jan, had been assigned the job of controlling the video projection. Fred asked if it could be stopped at various points to freeze the frames.
Jan said, “That’s not easily accomplished in its present form but I can have it made into a DVD which will do the job much more efficiently. Perhaps in the process we can also enhance the frames to provide better clarity.”
Paul nodded approvingly and said, “Okay, but make sure we don’t lose the video tape. We have to keep the original copy; any defense lawyer would have a field day if we substituted a DVD copy for the original bank video and severed part of our evidence chain.”
Jan said, “I understand. I’ll take good care of the video and will get the DVD for you by tomorrow.”
Fred returned to his desk, propped his feet up, and looked into the distance at nothing in particular, unsure of his next step. He looked up, as if seeking divine intervention and guidance. Nothing! It was now evening, and dark clouds were starting to shut down the day’s residual sunshine.
He ruminated over what had happened over the last few hours. He recognized that in the case of numerous murders, the victim’s body often is not found for several months if at all. Frequently a suspect cannot be identified and no weapon is found at or near the crime scene. Precious investigative time is often lost. This all contributes to make crime solving lengthy and difficult. In this case however, Fred thought, I have a suspect, a weapon, and an inconvertible record of the suspect committing the crime, all of which should make me feel positive about obtaining a quick indictment.
But Fred felt no sense of victory. The very nature of the two murder sprees were, on the surface, unique. However, Fred felt that somehow there were enough parallels to indicate a common link. But, for the life of him, he could not imagine what it was. He just could not accept the motive of a bank robbery in the first instance; but at the same time he could not find an alternative reason that made sense to him. He knew if he expounded on this theme to the chief, he would get a “who cares” response followed by the banal assertion that motives were solely for the district attorney to sort out, and Fred’s time should be spent on more relevant duties. “Our job,” the chief would say, “is simply to find the killers.” Fred could easily envision Paul seated somewhere in the background nodding his all encompassing agreement with the chief.
Almost as an afterthought
To Paul and the chief, the video was great news. It was perfect, iron clad evidence for a future jury. Fred knew their mantra before either of them spoke. To a jury, visual aids are infinitely more effective than verbal arguments. To these two men, Slivers was already guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and the investigation was, for all practical purposes, over.
“Pass the video tape and the written eyewitness accounts on to the DA, and let the legal system take over,” the chief ordered. “Meanwhile, let’s quickly arrange for a meeting with the press. They’re practically tearing down my office door.”
Paul and the chief shook hands and were giddily slapping each other on the back as they exited the conference room. It seems more like a college football game victory than a bloody murder case, Fred thought.
Jim and Fred remained stoically fixed in their chairs without uttering any comment. It was apparent that they both found something inconsistent in the video which had not been noticed by either Paul or the chief.
Jim looked at Fred. “Something does not compute!”
Fred nodded and said, “I agree. I’m not really sure what it is but something bothers me. Something is missing or inconsistent in Slivers’ actions. Something was not happening that should have been; but I can’t identify for the life of me what I am missing. I want to view that video again, perhaps more than once.” His secretary, Jan, had been assigned the job of controlling the video projection. Fred asked if it could be stopped at various points to freeze the frames.
Jan said, “That’s not easily accomplished in its present form but I can have it made into a DVD which will do the job much more efficiently. Perhaps in the process we can also enhance the frames to provide better clarity.”
Paul nodded approvingly and said, “Okay, but make sure we don’t lose the video tape. We have to keep the original copy; any defense lawyer would have a field day if we substituted a DVD copy for the original bank video and severed part of our evidence chain.”
Jan said, “I understand. I’ll take good care of the video and will get the DVD for you by tomorrow.”
Fred returned to his desk, propped his feet up, and looked into the distance at nothing in particular, unsure of his next step. He looked up, as if seeking divine intervention and guidance. Nothing! It was now evening, and dark clouds were starting to shut down the day’s residual sunshine.
He ruminated over what had happened over the last few hours. He recognized that in the case of numerous murders, the victim’s body often is not found for several months if at all. Frequently a suspect cannot be identified and no weapon is found at or near the crime scene. Precious investigative time is often lost. This all contributes to make crime solving lengthy and difficult. In this case however, Fred thought, I have a suspect, a weapon, and an inconvertible record of the suspect committing the crime, all of which should make me feel positive about obtaining a quick indictment.
But Fred felt no sense of victory. The very nature of the two murder sprees were, on the surface, unique. However, Fred felt that somehow there were enough parallels to indicate a common link. But, for the life of him, he could not imagine what it was. He just could not accept the motive of a bank robbery in the first instance; but at the same time he could not find an alternative reason that made sense to him. He knew if he expounded on this theme to the chief, he would get a “who cares” response followed by the banal assertion that motives were solely for the district attorney to sort out, and Fred’s time should be spent on more relevant duties. “Our job,” the chief would say, “is simply to find the killers.” Fred could easily envision Paul seated somewhere in the background nodding his all encompassing agreement with the chief.
Almost as an afterthought
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