In Blue...one of a million stories in the naked city.

It was an especially gruesome scene. The victim or more appropriately what was left of the victim was now covered in a sheet awaiting a positive identification, if that was even possible after having been shoved through a wood chipper.

I tried not to look in that direction, but focused instead on the marked patrol unit that was bringing the victim family to the scene of the find. As they exited the car, they had the same distraught look that they had when we took the initial report a day earlier. Now, their emotions were careening from terror and fear to calm repose that maybe now they would find some closure.

I was surprised that they had brought the children, as this scene would no doubt be indelibly etched in their psyche forever. But it wasn’t our call, and the parents seemed to think that the kid’s input might be helpful.

We had the scene taped off with yellow “crime scene” tape. As I lifted the tape for them to enter the area, I thought about the night before…

“Radio…please repeat your traffic.” The dispatcher calmly replied; “5555, see the man at 8200 Appleton regarding items missing from his home.” This did not sound like a “lights and siren” call, so we made our way quickly but without urgency to the address. We rolled into the driveway and immediately the family came to us as if we could somehow assuage their fear and anxiety. I thought; “This is what being a cop is all about…we are the blue knights.”

The kids looked as if they had not only seen a ghost, but were now possessed by it. They paced nervously around their front yard. The mother appeared to be in tears and the father was definitely rattled as he answered our question; “What seems to be the problem here?” He buried his hands in his face as he responded… “My wife came home about a half an hour ago, and noticed…something was wrong…something was terribly wrong…” It had been right here…right here in our yard for about three years, and now…gone, just like yesterday’s dinner…look right here officer, you can see where it was dragged off through the dirt…Who would do something like this?... What is the likelihood that you can find these bastards?”

My partner and I looked around the scene, we looked at each other, we absorbed the scene unfolding around us…it was much worse than the radio call indicated. There was no doubt, these people had been victimized by the theft of something precious…I was grateful that both my partner and I had enough experience to control our own emotional responses… We did our best to turn away from the family so as not to give away our own reaction to what was happening.

My partner actually thought quickly and said he was going down the street to the closest neighbor to inquire as to whether or not they had seen anything. Not able to tolerate the raw emotion of the moment, I suggested that the family remain by our car, while I joined my partner in the neighborhood canvass.

The neighbors were less than helpful… this was not going to end well.

The terrorized shrieks of the family brought me back to the moment at hand. We were right, it was not ending well. This incident would scar this family for generations…

Now here we are…24 hours later after some routine patrol we stumble on the gruesome remains of the family’s loss. What had been a vital living being now lay in a pile of shredded remains under a sheet, on the edge of a sub-division building site.

Our sergeant radioed for an update on the identification and it appeared we had a positive ID. Now, it was up to the detectives to put the case together…

OK… so it didn’t’ really happen like that…

“5555 see the man at 8200 Appleton Road regarding the theft of a log.” “Radio, could you repeat that?” “5555, complainant at 8200 Appleton reports a 15 foot log has been removed from his property and would like a report.” “10-4 radio, we’re on our way.”

We arrived in the driveway and the scene looked pretty much as I described it earlier…

The kids looked as if they had not only seen a ghost, but were now possessed by it. They paced nervously around their front yard. The mother appeared to be in tears and the father was definitely rattled as he answered our question; “What seems to be the problem here?” He buried his hands in his face as he responded… “My wife came home about a half an hour ago, and noticed…something was wrong…something was terribly wrong…” It had been right here…right here in our yard for about three years, and now…gone, just like yesterday’s dinner…look right here officer, you can see where it was dragged off through the dirt…Who would do something like this…what is the likelihood that you can find these bastards?”

My partner asked; “What were you planning to do with the log?” “We were going to use it for landscaping…but now…?”

We advised them that taking a report for a log was highly unusual and in fact not even practical as logs are generally not registered or have serial numbers.

I was really thinking that we were on “ Candid Camera” when Jared suggested that we could talk to the neighbors. We had to do something to get away from these people. Both of us were working really hard not to burst into laughter. These people were behaving as if one of their kids had been taken.

We did talk to the neighbors. They laughed. We laughed. We cleared the call by advising the family to mark their remaining log with a sign: “Do not take”. Then we advised Dispatch to “log the log, on the log”. We thought it was funny.

I then went off on the fantasy you read above.

“There are a million stories in the city.”

Epilogue;

About two hours after the stolen log caper, we discovered several young men working late in a machine shop. At this time of night, no one is usually in this place so we thought it was worth checking out.

After questioning one of the men outside of the building and satisfied that they were legitimate, Jared, asked me…”What were they doing in there?” I replied; “not sure, looked like they had a big piece of wood they were cutting up.”

I love this job.