William Bernhardt - Capitol Offense

My meditation may save my sanity, but what will save my soul?

Physician, heal thyself. I must find a way to triumph. I will find a way to make this matter. I will remain on my path. I may not have planned this, may never have seen it coming. But I am stronger than the rippling tide of human happenstance. I can still make my life count for something. I can outwit the stars.

Dennis Thomas took the proffered chair beside Detective Sentz’s desk. Could it possibly be? Had he finally found someone who would listen?

“I understand you’ve filed a report.”

“Yes. A missing person.”

Sentz pressed his lips together. “Who is it?”

“My wife. Joslyn Thomas.”

“Why do you think she’s missing?”

Dennis looked at him, desperation etched in every line of his face. “She hasn’t come home for three days.”

“Anything else?”

“Isn’t that enough?”

“Well, frankly, no.”

Dennis gripped the armrests tightly, trying to contain himself. He’d been fighting this bureaucracy for days. Three days now he’d come to the Tulsa Uniform Division East station and the Skiatook police station. Three days he’d tried to motivate the police to take action. Without success. The only person doing anything was him. He had talked to all of Joslyn’s friends, all her co-workers. No one knew anything. He’d searched the hospitals, called her relatives, driven back and forth over the roads she normally traveled, all without success. He had done everything he knew how to do and he still hadn’t found her. Couldn’t the police help? Wasn’t that why the police existed? So far, he had not been successful at getting anyone to do anything. He’d filed a report the first day-a COS (Check Own Satisfaction) call issued-and he was told it was forwarded to a police detective who would decide what action, if any, would be taken. He’d come to the downtown Detective Division to see why nothing was happening.

“My wife wouldn’t disappear for no reason. Certainly not without telling me.”

“How do you know?”

“I’ve been married to her for seven years!”

Sentz made a grunting noise. “Seven-year itch.”

“You don’t know her.”

“No, friend, I don’t know her, but I have been at this desk for eighteen years. Two years and I can take early retirement. I’ve seen many guys like you walk through the door complaining that their wives have disappeared. It’s always the same. Girl decides she’s had enough, has to get out, doesn’t have the guts to tell you face to face.”

“That’s not what happened.”

“You’ll probably get a call in a couple weeks, once she’s safely settled into what she’s running to. Parents, boyfriend, whatever.”

“That’s a lie!”

“Hey, don’t kill the messenger, pal. I’m just telling you what I’ve seen. Over and over again.”

“That man at the front desk-Sergeant Torres-he said you’d help me.”

“I am helping you. You just can’t see it yet.”

Dennis felt his jaw tightening, felt the sinking feeling that told him this was just another false hope dashed, that there would be no more action now than there had been before. “I demand that you do something! I’ve reported a crime.”

“But that’s just it, buddy-you haven’t. All you’ve reported is that your wife hasn’t come home. And not coming home is not a crime.”

“What about kidnapping? Is kidnapping a crime?”

“Do you have any evidence that she was kidnapped?”

“She’s disappeared.”

“I’ll take that as a no.”

Dennis reached across the desk. “Please. There must be something you can do. They told me in Skiatook you could initiate an investigation once she’s been gone twenty-four hours.”

“Only if special circumstances are present.” Sentz cleared his throat. “There aren’t any here.”

“How many days must she be gone before you take action?”

“It’s not a matter of days. It’s the absence of a crime. She could be gone a year and there still wouldn’t be any evidence of a crime.”

“She’s disappeared!”

“Do you have any evidence of foul play?”

“She wouldn’t not come home without a reason.”

“But you don’t know what that reason is.”

“Something must’ve happened to her.”

“Does she have any special vulnerability?”

“Like what?”

“Well, I gather she’s not a minor.”

“She’s thirty-two.”

“Or elderly. Does she have a mental condition? Dementia?”

“Of course not. She’s a doctor!”

“Like that proves anything. Is she off her meds?”

“The only thing she takes is omega-three.”

“Suicidal?”

“No.”

“History of drug abuse? Alcohol?”

“No.”

“Depression?”

“No! I mean-she works in a cancer ward treating women with inoperable diseases. It’s not exactly a good time. But she isn’t mentally ill!”

“Then I can’t-”

Dennis rose to his feet. “Are you telling me that since she’s a normal healthy adult you’re not going to do anything?”

Sentz shrugged. “If you want to put it that way.”

“Listen. I know my wife. I know what she would do and would not do. Something has happened to her. Something bad.”

“I know you’re worried. But if we went running after everyone who doesn’t come home on time, that’s all we’d ever do. It’s a manpower issue. We have to prioritize serious crimes. We can’t look for everyone.”

“I’m not asking you to look for everyone. I’m asking you to look for my wife.”

“Look, go home, try to get some rest. Chances are she’ll turn up or at least call in a few days-”

Dennis lurched forward and grabbed his arm. “My wife has not run off with another man. She’s in trouble! And if you don’t-”

“Whoa, whoa, let’s all calm down now.” The man Dennis recognized from the front desk, Sergeant Torres, stepped between them, breaking Dennis’s grip. “No need to let things get out of control.”

Sentz scowled. “Why did you send this man to me? You know there’s nothing I can do.”

“Oh, there’s always something we can do,” Torres said, smiling. “Maybe just give him some good advice.”

“I did. I told him to go home and wait.”

Dennis’s face was flushed and covered with perspiration. “My wife is… is… maybe hurt, trapped, kidnapped.”

Torres cleared his throat. “Well… actually, I don’t think that’s true.”

“How would you know?”

“She’s disappeared before, hasn’t she?”

Dennis fell silent.

“Pulled it up on the computer. She was reported missing. Police searched. But it turned out she had just gotten in her car and started driving. Called in a week later.”

“That was a long time ago,” Dennis insisted. “Before we were married. She was just a kid. She got depressed after some jerk broke up with her and didn’t know how to deal with it. Her mother got worried so she called the police.”

“Uh-huh.”

“This is totally different. She’s matured. She’s married. She’s a doctor! She has patients, responsibilities.”

Torres shuffled a sheet of paper in his hands. “I’m really not supposed to do this, but after we talked, I had someone in the computer room run a search on your wife’s credit cards.” He handed Dennis a piece of paper. “As you can see, a day after you say she disappeared, she bought gasoline at a place outside Skiatook.”

Dennis scanned the paper. “That’s impossible.”

“No, that’s a fact.”

Sentz made a grumbling noise. “Guess her boyfriend lives near home.”

Dennis launched himself toward the officer, but Torres held him back. “Please! Stay calm! This will not help your wife.”