William Bernhardt - Capitol Offense

Ben recalled what Loving had told him about his private conversation with Torres. He wondered how much more that man knew than he had told. “So then what happened?”

“Officer Torres took me to Detective Christopher Sentz. He said that Sentz would take care of me. Boy, did he ever.”

Ben could immediately see a change come over Dennis-and he knew the jury would see it, too. He seemed to harden. His neck stiffened. His eyes became cold. Every time he said Sentz’s name he looked as if he had a bad taste in his mouth.

“Detective Sentz was uncooperative, almost from the start. He told me that she had not been gone long enough to be a cause for concern. So I asked him how long she had to be missing. He said there was no set number of hours, it just depended on the circumstances. I asked him to tell me what circumstances were required. He said that since Joslyn was not elderly or a minor or off her medications and had no history of mental illness, he would need some evidence of foul play.”

“What was your reaction?”

“I was stunned. The evidence of foul play was everywhere! The most responsible, reliable woman on earth had failed to come home, failed to call. Obviously something had happened to her. Either she’d had an accident or someone had gotten to her.”

“What was Sentz’s response?”

Dennis shook his head. “I wanted to scream. He said that even if she had an accident, that didn’t constitute foul play. So I guess if she was hurt and bleeding on the side of the road-which she was-that wasn’t a police concern. What do we pay these people for? And then he oh so nonchalantly said that they got these kinds of complaints all the time and that they almost always turned out to be nothing. He implied that she had run off with another man. He thought it was a big joke. A joke! My wife-gone without a trace!”

Ben cut in. “I’m sure that must have been very difficult for you, Dennis. That would have been unbearable for any loving husband.” Dennis was becoming agitated, and although Ben wanted the jury to feel his emotion, he did not want them to see a temper. That was the problem with temporary insanity; the tightrope was just too slender. He had to show that the events could have driven Dennis insane, without giving them the impression that he actually was insane. “Did the detective offer you any other assistance or advice?”

“Sentz ran a check on her credit card, but that turned out to do more harm than good. He found a charge for gasoline the night she disappeared. So he explained that it proved she was not in any danger. But it didn’t. I was the one who made that charge. I used the same credit card account.”

“I guess he made a mistake.”

“I think he knew.” Ben heard a sharp intake of air from the jury box. “I’m sorry, but I do. He had access to the receipt-unlike me, at the time-and it was clearly my name on the receipt. If I hadn’t been so tired and muddled, I would’ve recalled sooner. But I didn’t.”

“Anything else?”

“Sentz also noted that Joslyn had been reported missing once before. Said she had a history of this sort of behavior. He was using that as an excuse to do nothing. Here’s what really happened. More than ten years ago, when she was in college, she was taking a few days off after breaking up with a boyfriend. But her mother wasn’t able to reach her and got worried, so she called the police. As if that was remotely the same!”

“Did you make any further requests?”

“I asked if he could at least issue an APB. Get the other cops looking for her car. He explained that he wasn’t permitted to do that for the same reasons. I pressed him. I insisted that he could do it if he wanted and he did not disagree. For a brief beautiful moment, I actually thought he was going to do it. I could see it in his eyes.”

“And then?” Ben urged.

“It never happened. I saw him look across the room at some guy. I never knew who he was. I haven’t found out since.” Which was true. Both Ben and Loving had been looking, without success.

“And you don’t know who it was?”

“No. I never got a good look at him. No one else seems to know what I’m talking about. Everyone at the police station says this person doesn’t exist, that I must be-” He caught himself, though not so quickly that the jury didn’t know what he was about to say. “Anyway, I’ve never located him.”

Ben didn’t know how much he should encourage this line. It was certainly interesting, but none of the police witnesses had indicated that the decision was made by anyone other than Sentz, and Ben didn’t know that suggesting otherwise got them anywhere.

“And Detective Sentz did not issue the APB?”

“No.”

“Did you ever see him again?”

“Oh, yes. Many times. I continued to search. I did not go to work once that entire week. I continued to call hospitals. I called everyone Joslyn knew, never once turning up anything helpful. And I went to the police station over and over again, every day. Nothing changed. Sentz was just as stubborn as ever. I tried coming at other times and going to other stations, but my report was in the system, so they always referred the matter back to Sentz. But he never changed his mind. And he became increasingly offensive.”

“How so?”

Dennis’s neck straightened. He sat up in his chair. He was visibly suppressing anger. “As the week progressed, it was clear to most people that something had happened to Joslyn. Something bad. So you would think Sentz would consent to open an investigation. But he didn’t. Even after seven days missing, he wouldn’t agree that there was any indication that something was horribly wrong. Instead, he kept suggesting that Joslyn had run off with another man.”

“Really?”

“Yes! To my face he said that. I was tired and desperate, and this man was suggesting that my wife probably disappeared with someone. He made some slimy comment about how a doctor could do better than an English teacher. He looked at her picture and said she could have any man she wanted, then looked at me as if to say, Who wouldn’t leave a schmuck like you?”

Dennis was becoming more agitated by the second, but Ben thought that was okay. These were extreme circumstances. Who wouldn’t be angry, given what happened?

“When did Detective Sentz finally change his mind?”

“Never. Never once did that-” Dennis caught himself in time. Ben wasn’t sure exactly what descriptive term had come next, but he knew it wouldn’t have been pretty. “It was Officer Torres who finally authorized the investigation. And he took all kinds of grief for it afterward, too.”

“Why?”

“Sentz said it was because he acted outside his authority. But I know better. He did not want Joslyn’s disappearance investigated. And Torres did it anyway. They put the poor man on suspension, till the media got wind of the story. Since his action did lead to Joslyn being found, they reinstated him. Although I understand he still has some bad marks on his record.”

“What happened when Torres initiated the investigation?”

“At my suggestion, they traced her cell phone. I knew she’d have it with her. I was afraid it would be dead, but by some miracle, it wasn’t. Maybe she didn’t leave it on all the time, to conserve battery power. I don’t know. But they traced the signal. Turned out she went off the road not far from a signal tower, out in the backwoods of Skiatook. They were able to narrow her location down to about a five-mile radius. Given how few roads there were out there, that didn’t leave many possibilities. They found her in about three hours.” Dennis sat up straight, his back arched, his teeth clenched. “Can you believe that? She had been out there suffering… bleeding… for seven days. And they had the power to find her in three hours.”