An Anonymous Tip; Closed Narrative
“Hey, Donnelly, get a hold of this.” A middle aged white man with a once athletic but now sagging build turned in his swivel chair to face his partner as he hung up the phone. Donnelly, a prematurely bald Navy retiree, looked up from the stack of paperwork on his desk.
“You know the Sutherland Park attack earlier tonight, with the blonde girl? Just got a call from some schmuck saying he witnessed the altercation while he was walking his dog. Older fellow, little bit of a Mexican accent. But get this, he says he seen two blonde women fighting, and that the older woman’s the one who knocked the other girl out.”
Donnelly perked up a bit as he reached for his coffee cup. “Didn’t the report say a blonde woman called in the ambulance for the victim? You thinking it’s the same female, or what?”
“Some kinda domestic dispute maybe. They could be in a relationship of some sort,” he added with raised eyebrows. “They get into it, she gets mad and almost kills the victim. Feels bad about it and calls 911. Definitely plausible.”
“Well why wouldn’t the girl say anything then? I mean, she just got beat down and you think she’s not going to say anything about it to all those white coats asking questions?”
“Classic marker of an abusive relationship old boy. Victim is abused but still protects her partner because she thinks they’ll change, or that they deserve the abuse.” He shuffled around some papers until he found the report from the incident. “Says they left together, what do you make of that?” Donnelly shrugged as he reached out for the papers.
“Well, call up the victim, see what’s good. Use some finesse though for fuck’s sake Thompson, we can’t make an arrest until we have some evidence. Your witness leave a name, contact info? He might be our only lead.”
“Nah, he was real shaken up. Had a guilty conscience about not stepping in. He wants to remain anonymous. We can’t force him to give up the information.” Donnelly nodded, knowing this was true. “Well, I’ll contact the victim, you want to try and track down this...Kate Lockley?”
“You know the Sutherland Park attack earlier tonight, with the blonde girl? Just got a call from some schmuck saying he witnessed the altercation while he was walking his dog. Older fellow, little bit of a Mexican accent. But get this, he says he seen two blonde women fighting, and that the older woman’s the one who knocked the other girl out.”
Donnelly perked up a bit as he reached for his coffee cup. “Didn’t the report say a blonde woman called in the ambulance for the victim? You thinking it’s the same female, or what?”
“Some kinda domestic dispute maybe. They could be in a relationship of some sort,” he added with raised eyebrows. “They get into it, she gets mad and almost kills the victim. Feels bad about it and calls 911. Definitely plausible.”
“Well why wouldn’t the girl say anything then? I mean, she just got beat down and you think she’s not going to say anything about it to all those white coats asking questions?”
“Classic marker of an abusive relationship old boy. Victim is abused but still protects her partner because she thinks they’ll change, or that they deserve the abuse.” He shuffled around some papers until he found the report from the incident. “Says they left together, what do you make of that?” Donnelly shrugged as he reached out for the papers.
“Well, call up the victim, see what’s good. Use some finesse though for fuck’s sake Thompson, we can’t make an arrest until we have some evidence. Your witness leave a name, contact info? He might be our only lead.”
“Nah, he was real shaken up. Had a guilty conscience about not stepping in. He wants to remain anonymous. We can’t force him to give up the information.” Donnelly nodded, knowing this was true. “Well, I’ll contact the victim, you want to try and track down this...Kate Lockley?”