Believe in Me
By: Olivia
"`Tis not the many oaths that make the truth,/But the plain single vow that is vowed true."-
William Shakespeare--"All's Well That Ends Well"
"The trust I have is in my innocence,/And therefore am I bold and resolute."-William
Shakespeare- "Henry VI Part II"
I'll admit, I had my doubts. Lennie had only been my partner for what, two, three months? And
it seems like this case just brought all my doubts to the forefront.
We knew exactly who had killed that lady on the street for her money. We knew exactly who he
was and yet he kept eluding us.
But that wasn't the only problem. Lennie started taking this case personally. He just seemed to
be making mistake after mistake. I had to run past Lennie, who was out of breath on the steps, in
order to try to catch the perp. But we lost him. Lennie hadn't thought about putting someone on
the roof in case the perp tried to escape that way.
Finally, we did catch up with the punk and arrested him. The interrogation didn't go well with
the kid throwing the case in our faces due to our lack of evidence. The perp taunting Lennie
about his age did not help matters any. The final nail in the coffin was that we had to let him go
after all our work to catch him. We just couldn't hold him on the evidence we had. And Lt. Van
Buren chewing our asses off was just more fuel to the fire. She was getting pressure from above
and that in turn put even more pressure on us.
Lennie and I were already putting pressure on ourselves and that spilled over into our feelings
about one another. We started taking our anger out on each other. Things were said by both of
us which would have been better left unsaid. Too much time spent together on this case that was
going no where fast had made us reach our boiling points.
I don't know Lennie very well personally. He's not the kind of person who talks a lot about
himself. But I think this job means a lot to him and might in fact be his whole world. I don't
know what he would do if he wasn't able to work here anymore. He's certainly never mentioned
retirement to me, although I'm sure he could take it anytime he wanted.
The thought of what he would do without this job was eating him inside. I thought I saw fear
behind his eyes. It was fear that perhaps he had outgrown his usefulness on the force. He was
asking himself if he was still able to do this job effectively. He was worried that he was too old.
And how could I tell him differently when I had thought the same thing after first being assigned
to be his partner. Seniority and experience are important things in homicide investigations but
there are also the physical demands of detaining perps.
It was this fear and worry that I saw turn into a great need to prove himself to us, to prove to the
world, that he was still as good a detective as he ever was, maybe even better. He was
determined to get this guy and close this case no matter what it took.
And so when he told me that the punk had confessed as he was leading him away in handcuffs
for the second time, I was stunned into disbelief. Lennie had been left alone with the perp for
mere seconds and I, across the basketball court while detaining the gang members friends, had
heard nothing. The perp, of course, denied that he had said anything of the sort and that there
must be something wrong with Lennie's hearing. The perp seemed more credible due to our
doubts about Lennie. I could tell even Lt. Van Buren had her doubts, and she has known Lennie
many more years than I have.
We tried gently to get him to admit that perhaps he was mistaken.. He was stubborn and angry
at our disbelief. He stuck to his story that the kid had confessed to him. So there was nothing
that any one could do but to stand behind Lennie even with our doubts. Lt. Van Buren told her
superior about the confession which helped to hold the perp in jail.
But the perp kept proclaiming that he never made a confession. So the judge assigned to the case
decided to hear the motion and see if she would let the confession into the trial. McCoy even
doubted Lennie, but having no hard evidence to prove otherwise, he had no choice but to offer
Lennie's testimony in court. Only Carmichael seemed inclined to believe Lennie without
question, but even though she's know him for about a year longer than I, she hadn't been on this
case with us. She hadn't seen what the case had done to him.
And so Lennie stood by his statement and testified to it in court. Lennie was just digging his
hole deeper and deeper. If the truth ever got out, none of us would be able to help him after
perjuring himself. In the end it did no good and was all for nothing. The judge ruled not to
allow the "so-called" confession in. She admitted not liking to side with a defendant, but even
she had her doubts.
The next day, Van Buren called us into her office. I thought this was it for Lennie. Either
Lennie was going to be reprimanded or I was going to be assigned a new partner. And despite
this case, I felt sorry for Lennie and myself. I felt sorry that Lennie might go out of the force this
way. I felt sorry for myself because, despite this case or maybe because of it, I was sorta getting
use to Lennie and that old spice smell. We were starting to work cases well together and get our
routine down. That was important to partners. I would be sorry to see our partnership end before
it really took off.
But none of those scenarios happened. Van Buren called us in to tell us that our perp had
decided to plea bargain his crime in exchange for evidence leading to a serial rapist. Finally,
there was hard evidence found by the DA's office connecting the murderer to his victim so he
had decided to make a deal. As homicide detectives, Lennie and I were used to our perps getting
off easy due to the dealings in the DA's office, but it never seemed to make it easier for us, or the
victims families, to stomach. That's why we were pleasantly surprised to hear he'd be doing at
least six years in jail. Sometimes the good guys really do win.
But that wasn't all. Van Buren said that McCoy had also told her that the perp had admitted to
making that smug confession to Lennie in order to taunt him. I know McCoy had known Lennie
about as long as Van Buren had. He must have needed to know.
Lennie was vindicated in all our eyes and yet I felt standing there, as I'm sure everyone else felt
too, the shame of not trusting Lennie. We had let our own brother down and believed some low-
life scum bag over him. I had let my feelings about him cloud my judgement. I thought he was
trying to prove himself when he was just being a good, dedicated cop making sure that justice
was done. Our anger at the perp and our frustration in trying to nail him, caused our
communication to break down. But even at our worst, we still managed to catch the guy, and
that said something.
So we stood there, in Van Buren's office silent for a few moments before we started to leave.
Lennie didn't say "I told you so" or anything remotely similar. He probably knew we already
felt bad enough. Sometimes victory is bittersweet. But Lennie stated with conviction, in that
wry sense of humor all his own, that he'd be doing this job from his wheel-chair. And you
know, I don't doubt him.
By: Olivia
"`Tis not the many oaths that make the truth,/But the plain single vow that is vowed true."-
William Shakespeare--"All's Well That Ends Well"
"The trust I have is in my innocence,/And therefore am I bold and resolute."-William
Shakespeare- "Henry VI Part II"
I'll admit, I had my doubts. Lennie had only been my partner for what, two, three months? And
it seems like this case just brought all my doubts to the forefront.
We knew exactly who had killed that lady on the street for her money. We knew exactly who he
was and yet he kept eluding us.
But that wasn't the only problem. Lennie started taking this case personally. He just seemed to
be making mistake after mistake. I had to run past Lennie, who was out of breath on the steps, in
order to try to catch the perp. But we lost him. Lennie hadn't thought about putting someone on
the roof in case the perp tried to escape that way.
Finally, we did catch up with the punk and arrested him. The interrogation didn't go well with
the kid throwing the case in our faces due to our lack of evidence. The perp taunting Lennie
about his age did not help matters any. The final nail in the coffin was that we had to let him go
after all our work to catch him. We just couldn't hold him on the evidence we had. And Lt. Van
Buren chewing our asses off was just more fuel to the fire. She was getting pressure from above
and that in turn put even more pressure on us.
Lennie and I were already putting pressure on ourselves and that spilled over into our feelings
about one another. We started taking our anger out on each other. Things were said by both of
us which would have been better left unsaid. Too much time spent together on this case that was
going no where fast had made us reach our boiling points.
I don't know Lennie very well personally. He's not the kind of person who talks a lot about
himself. But I think this job means a lot to him and might in fact be his whole world. I don't
know what he would do if he wasn't able to work here anymore. He's certainly never mentioned
retirement to me, although I'm sure he could take it anytime he wanted.
The thought of what he would do without this job was eating him inside. I thought I saw fear
behind his eyes. It was fear that perhaps he had outgrown his usefulness on the force. He was
asking himself if he was still able to do this job effectively. He was worried that he was too old.
And how could I tell him differently when I had thought the same thing after first being assigned
to be his partner. Seniority and experience are important things in homicide investigations but
there are also the physical demands of detaining perps.
It was this fear and worry that I saw turn into a great need to prove himself to us, to prove to the
world, that he was still as good a detective as he ever was, maybe even better. He was
determined to get this guy and close this case no matter what it took.
And so when he told me that the punk had confessed as he was leading him away in handcuffs
for the second time, I was stunned into disbelief. Lennie had been left alone with the perp for
mere seconds and I, across the basketball court while detaining the gang members friends, had
heard nothing. The perp, of course, denied that he had said anything of the sort and that there
must be something wrong with Lennie's hearing. The perp seemed more credible due to our
doubts about Lennie. I could tell even Lt. Van Buren had her doubts, and she has known Lennie
many more years than I have.
We tried gently to get him to admit that perhaps he was mistaken.. He was stubborn and angry
at our disbelief. He stuck to his story that the kid had confessed to him. So there was nothing
that any one could do but to stand behind Lennie even with our doubts. Lt. Van Buren told her
superior about the confession which helped to hold the perp in jail.
But the perp kept proclaiming that he never made a confession. So the judge assigned to the case
decided to hear the motion and see if she would let the confession into the trial. McCoy even
doubted Lennie, but having no hard evidence to prove otherwise, he had no choice but to offer
Lennie's testimony in court. Only Carmichael seemed inclined to believe Lennie without
question, but even though she's know him for about a year longer than I, she hadn't been on this
case with us. She hadn't seen what the case had done to him.
And so Lennie stood by his statement and testified to it in court. Lennie was just digging his
hole deeper and deeper. If the truth ever got out, none of us would be able to help him after
perjuring himself. In the end it did no good and was all for nothing. The judge ruled not to
allow the "so-called" confession in. She admitted not liking to side with a defendant, but even
she had her doubts.
The next day, Van Buren called us into her office. I thought this was it for Lennie. Either
Lennie was going to be reprimanded or I was going to be assigned a new partner. And despite
this case, I felt sorry for Lennie and myself. I felt sorry that Lennie might go out of the force this
way. I felt sorry for myself because, despite this case or maybe because of it, I was sorta getting
use to Lennie and that old spice smell. We were starting to work cases well together and get our
routine down. That was important to partners. I would be sorry to see our partnership end before
it really took off.
But none of those scenarios happened. Van Buren called us in to tell us that our perp had
decided to plea bargain his crime in exchange for evidence leading to a serial rapist. Finally,
there was hard evidence found by the DA's office connecting the murderer to his victim so he
had decided to make a deal. As homicide detectives, Lennie and I were used to our perps getting
off easy due to the dealings in the DA's office, but it never seemed to make it easier for us, or the
victims families, to stomach. That's why we were pleasantly surprised to hear he'd be doing at
least six years in jail. Sometimes the good guys really do win.
But that wasn't all. Van Buren said that McCoy had also told her that the perp had admitted to
making that smug confession to Lennie in order to taunt him. I know McCoy had known Lennie
about as long as Van Buren had. He must have needed to know.
Lennie was vindicated in all our eyes and yet I felt standing there, as I'm sure everyone else felt
too, the shame of not trusting Lennie. We had let our own brother down and believed some low-
life scum bag over him. I had let my feelings about him cloud my judgement. I thought he was
trying to prove himself when he was just being a good, dedicated cop making sure that justice
was done. Our anger at the perp and our frustration in trying to nail him, caused our
communication to break down. But even at our worst, we still managed to catch the guy, and
that said something.
So we stood there, in Van Buren's office silent for a few moments before we started to leave.
Lennie didn't say "I told you so" or anything remotely similar. He probably knew we already
felt bad enough. Sometimes victory is bittersweet. But Lennie stated with conviction, in that
wry sense of humor all his own, that he'd be doing this job from his wheel-chair. And you
know, I don't doubt him.