#35 – Wrong
Excerpt from the Santa Barbara Times:
Santa Barbara Police Department On Top of Things
By Benjamin Jarvis, ed.
The people of Santa Barbara can rest easy: their police department is on the case, and they're doing a fine job.
Last week, Staff Writer Stephen Wilson was reported missing both to the police and to the public via this very publication. In the time since, Wilson has been found alive and unharmed, and has been subsequently fired by the Santa Barbara Times. He also faces possible criminal charges, after his mental state has been evaluated.
Wilson was brought in to the SBPD's headquarters by a detective who'd located him in a hotel in Montecito. Once there, he began to rave about being abducted by armed men and held against his will. The SBPD detective responsible for finding Wilson did so by tracking Wilson's own credit cards. There is video evidence of him checking in to the hotel alone, and no evidence of foul play was found.
It is the opinion of many that Wilson was trying to raise the profile of his investigative article by disappearing. The police are not certain of any criminal or corrupt intent; they are considering the possibility that Wilson is simply mentally unstable. He is undergoing evaluation at the Santa Barbara Mental Health Center. Criminal charges may or may not be filed, based upon their findings.
Whatever the reason for his behavior, Wilson is alive and unharmed. His speedy recovery by Detective James of the SBPD is both encouraging and comforting. "Most of the people on our missing person list have just skipped town without telling anyone – we're 99% sure of that," James said. "The fact that we were able to locate and recover Mr. Wilson demonstrates this department's ability to find missing people. Now we ask the citizens of Santa Barbara to sit back and let us do our jobs."
We at the Times apologize for any unrest Wilson's editorial may have caused. This editor personally apologizes for allowing such an editorial to be published when the writer was in such an obvious mentally unstable state. We at the Times strive to report unbiased and accurate news, and I fear we have failed the people of Santa Barbara in this matter. We urge you to continue to trust us, just as you should trust the Santa Barbara Police Department.
A/N – I don't know if I'm just obvious or if it just shows that we Animorphs fans just think along the same lines, but I'd like to tip my hat to Chiro Jones on clipping me to the punchbowl on this one. I got your suggestion as I was writing this piece, Chiro, and I laughed out loud at how closely you called my next move. The last sentence of this one was purely inspired by your suggestion, so thanks! And thanks for reviewing, everybody who did/will!