A Review Series of Anonymous Tip, by Michael Farris<\/b><\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\nPp. 83-84<\/em><\/p>\nSo, let\u2019s rehash the conspiracy so far. Donna the social worker falsified her report to state that she found bruises on four-year-old Casey when in fact she did not. Donna spoke with Blackburn, her supervisor, before doing this, and got his go-ahead to falsify the documents and lie in court. Given that Peter found mention of bruises in Rita\u2019s report as well, this second social worker, who was also on the scene, must be in on the secret as well. That makes three. Gail the prosecutor appears to be completely in the dark, so that leaves it at three.<\/p>\n
Today a fourth individual is added to the conspiracy.<\/p>\n
It was their usual meeting place for such a rendezvous\u2014the Ram\u2019s Head Tavern just south of the intersection of 57th and Regal. It was a pickup truck-type of tavern and Randall\u2019s BMW and Gerald\u2019s Celica were conspicuous when they arrived.<\/p>\n
The tavern was located on the far south side of Spokane, outside the city limits. Close by were a conglomeration of radio and TV towers, just on the edge of the metropolitan area and less than five miles from where serious agricultural operations began.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I\u2019ll leave it to our Spokane expert to discuss the location, and to readers who know about cars than I to guess at what Randall\u2019s BMW and Gerald\u2019s Celica say about them. But wait! Randall and Gerald? Who are these people?!<\/p>\n
Randall arrived first and waited in the\u00a0corner with a Coors while Clint Black serenaded the patrons from an old jukebox. A readheaded waitress in her late thirties came by three times in ten minutes. Randall glanced up at her but wasn\u2019t interested in what she was selling. The years had not been kind to her.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So, usually waitresses are selling food. Like, there\u2019s a menu. And actually, coming by three times in ten minutes is considered good service, not . . . prostitution? As for the bit about the years not being kind to her, normally I\u2019d see that as common cliche, but in the hands of Farris and in a moralizing novel like this one, there are undertones. And it\u2019s yucky. Also, she\u2019s in her late thirties? That is not<\/em> that old!<\/p>\nI think Farris is trying to underline how seedy this place, but he\u2019s doing it in a way that makes me cringe not at the location but at him.<\/p>\n
Gerald finally arrived and ordered a Coors Light and ignored Lila\u2019s efforts to gain attention.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Suddenly she has a name? I mean, I\u2019m assuming we\u2019re still talking about the redheaded waitress! It\u2019s a bit jarring to suddenly throw a name in like that, after leaving her unnamed the paragraph before. But seriously? Going to a restaurant and then\u00a0ignoring the waitress\u2019s attempt to get your attention is really really<\/em> rude. Waitresses try to get your attention to sell you food.<\/p>\nGah! Farris! Stop it!<\/p>\n
They immediately got to work.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand that you have another special case for me,\u201d Randall said.<\/p>\n
Gerald nodded, sipping his beer. \u201cIt\u2019s very important to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey always are,\u201d Randall replied.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Even though these are new names, and Farris is clearly at pains to conceal who these people are at the moment, it\u2019s safe to assume that Gerald is with the CPS office and needs something from Randall vis a vis the Landis case.<\/p>\n
I have to say, I\u2019m still not sure what makes the Landis case so very important to the Spokane CPS. Originally, Donna was angry that Gwen had called her a \u201cwitch\u201d and a \u201cnazi\u201d and wanted to falsify her report\u00a0to get back at her. Blackburn, her supervisor, signed on out of concern that Gwen might sue them for pushing\u00a0their way in and strip-searching Casey. But if Gwen might have sued\u00a0over that, what\u2019s to stop her from suing over, well, this?<\/p>\n
Later, when speaking with her rich lawyer-to-be boyfriend, Stephen, Donna espoused different motivations, perhaps in an effort to justify her actions to herself\u2014she told\u00a0him that she falsified her report\u00a0because Gwen admitted to spanking and she believes all spanking is abuse. But if this is the case, and the Spokane CPS office is pursuing the case against Gwen in an effort to stop parents from spanking, they\u2019re acting outside of the law (spanking, even with an implement, was perfectly legal in Washington) and they\u2019re going to have a huge number of parents to go after when they\u2019re through with Gwen, as spanking (especially at the time) was common.<\/p>\n
I guess what I\u2019m trying to say is, I still don\u2019t have a handle on the motivations or end game for the CPS conspiracy Farris has created for our readerly consumption.<\/p>\n
Anyway, back to the conversation:<\/p>\n
\u201cWho are we dealing with?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe mother\u2019s name is Gwen Landis; her daughter is Casey, age four. She\u2019s accused of spanking the girl and leaving bruises. The mother admits spankings with a wooden implement, but denies bruises,\u201d Gerald said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know how I feel about parents who hit their children,\u201d Randall replied, shaking his head in disgust.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why we come to you. We know you are on our team . . . and are reasonably willing to do what it takes to advance the cause of children,\u201d Gerald replied.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Remember this, because this is where it should have ended.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we were in Seattle or Portland or San Francisco , we could do this openly. Most juvenile judges there share our convictions. But these Spokane judges live too close to the boonies. Bruises are their threshold. No bruises, no action.\u201d<\/p>\n
Randall nodded in agreement.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Do what<\/em> openly, exactly? Spanking (even with an implement) was (and is) legal in Oregon and California too. Judges interpret and enforce the law, they don\u2019t make it up or throw it out. Bruises are just as much the threshold in Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco as they are in Spokane.<\/p>\nAnd so I\u2019m still wondering\u2014do what<\/em> openly? Prosecute a family based only on the fact that they spank? Or frame a family? Presumably the former, but this passage is written in a way that leaves this really unclear.<\/p>\n\u201cWell, what do I need to do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are going to interview both mother and child on Thursday. We want the report to be professional, but spun in such a way that these yokel judges will bite.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo problem. I can spin with the best of them. You understand I must tell the truth, but whenever our arrangement is in place I am willing to tell it creatively.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
And again, this is where it should end. But it doesn\u2019t<\/em>.<\/p>\nGerald pulled the envelope out of his inner jacket pocked and laid it on the table. \u201cI need the report by ten Friday morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s half-written already,\u201d Randall said with a laugh. \u201cI\u2019ll bill you for the official fee in due course.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gerald stood. \u201cYou\u2019ll take care of the tab for the beer?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the least I can do to show my gratitude,\u201d Randall replied, raising his glass to Blackburn.<\/p>\n
Gerald Blackburn, \u201cTop Child Advocate of 1993,\u201d left quietly, got into his Celica and headed south. Randall McGuire, Ph.D., sat at the table for another ten minutes, counted twenty one-hundred dollar bills in the envelope, then got in his BMW and headed for his spacious home on the seventh hole of the Manito Country Club, only ten minutes but a world away from the Ram\u2019s Head.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
And there we have their names! The suspense was killing me! \/sarcasm. Seriously, I\u2019ll leave it to my readers who write fiction to judge how well\u00a0Farris pulled off this literary\u00a0device. And honestly, Farris set this up a long<\/em> time ago when he pointedly didn\u2019t give Blackburn a first name (which I remarked on at the time, if I may add).<\/p>\nSuffice it to say, Gerald is Gerald Blackburn, Donna\u2019s supervisor, and Randall is Randall McGuire, the psychologist Casey and Gwen will be evaluated by on Thursday (we are not given a time of day for this rendezvous, but it presumably takes place either Tuesday evening or sometime Wednesday).<\/p>\n
And did you catch that Gerald (Blackburn) just gave Randall (McGuire) a bribe?!<\/em> Frankly, this conspiracy theory\u00a0is becoming only more difficult to believe as time goes by. This is the sort of thing everyone involved<\/em> would lose their livelihoods over.<\/p>\nDid you notice the two places where I said the conversation should have stopped there? If Randall (McGuire) is as\u00a0opposed to corporal punishment as is suggested, and if all Gerald (Blackburn) wants is psychologist reports that portray\u00a0the negative impact of spanking on Casey and\u00a0probe into Gwen\u2019s past\u00a0to determine why she feels the need to use corporal punishment on her child, and if Randall (McGuire) is presumably already going to be paid for his services as a psychologist appointed by the court and as an expert witness in the case, why the need for a bribe?<\/em><\/p>\nHonestly, the bribe takes a (mostly) believable\u00a0exchange\u00a0between two individuals\u00a0and turns them both into textbook villains.<\/p>\n
And where is this money coming from, I have to ask? CPS is notoriously underfunded. I suppose we\u2019ll probably find out the answer to that question by the end of the book, when everything comes out (as it surely will).<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also an awful lot of speaking derisively of \u201cyokels\u201d and \u201cboonies.\u201d While it\u2019s a touch\u00a0over the top, this may be the most realistic thing in the\u00a0entire passage.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
And did you catch that Gerald (Blackburn) just gave Randall (McGuire) a bribe?! Frankly, this conspiracy theory is becoming only more difficult to believe as time goes by. This is the sort of thing everyone involved would lose their licenses and livelihoods over. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":845,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[469],"class_list":["post-25881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-anonymous-tip"],"yoast_head":"\n
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