Chris
Phipps writes the kind of books she likes to read: mostly mysteries, free of
graphic violence, sex, and excess profanity. She is the author of three novels
in the Wagner-Callender Mystery Series with another in the works, and one of
her short stories was included in the Saturday Evening Post 2016 on-line anthology of best short stories. Learn more about Chris
and her books at her website.
If you like mysteries or thrillers, you’re
all too familiar with the tough cop. He’s the guy (or gal) who somehow manages
to view the most horrific crime scenes without batting a single eyelash,
staying focused on clues and evidence. To do his job effectively, he’s hardened
himself, at least externally. That, of course, creates our flawed hero, the one
who fights alcoholism or some other addiction, whether it be drugs or work, or
something more esoteric.
But I wonder how they handle the
injustices they encounter, the ones created by our own flawed systems?
How do they pick up a runaway girl,
knowing she will probably be sent back to the same foster home she’s trying to
escape? Do they choose between two evils, the abusive foster parent or the
likelihood the girl will fall into the clutches of a pimp who will lure her
with affection she’s never before experienced?
While there are many good foster parents,
all too often, people foster for the money they receive, not for the love of
children. Some treat the kids as unpaid servants. Some children are abused.
Many are neglected or given minimal care. And most of the child welfare systems
in this country don’t have the resources to find better places for the
children, or even to check up on them as frequently as necessary. Added to that, the explosion of drug
addiction has introduced thousands more kids into the system.
How do police officers arrest the
desperate parent trying to “kidnap” his own child from an abusive ex-spouse?
And that does happen. All too often, the parent with the most money wins
custody simply because he can hire the best lawyers.
In one instance, the father’s lawyer
hired a child psychologist who testified in court that the little girl’s claims
of abuse from her father and stepmother were simply attempts by the child to
gain attention! Fortunately, at least for that child and her older brother,
they had a caring court-appointed attorney. He gave each child his phone number
and told them to call him each time something abusive occurred. The lawyer
recorded the calls and, when he had enough information, called the father. His
message? “I have enough to get you locked up for a good long while. If you want
to avoid that, I suggest you give your wife sole custody of those children.”
The father complied. Today that little
girl is an honors student at her local high school. Her brother graduated this
year and has already joined the Navy. They’re both good kids, eager to give
something back to their community and their country.
How does an honorable, law-abiding father
continue to allow his ex-wife visitation rights when he knows she’s conniving
to be the favorite parent by being their buddy, giving them alcohol, allowing
them to stay up— and sometimes out—hours after their curfew? What does he do
when he learns she’s also introducing them to drugs? He can’t prove it; the
kids aren’t going to testify. Today one of those children is in prison for
selling drugs. Another, a girl, has finally beaten the addiction and has been
clean for three years. But during that time, she lost her baby into the system
and subsequent adoption by another couple.
These are only small samples of what I
found while researching the topic.
I wondered how a rookie detective would
react to this aspect of the job and decided to explore it in Haunted by the Innocent, the third book
in my series.
Haunted
by the Innocent
Rookie detective Dee Callender has a
puzzling crime scene: two men murdered, two wounded on a Sacramento golf course
with top-of-the-line security. How did the killer–or killers—get in and out
without being seen or their images captured on surveillance cameras? And why
this strange foursome: a city councilman, an attorney with a questionable
reputation, the owner of a suspected prostitution site, and a children’s
dentist? The answers, when she finds them, shock and sadden her and make her
question the limitations of her job.
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