A nervous sweat was breaking out across the top of his forehead. Patrick looked around the police station with uncertainty and fear. He had been arrested the evening before and spent the night in a holding cell. Now, he was sitting on one side of a table, occasionally glancing at the miserable looking officer sitting quietly on the other. The officer \u2013 Harrison according to his name badge \u2013 was reading some notes. After what seemed like an eternity, the miserable one looked up at him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018So,\u2019 he began with a grimace, and shaking his head a few times, left to right. \u2018\u2026 a peeping Tom hey? You know you\u2019re in big trouble. You\u2019re 19 years old Patrick, and that makes you an adult offender.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018It\u2019s not what it looks like,\u2019 came the predictable response. \u2018I\u2019m not a peeping Tom.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018No? Then how do you explain the binoculars, and the fact that a neighbour witnessed you standing behind a tree outside Miss Stanton\u2019s home, and peering through the binoculars at the ground floor window \u2013 that just happened to be her bedroom?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018It\u2019s \u2026 not that\u2026. It\u2019s \u2026 complicated.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018And the only light in the house that was on was that bedroom light.\u2019 Harrison was blunt and sceptical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Patrick shook his head. \u2018No!\u2019 he cried out with more volume that he should have. \u2018It was not the only light on. The porch light was on too: it\u2019s always left on there.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harrison seemed to ignore that detail and continued with his evidence. \u2018And the witness has taken photos of you and supplied them to us as well. You are standing there peering through the glasses that are clearly pointed in the direction of the light.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018It sounds bad when you say all that \u2013 but that\u2019s not what happened.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A loud sigh rushed through Harrison\u2019s large nostrils. \u2018I\u2019m all ears,\u2019 he offered, in a cynical tone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Silence filled the room. Patrick was struggling to find the best way to explain what happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Son, you\u2019d better start talking or we will simply charge you \u2013 and it\u2019s an open and shut case, as far as we\u2019re concerned.\u2019 Another pause. \u2018Come on then: what have you got to say for yourself?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Patrick was fretting. His nervous energy was growing. Suddenly he burst out with his reply. \u2018It\u2019s all about my Canadian Mounted Police Pin!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harrison looked lost. A quick shake of the head was followed by, \u2018Your what?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018My Canadian Mounted Police Pin \u2013 my lucky charm.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harrison rolled his eyes. \u2018Go on.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Patrick could feel the disbelief coming from his adversary. It made him even more nervous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Well, I used to date Lizzy\u2026 um\u2026 Miss Stanton. Even though she\u2019s a couple of years older than me, we dated for nearly a year \u2013 until recently.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018A few months back I gave Lizzy the pin as a gift. It was a big thing \u2013 my grandfather had been a Canadian Mounted Police officer before migrating to Australia, and when I was little he gave me this special pin that all the Mounted Police there wore on their uniforms. It meant the world to me.\u2019 He paused and spoke more softly. \u2018But Lizzy meant more. So I gave it to her.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Patrick stopped and looked like he might even cry. He contained it, and went on. \u2018I gave it to her as a symbol of my love. I\u2019m no peeping Tom. I love her still. I was not there last night to perve on her. I\u2019m not like that.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harrison breathed a loud sigh. \u2018I still can\u2019t see how anything you\u2019ve said helps explain your actions with the binoculars.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Patrick was scrambling for the best way to say what he needed to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018She took the pin and seemed genuinely grateful at the time. And she said she would hang it on her front door of her house, for good luck, and to keep her safe. You know, that kind of thing.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harrison shook his head as if to say, \u2018I\u2019m listening\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Patrick pressed his lips tightly together and then with determination he poured it all out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018And she did. I saw it there every time I visited her while we were still dating. It was kind of nice to see it hanging on the outside of the house, over the door mantle. \u2019 He let out a long sigh before continuing. \u2018Anyway, about a bit over a week ago, we had a big blew and she broke it off with me. It was the weirdest thing. I\u2019m still not entirely sure what it was all over. The argument we had didn\u2019t seem that big a deal at the time. I clearly upset her with something I said or did, but it seemed like a massive overreaction. But she was \u2026 so\u2026 fixated\u2026 and we broke up that night. I was devastated. I rang the following day to apologise but she wouldn\u2019t talk for long. She said she was tired of me and needed a break. She said she wanted to find someone a bit more mature, a bit older. I was hurting big time. I asked if I could give her a call in say a week\u2019s time, to see if she might have \u2013 you know \u2013 changed her mind by then. She said \u201cif you have<\/em> to \u2013 but I\u2019m not getting back with you.\u201d Anyway, I waited the week \u2013 that was really hard to do. Then I rang back to see how she was feeling. She was still, you know, distant, and upset with me. It was then that I reminded her of the pin and how much that meant to me, and how much she<\/em> meant to me. And then she said a really hurtful thing. She said, \u201cYou can have your god-awful pin back if you want. You know what? I\u2019m tempted to toss the stupid thing away.\u201d I begged her not to, but she seemed to sense the pain I was in, and \u2026 she seemed to even enjoy it. I said I would come and get it, but she said it might be gone by the time I got there. And then she said that if I set foot on her place, she\u2019d call the police and have me arrested for trespassing.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Let me guess: and that brings us to last night?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Yes! I went around after dark, and I knew that the front porch light would be on, as always. I figured that if I could confirm that she had not<\/em> thrown the pin away I would risk sneaking in and retrieving it, and then leave again. If it was not there, then what would be the point of even doing that? That\u2019s why I was behind that tree with the binoculars, to look for the pin. Not to perve on Lizzy.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n Patrick was listening to himself as he spoke. He wondered if any of this was convincing Officer Harrison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Harrison responded. \u2018Hmm\u2026 and \u2026 was the pin still there?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018I thought I caught a glimpse of it reflecting under the small porch light. I was trying to focus the binoculars more when the police car pulled up. I never got to get it, if<\/em> it was still there.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n Harrison let out another of his signature nostril snorts and sat back in his chair. He stared at the frightened young man in front of him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018I\u2019ll send an officer around to the house now. If the pin\u2019s there, they will retrieve it (with<\/em> Mis Stanton\u2019s permission \u2013 you did give it to her after all so it is technically hers) and we\u2019ll check the details of your story. If it\u2019s not there, we\u2019ll ask her about it.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018What happens after that?\u2019 asked Patrick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018We\u2019ll see\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A nervous sweat was breaking out across the top of his forehead. Patrick looked around the police station with uncertainty and fear. He had been …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":3636,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[401,402,102,404,11,403,10],"class_list":["post-3635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-binoculars","tag-dating","tag-jim-reiher","tag-police","tag-story","tag-truth-or-lies","tag-writing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/kaitlin-duffey-Wbot6VjpfWk-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pff1uY-WD","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3268,"url":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?p=3268","url_meta":{"origin":3635,"position":0},"title":"Low Tide","author":"Kel White","date":"February 14, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"His hands crease around his empty coffee mug like old leather. 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