Chapter 1: The Record
Chapter 1: The Record Detective Constable Taylor has asked me to keep a record of our cases. He did not explain why. This is typical. Taylor has a habit of presenting requests as though the reasoning behind them must be self-evident, even when the reasoning is known only to Taylor and occasionally, I suspect, not even then. “Write it down,” he said. I asked what, specifically, he wished me to write down. “All of it.” This did not improve matters. There are approximately forty-seven defensible interpretations of all of it , and several million indefensible ones. I requested parameters. Taylor sighed. People frequently sigh when I request parameters. “The cases,” he said. “What happened. What we did. What you thought. What I thought.” “The last category may present difficulties.” “Very funny.” “I was not attempting humour.” “That’s usually when you’re funniest.” I have included this exchange because Taylor insists that conversations provide context. I remain unconvinced. Neverthele...
