DYLAN'S PONY TAIL

Tomorrow, Eric and I are scheduled to meet Barry at a prison up Northeast of here and transfer six gigantic boxes of data and evidence from Eric's vehicle to Barry's SUV. He'll take the boxes back to Chicago where it will be safely sorted, cataloged and stored forever. Normally, I just load the car I drive up with the boxes and do the transfer myself, but this time there is too much data and too much evidence to go in the car I drive. This time we actually needed a truck!

We're not just transferring the boxes. I have a case to evaluate and Barry has records to review. Neither of us are driving that far just to transfer boxes. I appreciate Eric doing this for me and I'll fill his truck with gasoline because it's a 2 hour drive one way. Gasoline is a very real expense in my work even though I'm reimbursed for a part of it.

The boxes represent the leftovers of the work I've completed in the last six months which must be carefully stored forever because we never know when the tables may turn and we may end up back in court with one of these guys. We work very hard to prevent "lost evidence" and a damaged "chain of custody". I have quite enough frustration with the issue of "lost evidence" during my investigatory process. I don't want anyone else to have those difficulties because I was careless.

Personally, transfer day is always a day of celebration for me--this time especially so! Right now, there are so many huge boxes and they are taking up so much floor space that it's difficult to move around in my office. Plus, the dogs can't find a comfortable spot to plop down. I put a pillow under my writing table for them, but they don't like the pillow or that it's under the table. I think they prefer their backs in a corner so no one can sneak up on them. Or, maybe that's just me. I always prefer my back in a corner or against the wall so I can see the entry and the windows in restaurants.

Additionally, two of the cases were such heinous crimes that I almost experience the data, the records, and the evidence as somehow tainting my office. There will be the unfinished cases still in the credenza awaiting trial, but much of it will be out of my office. Unfortunately, I still have Dylan's pony tail. Dylan is a victim who was 5 years old at the time and his pony tail was taken as a trophy. I have it in a sealed plastic evidence bag, stored in a locked safe, so I can use it at trial. You would think any criminal would realize that Dylan's parents would notice their child's pony tail was missing and realize that "something" was amiss. But, criminals don't think exactly like non-criminals.