A tense silence filled the room as the police officer contemplated him.
Finally, he broke the silence. “Officer, what is this about?”
The police officer continued staring at him, giving no indication that he was heard.
He tried again. “Officer?”
A hand slammed on the desk. He jumped, as the police officer leaned in, eyes smouldering. “You know what happened.”
“Y-yes officer. My car was totaled. I don’t know why I’m here, though, shouldn’t I be—”
“Quiet! I have some questions for you.” The officer held his gaze for a prolonged moment. “What did you think would happen when you started speeding?”
He blinked, surprised. “I—what? I don’t speed. This isn’t about what I did—I want to know what’s going to happen with my car! What does that have to do with—”
Another slam. ”I’m the one asking questions here. You speak to answer me. Are we clear?”
“Yes, but—” Slam. He swallowed. “Yes.”
The officer turned a monitor to face him. “Do you recognize this?”
“That’s my car.”
The video began playing. The license plate was clearly visible.
“This video was taken on a road where the speed limit was 70 kilometres per hour,” said the officer. “Do you know how fast you were driving?”
“Well—”
Before he could continue, the camera panned down to show a radar gun.
The officer paused the video. “I’m going to ask you again and give you the benefit of the doubt. You seem confused as to why your car is the way it is. I happen to have the answer.” The officer paused. “Have you ever driven over the speed limit?”
He sputtered. “This—this doesn’t—”
A head poked into the room, then sighed heavily. “Jenkins, stop that. You’re supposed to be showing him his insurance options.”
Jenkins whirled. “But look, Palow! I know exactly what happened. People who speed, crash. He speeds. He crashed. Case closed.”
Palow opened the door and stepped into the room, addressing the man who was being questioned. “I’m really sorry about that. I’m taking over so that we can write something up for the insurance company.” Then he turned to face Jenkins again. “I just got the CCTV footage from where it happened five minutes ago. So unless you somehow watched them before they even got it to the station, how do you know what happened?”
For the first time since the interview started, Jenkins looked unsure of himself. “Well…everybody knows that. You speed, you crash. I’ve seen fifty of these accidents and they all start the same way.”
“Well, how about this? Why do you think he’s sitting in that chair without a single scratch on him? That car, along with two others, was pancaked by a truck. You saw the wreckage.”
Jenkins sat there, mouth agape, little bits of drool falling out.
“It’s right there on the footage. His car was parked. It happened while he was inside the store. This man did nothing wrong.”
A coherent thought finally occurred to Jenkins. “But…gun…”
Palow threw his hands in the air. “That was me! That’s my footage! Do you see who’s behind him on the hill? That’s you! And before you point that out to me, yes, the road is a 70. He’s going 71. So what? If you’re catching up to him,” he gestured at the video, “then you’re going even faster. The fact is, his car was parked. It wasn’t his fault. Now get out. This office is mine for the rest of the day while I try and fix your mess.”
Jenkins got up and backed towards the door, palms facing outward. “Look, I was just trying to help him.” He stepped through, then grabbed the doorknob, turning to face the man. “Just…just stop speeding, all right?”