19centconstable | Case #47: Video

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Case #47: Video

[George looks rumpled and unshaven, although it still hasn't improved his mustache much: it still looks more like a stain above his lip than anything. He's broadcasting hurriedly, and groggily from his cabin.]

I wasn't...did anyone happen to...was mother here?

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Of course.

[George joins him in partaking in a chair.]

You seem...a bit distant, Detective.

[Hoffman turned to look at him and then passed over a folded letter. In neat, orderly easy to read handwriting-Angelina Aacomb ne' Hoffman has written to the man who is taking care of her brother.]

Constable. (is that right? Or is it george? Crabtree? I want to say the right thing.)

I wish we'd gotten a chance to meet face to face but I couldn't seem to find you and I was...occupied.

I don't know if my brother will ever show you any of this but I figured I had to trust in the person who he was and the person you seem to be helping him become which is...something wholly different from who he was when I knew him.

I don't think that's bad. In fact it's preferrable. Mark swore up and down when we were kids he'd never drink and now I find out he's an alcoholic and acting like our father. He told me time and again how much he hated him. He refused to take me to see him in prison because of it. (Did he talk about that?)

I have faith in Mark. I just don't want to say it. He does best when there's somebody to challenge him and I don't want him here anymore. He was supposed to get married and have kids, we were supposed to have lives and live better then our parents did. I love him. He's done so many bad things and good things...

I'm all mixed up. I love him but I want to leave him here to rot forever except from what he's written about you I bet that you wouldn't do that. Don't tell him what I wrote about wanting him to rot. I can't think about what he did without thinking of Amanda and his friends, the people he swore to protect and how he murdered them for some...savior. God wouldn't want that.

I wish my brother would fight for a cause like that. He needs something to do with himself. He needs to serve, he's never been independent except regarding me and..

I wish I knew how you could help him more then just...he needs to either have something to serve or have friends and know that there's more to life then the law. He doesn't get a middle ground anymore.

You must have the patience of a saint to put up with him. I threw him out even after he swore he was trying to protect me.

...Please take care of him. And yourself. And hit him upside the head if he doesn't get his head out of his big fat butt and get out of here and go home.

...thank you. So much.

Angelina.

[He didn't say a word, just watching-waiting for a response.]

[George reads it over carefully, before telling Hoffman:]

She cares about you. Very much.

I know.

[He thrusts another letter at George. Everyone else got full pages. Notes thanking them for putting up with her brother's behavior in neat handwriting.

Hoffman got three lines.]

Leave your past behind and accept what you have done was wrong.

Come home, find someone, live the life I wanted. Love and be happy.

Apologize to Simone Betheson already.

[She didn't even sign her name. Hoffman buries his head in his hands.]

[George lets him be for a moment, then quietly asks:]

Detective?

...I won't ever escape it will I? The things I did. I have to apologize and accept it. I was a hero and I threw it away by being stupid.

[George blinks.]

Well...yes. Although I don't think you ought to call yourself stupid.

But that's what I was. I was stupid.

[he studies him] ...you really don't think I'm stupid. You're so...so nice. and a cop. Most of us are... [he speaks slowly, trying to decide how best to phrase it] Most of us are egotistical maniacs by my time. guys...obsessed with the badge and the gun and the prestige.

You made poor decisions. A clever man may still do that.

[George frowns.]

But I have met other police here, Detective, and I just can't believe that that is so. There have always been, and will always be bad apples in every bunch, but they don't spoil the other apples. And often, if you take the bruised or wormy bit off, the apple can be perfectly edible again.

...clever?

[Hoffman looks truly touched.]

...George if I go what happens to you? Did.. [he frowns] Did you ever decide on a deal?

I didn't. After you've graduated, I'll be assigned to help someone else. Perhaps I'll glance in on things at home.

[Hoffman breathes deep] ...Do you think I could be a warden?

I do think so, Detective. Don't you?

...I can try.

[his voice is firm. He stands.]

...I can try but I think there's something that I need to do first.

[and he flops back] Jesus Christ I don't know if I can.

The apology?

[He looks at him balefully.]

...What if she wants to kill me? I mean what if she leaves and loses her deal? I've watched her at dinner.

I did that George.

Yes. And you're attempting to talk yourself out of this.

It is something you can do. It won't be easy or pleasant, but it is right.

[Hoffman breathes deep and stands.]

....I want a drink.

That won't make it easier.

[he smirks.] I know. Doesn't mean I don't want one.

[he straightens] ...Thank you George.

You are welcome, Detective. And godspeed to you.

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Case #47: Video

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