Mr. John Victim owns a small shop on a long stretch of mostly deserted road. He is alone, locking up the store at night one night, when Mr. Random SerialKiller pulls up in his car, hits Mr. Victim over the head with an antique tire iron, and then drives off heading northward into the night, leaving Mr. Victim dead on the side of the road.
Mr. Luke Drinker, coming from the north sees a van coming his way, driving erratically and the driver has what looks to Mr. Drinker like blood on him. Mr. Drinker is somewhat suspicious, so he takes down the license plate.
Mr. Drinker is fairly shaken up. He continues down the road a short distance, when he sees Mr. Victim, lying along the side of the road. Mr. Drinker panics, and swerves hitting a small tree. He leaps out to find Mr. Victim lying on the side of the road. Mr. Victim is displaying no vital signs, and indeed, is clearly irreparably damaged: he is very dead.
Unfortunately, Mr. Drinker has been drinking just a little too much. Knowing that Mr. Victim is already dead, and that he faces a drunken driving charge if he phones the police, he decides that it would be easier if he just pretends like the whole thing never happened, and so he drives off into the night.
About a week later, Mr. Drinker sees a news report that a shopkeeper has been killed with a weapon that left a very unique pattern of damage, identical to the marks left on other victims by a serial killer who they have not been able to identify yet, and for whom they have no good leads. He has killed several people in the last few weeks, and they are sure that he will kill more in the future. The news report makes no mention of the tree, nor do they mention anything about a possible accident at the scene.
What does Mr. Drinker do next?
Mr. Drinker was very stupid not to call the police when he saw the victim, as I think they would have overlooked that he'd had too much booze that night.
ReplyDeleteNow he's made the problem worse. He will get into more trouble waiting to report the crime. I would hope that after talking over his dilemma with his loved ones, that he would do the right thing and go to the police. Tell them that he'd had too much to drink and had been too scared to report it.
I don't know the answer to this conondrum.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you ask Dr. Ayres' former partners what they would have done?
Mr. Drinker who is a doctor decides to say nothing.
ReplyDeleteBecause silence has been his pattern his whole career it is much easier for him than the average joe to look the other way.
He is used to not reporting things.