LESA HOLSTINE, book reviewer for the Poisoned Pen, interviewed me for her blog. One of her questions tugged at my heart:
Readers will undoubtedly think of your career when they think of Veranda. What was your most unusual experience that you can tell us about?
When I was a uniform patrol officer early in my career, a detective asked me to help him serve a burglary arrest warrant. When we arrived at the suspect’s apartment, which was little more than a tenement, we found him with his wife and two-year-old son. It was near the holidays, and the young father hadn’t told his family the presents he’d gotten for them were stolen. He’d broken into a business office and taken a stereo for his wife and an enormous stuffed bear for his son.
When we entered the apartment, I was shocked to see they had no furniture. They all slept together on a mattress on the floor and ate at a rickety card table. The stolen items were the only other things in the tiny apartment. As his wife sobbed, the man came to me, head bowed, and held out his wrists.
The little boy watched as I handcuffed his father. The detective retrieved the stereo, and directed me to confiscate the bear, which was not only stolen property, but evidence. My stomach twisting into knots, I approached the toddler, who clutched the bear as tears rolled down his face. I had just taken his father, and now I would take his only toy. He wouldn’t let go, and his mother was too hysterical to help…https://poisonedpen.com/2017/04/25/interview-with-isabella-maldonado/
