The Guardian

don’t think he would agree to that sort of thing on a full time basis.”
    “You want to go ask him?” She said, baiting him.
    “Hell no, you go ask him, but honestly, he’s right. We do need to keep him in the loop. The next time, we keep him fully informed. He can’t protect us otherwise.” He said.
    “I know, you’re right. So, what did you want?”
    “Well, I was checking over my messages, did you get anything on that Child Welfare Offices thing?”
    “Ya, I got this one here.” She said handing him the memo she had just received. It was about a 15-month-old boy who had died at the county’s shelter for neglected and abused children. The government had already sent a strongly worded letter about their failure to make the conditions there better. They had also sent the same message to other county-run foster care services.
    “So, they want us to investigate the death?” John asked.
    “That’s right. Supposedly, the conditions have worsened since they examined the system back in 2004. And supposedly, the Clark County Department of Family Services violates its own polices by frequently keeping children at Child Welfare Offices for longer than a month.”
    “Well, it must be a terribly difficult job. Everyone knows that children are not of any major importance to anyone in this town. They are probably having an extremely difficult time placing them. The other thing is, the majority of these kids are either crack babies, drug addicted babies or in some other way have a birth defect or handicap. People are not willing to take on such a huge responsibility unless they have the means or the heart to care for them.”
    “What are they to do, put them out in the street?”
    “I don’t know what the answer is, but we’ve been tasked with looking into this death and I think we should give it our best. If for no other reason than for that little boy.” John added.
    They went over the notes that they had gotten and together they would work out a game plan.
    The first thing John wanted to do was interview the people at Child Welfare Offices. They had to find out exactly what the Circumstances were surrounding the death.
    It was still early in the day, so they decided to go over there and see what they could find out.
    At approximately 9:30 that morning they pulled into the parking lot of the child services Center. They each took a deep breath, stepped out of the car and headed inside.
    The lady at the reception desk smiled up at them. “Good morning, how may we help you today?” She seemed very pleasant and friendly.
    “Good morning, I’m Lieutenant John Halloway, and this is Detective Laura Griffin.,” he said flashing his badge. “We’d like to speak with Ms. Lori Towns please.”
    “Yes, of course, may I ask what this is in regards to ?” she said as she reached for her phone.
    “Actually, no, it’s personal.” Laura said, half smiling.
    The receptionist lost her smile. “I see, just a moment.” She abruptly turned and walked away.
    As they waited for Ms Towns, they looked around the facility, taking everything in, making mental notes of what they saw.
    After a few moments Lori Towns came out. She was walking towards them, arm outstretched, ready for the cursory hand shake. “Officers, I’m Lori Towns, and how may I help you today?”
    “Hi, I’m Lieutenant Halloway and this is Detective Griffin. We’d like to ask you some questions about the recent death of the 15-month-old boy who was in your care here.” He could see her tense up as he answered her question. He was quite sure that she had already been grilled on the subject and here she was yet again, having to explain herself.
    “Well” she said, “as I have already explained to the people from your department, one of the staff noticed that the child wasn’t breathing.”
    “And what time was this, do you remember?”
    “Well, not exactly but it was near about 2 PM I think.”
    “I see. Did you know that the LVFD said that they hadn’t received a call for dispatch until 2:52 PM?”
    She just looked at him, not sure or trying to decide what to say next.
    “Oh, I’m sorry, I made a mistake. I believe it was more like 2:50 when we noticed the boy was not breathing.”
    John and Laura looked at each other, rolled their eyes. “I see.”
    So went their interview. It was a slow, boring process. They would have to turn their information over to an investigative unit. The procedures and protocol currently in place for