Phone Calls

Believe it or not I have a job.

I work as a stringer for the local paper, The Hayden Star. Its a pretty good deal I guess. I get my own desk, something resembling decent pay (sort of) and the paper gets an errand boy to check facts, get lunch, sort files and the added bonus of them being able to boast that the have an "award winning student journalist" on staff at the paper.

They rarely print the articles I submit and the the pay is pretty much shit but what my job lacks in monetary compensation it makes up for threefold in access...

And to a journalist (sorry, student journalist I mean) that's itself is worth its weight in gold.

Yesterday most of the real reporters were out on assignment and I had nothing to do, so I popped into the paper's source database and pulled the number for the Hayden Fire Marshall.

Fire Marshall (FM) - Hello, Don Barnett.

C.L.- Hello Mr. Barnett, this is Christopher Lewis, I'm with the Western Luther University Student newspaper-

Barnett- Ah, um how'd you get this number son?

C.L.- I'm sorry sir but I cannot divulge my sources. Anyway, I am doing a follow up article on the Williams-Cohen fire and was wondering if you had any comments on the nature of the fire?

Barnett- Huh? Oh well it was tragic I feel for the family-

C.L.- Yes. But what about the nature of the fire? How did it start? I remember there was an investigation and-

Barnett- A routine investigation son, we do that with all fatality fires. The inspector has ruled out fouls play we've already told that to the press.

C.L. - Yes I know sir, but has the investigation yielded the cause of the fire yet? Its been almost two weeks and there is still no report.

Barnett- The report is still being complied. These things take a while sometimes.

C.L.- Of course sir, but can you give us any information as to what started the fire, the student body-

Barnett- The student body will have to wait for the report just like everyone else. Now Mr. Lewis if you will excuse me, I about to run out to lunch. You can quote me as saying that the investigation yield no evidence of anything other that an accident.

C.L.- But I thought you said the investigation wasn't fin-

click!

What a fuck.

I was bizarre. If it was something so routine, like an accident. Then was has it taken so long? I wasn't too suspicious before, but this was odd, especially considering the fact that a campus facilities crew has been working on Room 312 since yesterday (I assume fixing it up). So how the hell does that work?

I try to call Mr. Barnett back but get a gravelly voiced secretary with a lisp who stonewalls me. She won't even give me the extension for the fire investigation unit. I tell her its public record and she hangs up on me.

I call the police and ask for an investigation report (which is public record) and get the same shit form yet another secretary. They say that the "investigation is still in progress" but that they "believe all evidence shows it was an accident". They offer to mail me a copy of the "incident report" and I give them my address on campus.

Dead fucking end...

There are other ways to go about finding things out.

There are other phone calls to make.

On the upside, I think I have the headline for my next article in the Journal.

"Officials Drag Feet in William-Cohens Fire"