Expert: Dick Rogers - 4/4/2005

Question
Hi Dick!

I'm an aspiring writer living in Paris.  I'm working on a book with a subplot that features  a character named Luc Godeau who is a Parisian homicide cop and a good guy.  In the book he desperately needs money to help his young son.  In the course of investigating the murder of a drug dealer, he comes across a big load of ecstasy.  He succumbs to the temptation to keep the ecstasy and sell it to another drug dealer.  

I want to illustrate that although he is a good guy at heart, he has previously done one or two stunts in the course of his work that were not really ethical, although humanly understandable.  So he is more susceptible to selling these drugs when the opportunity comes along and he is in desperate need.

I'm trying to think of an example of one or two of those stunts.  One quite inconsequential, and one more substantial.  

For the substantial one, I thought he might have roughed up a wrongdoer who he knew would escape justice through the courts.  He got frustrated, and he regrets it.  Do you think that is a good idea?  Do you have any other ideas?  

I know you probably help people with real problems through this site, but if you have time to advise me on my bit of fiction, I'd really appreciate it.

Cheers,  Beth  

Answer
Beth, the one substantial event that comes to mind is a personal one...early in my career, I was sent to a "neighborhood dispute" call.   Seems a man with a very high fence was training some type of dog and they made quite a bit of noise which the neighbor complained about.  When I contacted the dog trainer, what I found infuriated me.  He was using cats (some of them neighborhood cats which we determined by collars found on the ground) to train his hounds to hunt mountain lions.  When I arrested him for animal cruelty, he didn't go along with the program and resisted slightly...I responded with an excess of force which required emergency care.  Not something I'm proud about, but it shows that everyone has buttons....animal cruelty is one of mine.  Let me think a bit about what you ask and I'll get back to you.  If you want to e-mail me it might be better. My e-mail is drogers@calinet.com  I am a bit of a writer myself having done op-ed work for newspapers on criminal justice issues, so I have empathy for writers in need of background.