Heat Wave

Note:

In one of my previous stories, there was a scene (no more than a paragraph and a half long, I swear) dealing with police procedures in a FICTIONAL gulf state. Shortly after I had published that story, I received a three page e-mail stating that I was completely off the track, that the sheriff in that story should have been fired on the spot and I don’t remember what else. The author of the e-mail then proceeded to give me a detailed course in police procedures. When I had stopped laughing, I read the letter again and found it quite interesting from an educational point of view but I have no intention in following up on any of this person’s ‘suggestions’. As William Shatner once said in some science fiction convention or other when he was told his Captain Kirk persona did not act ‘true to form’ in episode such-and-such, “Get a life!”

This story you are about to read will also include the description of various ‘legal’ interventions by the police and other government agencies. I have friends who have worked as policemen, both for the city of Montreal and for the Sureté du Québec, Quebec’s Provincial police. I also have friends who still work for the DPJ, Quebec’s child welfare organisation. As this story goes on, several of these agencies will be mentioned. They DO exist but here, the way these agencies act may not be the way they behave in real life. Similarly, different streets, towns and historical facts and figures are mentioned. These streets and towns exist – well, most of them do, anyway, as do the historical figures and events – be aware that the historical background of these, while true, has been interpreted rather loosely. The stories I write are FICTION. I try to make them as close to real life as possible in order to make them interesting. However, you should keep in mind that should reality interfere with what I consider to be a good story, you can be sure that reality will quickly be pushed to the wayside.