Another "K" Traffic

So there we were, minding our own business in the middle of the night at the scene of a fatal motorcycle crash. The two of us, both sergeants, had responded to the job. We did our best to keep our hands in our pockets and stay out of the way of our working cops. There was a buzz of activity as our trained collision investigators were eyeing the street from different angles. I thought I saw one of them actually hold his thumb out in front of him and close one eye as if to view a line of sight with pin point accuracy. Soon the roll meters were clattering along as the officers walked them up, down and across the street. This was followed by furious note taking and camera flashes.

The crash was the result of a chase conducted by another agency. The motorcyclist tore down a canyon road way ahead of the officers and made every curve except for the last one. A half a dozen points of impact later, the rider and his destroyed bike lay in the front yard of a private residence. The pursuing officers came along shortly after and would have passed right by were it not for the motorcyclist's helmet. It was still spinning in the middle of the street. The officers stopped and carefully approached the helmet thinking it would still contain a head. They were relieved when it didn't and soon after, they found the wreckage and the motorcyclist's body in the front yard of the private residence.

We hadn't been there long when our captain arrived. He was in full uniform. We were surprised to see him arrive so soon after we did. In fact we were surprised to see him at all since he was supposed to be in the middle of his vacation. As he explained it though, he was originally scheduled to work as duty officer for the night and none of his colleagues would fill in for him. I guess there's no loyalty among captains.

The captain had another dilemma. Prior to his arrival, he experienced a wardrobe malfunction. The zipper on his trousers had broken. The poor guy had to walk around the scene while positioning a note book over his crotch area. Then of course a stringer arrived and aimed his camera right at the captain as he panned the scene.

The coroner investigator arrived early and well ahead of the body wagon. After conducting his preliminary investigation, he though it might be a good idea to get the body out of the front yard so that the family who had crowded into the livingroom window to watch, would not have to suffer any more. So with the body now bagged, the coroner grabbed a hold and dragged it down the driveway to the curb next to the trash cans where it would be ready for pick up. Yes, next to the trash cans. We began to speculate on what would happen if an early morning trash truck got there before the body wagon. Oh, what is wrong with us? We are sick.

The scene eventually wrapped up and we headed in to the barn just before dawn. In the old days I probably would have greeted the sunrise with a couple of cold beers. Instead, I just went home and crawled into bed.