Ethan and Liz walk along the waterfront, taking pictures of seagulls, boats and each other. It’s a beautiful day, great for wandering. A day for getting to know each other.
They end up in his old neighborhood, or what’s left of it, and Ethan shows her around his hometown. He tells her about the neighborhood where he grew up. About the house where the neighborhood witch lived, the one that cast the spell on him that made him fall out of her apple tree and break his arm. But the witch’s house is gone, replaced by a parking lot.
Most of what Ethan shows Liz are the new buildings standing in the places where his personal history was forged. He shows her where the library his Mom used to bring him used to be, before it was torn down to make room for a burger joint. Before she married the jerk. The elementary school Ethan attended has long since been supplanted by the Waterfront Mall.
Liz finds herself warmed by the intimacy of seeing the world through Ethan’s eyes as he shares his memories. As the sun is going down, they are walking hand in hand through the park at the water’s edge, heading back to catch the bus back to Christie, Liz just has to ask, “Why won’t you talk to the cops, Ethan?”
He stares out across the water. He doesn’t want to look at her, afraid what he’ll see in her eyes.
“I don’t like cops.” he says, quietly.
“Well, where were you that afternoon?”
Ethan shrugs. “Recording Professor Mol’s lecture for the graduating class.”
“Well, why didn’t you just tell them? That’s a great alibi. It’s fantastic. Don’t you see, it proves you’re innocent.”
Ethan shrugs. “They can find out themselves.”
Liz stops and flops down on a bench overlooking the water.
It takes Ethan a minute to realize she’s stopped walking with him, and he turns around and goes back to sit beside her.
“What?”
“The cops are wasting time thinking you’re a suspect.”
“Fuck ’em if they can’t take a joke.”
Liz flushes with anger. “Do you want people to think it was you? The cops aren’t going to find the real rapist if they think you’re it. They might not even look. It’s not a joke, Ethan.”
“I know it’s no joke, Liz, but I was in Toronto during the G20 and I will never forget that shit. Reading the articles and seeing interviews after, well, the official line did not match what I saw. So I don’t trust cops any more. So I don’t talk to them. Ever.”
“But that was a different time and place.”
“Long as cops aren’t accountable, they do what they want.”
“But it wasn’t even these cops.”
“Doesn’t matter, babe. I guess the Toronto cops had their reasons for arresting people who didn’t do anything. These cops might have their reasons too. I don’t know. I’ll bet the school is leaning on them really hard to catch the guy. They might not even care if its the right guy. Well, it’s not going to be me. It comes down to it, I’m not going to be the fall guy if they don’t catch the real rapist.”
Liz is shocked. “You don’t think they’d do that?”
“I don’t know, but I’m not willing to risk my freedom to find out.”
Liz reaches over and squeezes his hand. “That’s okay, I wouldn’t want you to.”
