22. The Rag and Bone Shop, by Robert Cormier

 

Cormier, R. (2001). The rag and bone shop. NY: Delacorte Press.

 In this novel, Trent is a famous police interrogation officer working in Vermont. He is known for his 100 percent confession rate on all of the cases he works as a police interrogation officer. While he is employed by a police station in Vermont, police stations from around the country call him in for help on important cases. When a seven-year-old girl, Alicia Bartlett is murdered in Monument, the lead detective on the case, Braxton, calls Trent in to help obtain the confession of the last boy, Jason Dorrant, to see Alicia alive. Even though the police do not have any physical evidence that connects Jason to the murder, he is their only suspect, and they direct their efforts into getting a confession from him.

At first, Trent is worshipped as the best interrogator in the country. Even the senator in Monument, whose grandson is a classmate of Alicia Bartlett, takes an interest in getting Trent to obtain the confession from Jason Dorrant. The senator offers Trent an opportunity to "write his own ticket" in his career if he obtains the confession. While Trent has good intentions when he first enters the interrogation room with Jason Dorrant, when Trent realizes the boy is innocent, Trent uses leading questions, techniques, and tactics to obtain a false confession from Jason. By the end, Trent only cares about maintaining his 100 percent confession rate and furthering his career.

Trent's plan backfires on him when Sarah Downes tells Trent that it is impossible that Jason Dorrant confessed to the crime when they have a confession from Alicia's brother, Brad Bartlett. After Brad's alibis fell apart, Brad confessed to murdering his sister and leaving her body in the woods. Trent obtaining a false confession from Jason Dorrant has the opposite effect on his career, most likely obtaining a demotion, and wrecking his 100 percent confession rate, rather than furthering his career. 

The experience for Jason is devastating.  He can’t sleep, he has panic attacks and be begins seeing a therapist and taking medication.  The end of the book implies that the trauma Jason endured from the interrogation drives Jason to commit the very offence he was forced to falsely admit to.

I want to begin with a rant.  I know this is just a story, but what kind of mother allows her child to go to a police station alone and be questioned, no matter how insignificant?  

The main theme of the story is guilt.  Trent manipulates Jason to confess to a crime he didn’t commit.  Trent knows Jason is innocent but pushes Jason anyway so he can keep his 100% confession rate. Trent feels the guilt of what he is doing to Jason through the whole interview, but he ignores it.

I found a discussion guide from Penguin Random House.  The link is below.

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/32033/the-rag-and-bone-shop-by-robert-cormier/9780440229711/readers-guide/