Washington City Paper: Contents for Feb. 23

Never Let Go
Phil Burton can't forget his last corruption case. Even though everyone else would like to.

Cover Story

Phil Burton has his reasons. He has his reasons for uncorking the attic stairs, goading me up those steps the size of baby feet, into that slanting slope of musty heaven, to stumble around in the dark. He has his reasons for hemming me into this room, still dark, with no place for fear of heights. He has his reasons for lunging into a crevice to pick up a light bulb attached to an electric cord, flicking it on, and waving the bare bulb over his stash--the rows and rows of boxes.

Burton has his reasons for showing me this little cardboard refuge. A 22-year veteran investigator with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), three years into cozy retirement, Burton has parked much of his career here. These 30 boxes brim with old case folders, notes, and sentencing reports. Endings. All in various hues of beiged bureaucracy. All that he has left of the job--paper.

Years ago, Burton reasoned that these boxes had a purpose: to bolster his bad memory, to guide him toward self-improvement, and maybe to help someone solve a murder case some day. Now, these moments wrapped in Manila just prove that he existed. Was a cop. A damn good cop. They're up in the attic, if you want to fact-check his life.

Burton, 54, has his reasons for waving the bulb in a quick, nervous ceremony, accompanied by a sense of embarrassment. When I point to the awards and plaques crammed into one box, he goes gruff.

"Those don't mean anything," Burton says. He has his reasons for thinking awards to be horseshit.... Continued

Issue of Feb. 23 - Mar. 1, 2001

News and Features

Never Let Go
Phil Burton can't forget his last corruption case. Even though everyone else would like to.
Cover Story By Jason Cherkis
Pop Quiz
The City
Tool Time
A Salvadoran earthquake relief effort proves that DIY can help others, too.
The City By Rebeca Logan
Pump It Up
Don't bank on cheaper, safer D.C. taxicabs anytime soon.
The City By Ayesha Morris and Richard Byrne
Digital Gratification
The Mail By Mark Lewis
Radio Free Maryland
The Mail By Brian Harris
Build It But They Won't Come
The Mail By Jonathan Strong
Separate, Not Equal
The Mail By Franklin E. Kameny
Little Boxes on the Hillside
The Mail By Ester Neltrup

Columns

Unfair at Any Fee
Cheap Seats By Dave McKenna
Curiouser and Curiouser
Loose Lips By Jonetta Rose Barras
Questioning Authority
City Desk By Annys Shin
Rich Irony
City Desk By Richard Byrne

Eats

Movies

Love's Locale Lost
Film Review By Mark Jenkins
Art Brut
Film Review By Joel E. Siegel
Paint It Black
Talking Pictures By Mark Jenkins
Monkeybone
Film Review By Mark Jenkins
Billy Liar
Film Review By Mark Jenkins

Music

I've Been Waiting for You
Music Review By Michael Little

Theater

A Good Day's Work
Theater Review By Bob Mondello
Dog Tired
Theater Review By Trey Graham

Arts and Events

Making Up Is Hard to Do
For a local troupe of "improvists," comedy may be an ugly business—but it's a whole lot prettier than their day jobs.
Arts By Sean Daly
Rhinestone Cowgirl
Artifacts By Margaret Foster
Moments of Truth
Artifacts By Maori Karmael Holmes