Tom Douglas
- "The quicker we get the information we need, the better our chances are to find the bastards. Your duty is to the living, sir. Mine is to the dead."
— Tom Douglas to Sam Rosen
Sergeant Tom Douglas is a character that appears in the novel, Without Remorse. He worked under Emmett Ryan in 1970.
Biography
In 1970, Douglas was a policeman with the Baltimore City Police Department under Emmett Ryan. Following the death of Pam Madden whose body was photographed and shown in multiple newspaper, the city's mayor personally called for action on the case. Douglas was assigned the lead detective on the case. He traveled to John Hopkins Hospital to interview Pam’s boyfriend John Kelly. Kelly's doctor and friend Sam Rosen warned Douglas to not question Kelly too hard as he did not want to risk stressing him out further. Douglas was then convinced by Rosen to allow him to stand in during the interview.
After Douglas introduced himself to Kelly, he tried showing him the photo of Pam's body to identify her. Enraged, Rosen tried to stop Kelly from seeing the photo and pinned Douglas against the wall. The photo landed in Kelly's lap, however, causing him break down in shock. Douglas tried to apologize but Sam continued to reprimand him, stating the he could of identified Pam and that shock like that could kill someone. Despite this, Kelly collected himself and told Sam it was alright as Douglas was only doing his job. He then told Douglas that it was Pam in the photo and asked why Frank Allen was not involved with the investigation. Douglas explained there was a conflict of interest should if Allen was on the investigation. Kelly then told Douglas that he did not see who attacked him and gave a brief description about how Pam wanted to speak with Allen to discuss a murder. After receiving little information he could use for his investigation, Douglas departed and returned to the station to speak with Ryan.