Sgt James Locke got quite a surprise this morning when he walked into the conference room of his Ontario Provincial Police detachment. Not only were his colleagues there, but his wife and daughters had also come to see him feted. The surprise gathering was organized to thank him for his generous help with my research for The Medal. In the course of writing the novel, I had a number of questions about police and court procedures. (Fortunately I had no personal knowledge on which to draw!) Unfortunately I had found no officer with the time to answer them. In May 2011, when I was driving home along Highway 7, I came across the Madoc detachment. “What have I got to lose?” I thought as I presented myself at the desk. I was hoping to make an appointment for a later date if someone would agree to assist me. Enter Sgt. Locke. He ushered me into the conference room and seemed very interested in my story. He had written articles for a local newspaper when he lived out west, and hoped one day to write a novel himself. When I left the detachment half an hour later, he had not only […]