(Article is in Novels universe)
Sheriff Victor Goodman is a character appearing in the novel A Wanted Man by British author Lee Child.
Character description[]
Sheriff Goodman is described as being fit as a soccer player when Julia Sorenson first meets him, which she contemplates isn’t bad for “an old man”. It’s also said that he is about 20 years older then Sorenson, and given she is 47, would make Goodman about 67 or if not, around his sixties (at the time of A Wanted Man).
In A Wanted Man[]
Sheriff Goodman is dispatched to investigate a crime involving a man in a green winter jacket being found murdered in an old pumping station. He notably talks to the witness, who saw the blood from the building and a red car leaving the scene, including two men in suits. Goodman then calls upon more units, road checks and a helicopter to search a vehicle with two men in. A little later, he hesitates to have said order remain in place, but decides against it and keeps it as originally ordered.
Goodman heads out in his patrol car to search down a two lane road. Along it is mostly cocktail bars, motels, regular bars and retail stores. He decides to look along the east side before moving to the western side of the road. He then decides to search at a bar he normally frequents, and finds the red car behind it. The car is revealed to be a red Mazda 6, which for the most part fits the description given. He calls it in, while also realising that the assailants could be long gone outside of Nebraska. He then heads back to the crime scene to meet FBI special agent Julia Sorenson.
Back at the crime scene, he informs Sorenson of the crime and victim, detailing what they know so far. Sorenson asks him questions about the body’s status, who has seen or touched it, which Goodman says has only been himself and the medical examiner. He then guides her into the pumping station for a look around. Sorenson asks him if the witness saw a knife, which he says they didn’t. He is also asked by her if they’ve found out who the victim is, to which he replies they haven’t. He tells her they’ve conducted road searches and didn’t find the assailants. Sorenson suggests that the assailants could have escapes in separate vehicles, which Goodman admits he didn’t consider. Sorenson then asks him to help her flip the victim over so she can search his back pocket for an ID, which she doesn’t find.
Goodman is present in a patrol car when Sorenson questions the eyewitness. Mostly he doesn’t say much during questioning, until he interjects questioning how the assailants could have gotten to the pumping station without a vehicle, also questioning the weather conditions being suitable for them to walk in, given they weren’t properly dressed for it. After Sorenson wraps up her questioning of the witness, she and Goodman head to the cocktail bar to have a look at the red car.
Once back at the cocktail bar, Goodman is asked by Sorenson if he knows the owner, which he confirms and is asked to call her. Goodman is informed by the owner, Missy Smith, that she left the bar alongside the last guests around midnight, and that one of the waiters remained at the bar to clean up. Sorenson then asks him to call said waiter, which he does but the call goes over to voice mail. He is then asked to try and call Missy Smith one more time, but this time he doesn’t receive an ansewer. After Sorenson is informed of the State Department being alerted about the case, both she and Goodman share confusion and uncertainty as to if they might be dealing with the murder of a diplomat. Goodman says that Sorenson belongs to the Justice Department and not State, but she tells him she doesn’t belong to anyone. Once Sorenson spots a gas station nearby, Goodman joins her to have a look at the security footage there.
Upon seeing the security footage from the gas station, Goodman and Sorenson discover the Mazda arriving at the cocktail bar and being parked behind the building, however they initially don’t see any vehicle leaving. Sorenson subsequently deduces that the sedan they saw driving northbound past a pickup in the southbound lane, had to be the assailants after they switched vehicles, meaning they left going northbound rather southbound as the their original theory was. The cashier informs them that he heard a car alarm by the bar. As they leave to visit Missy Smith, Goodman comments that Sorenson should have set up roadblocks fifteen miles ahead and not twelve.
Goodman questions Missy Smith about the waiter, and Smith gives him her address, before he returns to his car where Sorenson is waiting. He comments that the address is unfortunately a few miles away from their current location.
When they arrive at the waiter’s address, they discover her car missing. Sorenson asks Goodman what the waiter’s first name is, which he reveals is Karen, and initially that her surname was Delfunso. After Sorenson questions a neighbour about Delfunso, she meets Goodman in Delfunso’s driveway. Goodman expresses shock that the daughter is still at home. They agree not to report Delfunso as deceased before it’s confirmed for certain. They propose that she could have left a message, but after Sorenson checks with another neighbour, that theory is quickly ruled out.
Upon returning to Goodman’s car, he suggests that Delfunso could have been killed. Sorenson supports the thought, but says they shouldn’t give up. She then asks him to check with dispatch if they’ve found a lonely woman wondering around confused or disoriented. She also expresses the new working theory as that her car was stolen and the assailants knocked her out to get it. She also asks Goodman to have his deputies search around the bar for a possible body. After they both make their respective calls, Goodman reports back to Sorenson that dispatch hasn’t heard anything and that his deputies are conducting a thorough search.
Goodman and Sorenson return to the bar, where the deputies’s search for a body has come up empty. One of the deputies suggests that Delfunso could have been thrown into the car, which Sorenson asks him to repeat, before concluding its possible it could have happened. She then asks Goodman about what Delfunso would have been wearing, which he describes as a glistening outfit then would not be hard to spot.
Goodman suggests that the suspects had a reason to he heading southbound, which Sorenson finds confusing at first. They begin to head a couple of blocks ahead and stop between a gas station, a few bars and a convenience store. Goodman deduces that the suspects headed to the store because they needed something. In the store, Sorenson questions the cashier who reveals that their culprits, at least one of them, bough some water and change of clothes, specifically suites. After they leave the store, Goodman admits that they were wrong about the suspects attires. He further suggests that they should call in the Illinois State Police to set up roadblocks in their jurisdiction, but Sorenson decides against further roadblocks. Goodman expresses concern for Delfuenso, suggesting the suspects may dump her in the wilderness. Later, he suggests they should search garbage bins for the clothes and knife the suspects disposed of. Despite disagreeing on the issue with Sorenson, Goodman has a deputy conduct a garbage search regardless. While talking to Sorenson about how the murder was committed, he comments that hasty crimes mostly don’t go smoothly. He also says that the suspects may not have had a plan before they had to improvise, which Sorenson agrees with, with the exception nothing too spontaneous happened in this case. While Sorenson talks to forensics on the scene of the Mazda, Goodman agrees in confusion about how the suspects made it though the tough weather dressed only in suites. He adds that his deputies didn’t find an abandoned car. After Sorenson gets another call, he asks her who it was. Sorenson tells him it was Langley, and that the CIA wants her to inform her over the course of the investigation. The deputy Goodman sent to conduct a garbage search, later returns and informs him that he didn’t find clothes or a knife.
Goodman has his deputies search the surrounding ground for anything further, and is present when special agents Robert Dawson and Andrew Mitchell from the Counter Terrorism Unit in Kansas City, Missouri, arrive on scene. Goodman dosen't get involved in their discussion with Sorenson or State Department representative Lester L. Lester jr. However, sometime later he gets a call from his shift leader, who informs him that the witness Sorenson questioned earlier, has disappeared, having never made it home. He further reports this to Sorenson herself. After Sorenson gets a call from her office in Omaha, she excuses herself to Goodman, and that she needs to head to Iowa.
Goodman notes the important details of Sorenson's story. He questions what to do about the witness, to which Sorenson says that they need to keep looking for him. He also questions that Sorenson's supervisor might not trust her, but she dismisses this. Goodman also questions what the third man's motives were by dropping the phone call. Sorenson says it may be due to him changing his mind. Lastly, Goodman wonders when they should inform Delfuenso's daughter about what has happened. Sorenson advises Goodman to do it because the county is his jurisdiction. She also advises him to do it first thing in the morning. She also promises him all necessary resources to his disposal.
Goodman heads over to the witness’ house, and while driving on the country road there, he checks his surroundings, cornfields, after him. At the house, he questions the girlfriend about the witness. She informs him that the witness would have made indications or informed her if anything changed in his plans. Goodman then heads out to look for the witness’ vehicle, an old Ford Ranger. Once driving down the county road, he thoroughly searches shop windows on both sides, before spotting the vehicle outside a hardware store. He calls it in to Sorenson, who dispatches forensics to the scene. Goodman asks about the driver of the getaway car, which Sorenson explains she is about to meet. She also mentions the driver’s claims of being a passerby and hiking. Goodman also mentions it’s about time to inform Delfuenso’s daughter about current events, given its soon dawn. Sorenson reminds him to tread carefully and not say anything about Delfuenso’s status before it’s confirmed. Goodman also asks if she believes the driver, to which she expresses her doubts.
He arrives back at the Delfuenso house to tell her daughter about her mother’s disappearance and supposed death on orders from Sorenson. After exiting his car, Goodman begins to think about how he should approach the daughter about her mother, and subsequently decides to take Sorenson’s advice on not telling everything before everything is certain. He then begins to head towards the driveway.
Goodman meets Delfuenso’s neighbour and Lucy at the stairs of the neighbour’s house. Goodman tries to explain to Lucy that her mother has gone missing, but reassures her that they are looking for her. He then asks the neighbour if she can take care of her until they can find her mother, which the neighbour agrees to.
Some point later, Goodman returns to the neighbour’s house, only to discover Lucy Delfuenso missing and the neighbour having gone to work. He calls to inform Sorenson about the kidnapping, informing her that the neighbour’s daughter thought it was two men and that they possibly drove a car. After hanging up with Sorenson, Goodman decides to investigate further. He discovers tire tracks in the mud outside the house, but concludes they only came from his car, both the time he and Sorenson arrived and when he came back on his own. He concludes that Lucy might have been kidnapped on foot, but questions himself how someone could do it in the middle of nowhere.
Goodman suddenly feels a sudden pain in his back and chest while sitting on the car. He feels paralysed and glides till he sits in his knees. He then falls over and his brain is the last body function to perish. He is later found by Sorenson and Reacher arriving on scene. Reacher concludes that Goodman died of a heart attack, possibly due to stress, worry and lack of sleep.