I've been flamed

Here's a bitchy email I received from a Law Review person. One of the sources I was assigned to locate for cite checking isn't available anywhere (a common problem for this author) so the editors told me don't worry about it; they'll ask the author for it. Then I get this:

You were supposed to find a source called "Joyce Klemperer, Twice Abused: Battered Women and the Criminal Justice System in New York City (Coalition of Battered Women's Advocated 1993)." You placed question marks next to it and I was wondering what if any actions you have taken to secure it. If the source is not available in the Houston area, an ILL must be sent. Please let me know as soon as possible when you obtain this source.

Note the accusatory tone. Let's do this again--the annotated version this time, with interlinear notes.

You were supposed to find. . . Any email or discussion that starts off this way is going to end badly. You put the other person (I should say target in this case) on warning that you have your torpedoes loaded and your finger's on the trigger.

...a source called "Joyce Klemperer, Twice Abused: Battered Women and the Criminal Justice System in New York City (Coalition of Battered Women's Advocated 1993)." I did look for it, thanks for asking. Quite thoroughly. There have been three Law Review articles that cite it--all 10 years ago, and two were written by this author. It's not available in our library system, it's not listed in HeinOnline, WorldCat or even Google, and the CBWA's not listed in the NY phone book. There was a number on one web site, but it's been disconnected. God, I'm such a slacker.

You placed question marks next to it and I was wondering what if any actions you have taken to secure it. Torpedoes away! "If any?" is a shorthand way of saying "I'm going to assume you're lazy and incompetent, unaware of the requirements of this assignment and need you to prove to me I'm wrong."

If the source is not available in the Houston area, an ILL must be sent. Thank you for reminding me of the rules. This is only my fourth cite check for the Law Review, and a missing source has never come up before.

Please let me know as soon as possible when you obtain this source. I'll get right on that!

Oh, and if she'd bothered to look at the list of sources we're asking the author for, mine is listed. (So there!)