Falsely Accused Ch. 01

"Mr. Gordon," said Cindy, "do you know a woman named Kendra Luskin."

"Uh, yes." Peter said. "We went on a date tonight... or last night, I guess. Why?"

"Mr. Gordon," asked Cindy, who was not letting Joanne do the questioning, "what did you do during your date with Ms. Luskin? Where did you go? And your answer needs to be very accurate."

"Uh," said Peter, "we went to dinner at Luigi's, then went to the mall and got ice cream, then..."

"Then?" coaxed Cindy.

"We went up towards Point Hollow and... parked."

"Did you have sex with Ms. Luskin?" asked Joanne. Cindy looked irritated at Joanne's question.

"Er, yes." said Peter.

"Did you force yourself upon her?" asked Cindy.

"No... she was all over me." replied Peter. "She'd grabbed my crotch several times, and she was the one that suggested we go parking at Point Hollow."

"Mr. Gordon," Cindy said, "your story differs substantially from the one Ms. Luskin has told us. Are you sure you don't want to tell us the truth?"

"I am telling you the truth!" said Peter, his voice rising. "Now what is this about? I demand you tell me what this is about!"

"Mr. Gordon," said Cindy, "Ms. Luskin has filed a formal complaint that you forced yourself upon her and raped her."

"What?!" Peter gasped. "That's not true! It was consentual. She initiated it!" Then he got control of himself. "I think... I want a lawyer."

"Why?" asked Cindy. "If you're innocent, why won't you cooperate with us?"

I could not believe what I was hearing. I tapped on the glass... well, I banged on it hard enough to nearly break it. Cindy and Joanne both came out to the anteroom.

"Detective Warner," I said, "help the suspect call an attorney or call the Night Court to get him one here, pronto. Captain, come with me."

We went to the breakroom, where I made a point to slam the door. "What in the fuck was that about?" I growled. "You should know better than that! Hell, I sent you to refresher training at the Police Academy over that shit!"

"May I speak freely, sir?" Cindy asked. I was about to go bonkers.

"No you may not." I said coldly. "This is all formal, and protocol. You're about to get written up. Now what the fuck were you doing in there?"

"I'll say it within protocol, then." said Cindy. "I do not agree with you, sir, that a defendant invoking does not suggest guilt. I'm trying to give this guy a chance to clear himself. Once he invokes, then the legal process takes over, and he won't have a chance."

"And you may have damaged that legal process." I replied. "For God's sake, Captain, I cannot believe what I just heard. Oh, and you do have a warrant for that cheek swab, don't you?"

"No sir." said Cindy. "Or it's part of the arrest warrant, gathering physical characteristics."

"What?!" I gasped, totally stunned. "You know the arrest warrant is not enough, and 'physical characteristics' is nowhere near enough! You have to get a specific warrant for that!"

Cindy said nothing, just looking back at me defiantly. I realized I didn't know what to do or say at the moment.

"Captain," I finally said, "go back to your office or go home. You are not to have contact with the suspect again. At all. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir."

Part 4 - Realization

The Duty Desk called the Night Court to ask for a public defender for Peter Dwayne Gordon. Peter was taken to a holding cell that had a lavatory and a potty, and while I did not think he was a suicide risk, I had him put on suicide watch, which would mean that anyone who tried to speak to him would be observed.

While we waited for an attorney to arrive, I went to my office and began checking up on Peter and Kendra. I found out that Peter's father was a man named Lawrence J. Gordon. He had been a Senior Vice President of Acme Tool & Dye before BOW Enterprises had bought out Acme. He'd also been on several Boards, including Henry R. Wargrave's Acme conglomerate, as well as DynaCorp... and BigAgraFoods.

As to Kendra Luskin, I confirmed that she was a yoga instructor, had a studio in the City that was popular. She also had plenty of money in her several bank accounts, but had very few transactions via the wires or cards, meaning she dealt a lot in cash. I also was having trouble getting her background for more than four years ago. Maybe she was married, or divorced, I thought as I emailed Myron and asked him to find out more about her, as well as about Peter and his father and other family.

I then had a 'vibe'. I accessed the video of the interview with Cindy, Joanne, and Peter, looking for the part I had not seen while talking with the Chief. I was shocked by what I saw:

Christina Cho had come in and Cindy had said "We're going to take a DNA sample with a cheek swab. Please open your mouth."

"Wait." said Peter. "Do I have to do this? You haven't even told me why I was arrested."

"Open your mouth. Now." demanded Cindy. Peter looked uncomfortable, but did so, and Christina took the cheek swab.

I was stunned. This alone could cause the case to be thrown out of Court. But I did my duty: I made sure the evidence was securely backed up so that it could not be destroyed.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

When I looked up, it was nearly 5:00am. I called the Duty Desk and asked when Peter's lawyer had arrived. They said no one had arrived yet. That got my curiosity up. I called the Night Court Clerk myself.

"Hi, this is Commander Troy at Police Headquarters." I said. "We requested a public defender for a suspect about two hours ago, but no one has arrived."

"I'll have to check on that for you, sir." said the Clerk. "I do know the request came in, but I do not know who Judge Nance assigned to the case."

"If Judge Nance is there, can you put me through to him?" I asked.

"He's in session now, sir." said the Clerk. "Can I have him call you back?"

"Yes, please." I said, then made my goodbyes. I went to the Chief's office. Chief Moynahan was there, and he was dozing like a good Cavalry soldier would. When he had me come in, I told him about the Court situation, and also about Cindy's interrogation anomalies.

"Ooooo." he said. "That's bad. Especially for a Captain who knows what she is doing. Have you said anything to her?"

"I told her to have no more contact with the suspect." I said. "I'm not even sure what else to say or do. Her actions are so out of whack that I'm struggling to understand them. I'll be talking to her again in the morning, and see what she says. If I don't like what I hear, I'll have to move it up to your level."

"Keep me apprised of that situation." said the Chief. Just then, his phone rang. The Duty Desk said the public defender was here. It was Dwayne Epstein.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"I called the Night Clerk." I said as I watched Epstein talk to Peter Dwayne Gordon in Interrogation-1. "She said that Epstein was assigned out of turn, and that Judge Nance had cited lack of availability of other lawyers. They're not supposed to assign public defenders out of turn like this, but they've done it before, and there's not a whole hell of a lot we can do."

"Can't you complain and ask for another one?" asked the Chief.


"I could." I said. "But Nance could then delay making a new assignment for hours, and maybe even wait until Epstein comes up in the rotation and assign him then."

"Strange." said Moynahan. "I'll be in my office. Are you going to interrogate the suspect personally?"

"Not right now, if I can help it." I said. "Theo Washington just got here and will go in with Joanne. I'm also going to have Officers go and pick up Kendra Luskin and bring her back in, and also obtain the dress she was in. She should not have been allowed to leave the hospital with it on, but they didn't stop her. My list of training classes is growing by the second..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"I'm telling you," said Peter, trying to control himself, "she initiated it! She was playing with my crotch, she opened my pants, she sucked my dick then asked me to make love to her!"

"How did you feel about that, at the time?" asked Theo Washington.

"I was kind of shocked." said Peter. "I have dates with women, but they usually don't just throw themselves at me like that."

"How did you meet this woman?" asked Joanne.

"Our polling office is at the Mall." Peter said. "She came in one day and gave us coupons to take her yoga class at Town Fitness Centers for free. When I was closing up the place, she was walking by and asked me to walk her to her car, so I did. She asked for my number and I gave it to her and she gave me hers. Then she called me and asked me to take her out for a date, so we went out."

"After you had sex, what happened?" Theo asked.

"She asked me to take her home so she could clean up." Peter said. "So I drove her home."

"Did she invite you inside?" asked Theo.

"No, she said she was tired, and I could call her the next day." said Peter. "Then she got out of the car and went to her apartment."

"Okay, Peter," said Joanne, "here's my problem: Ms. Luskin said you asked her out, that you were aggressive towards her all evening, then you drove her out towards Point Hollow. She said she protested and asked you to take her home, but instead you forced yourself upon her and raped her. And you've got scratches on your arms and neck, which we photographed while you were being booked."

"She scratched my arms while she was coming." said Peter. "She apologized after she did it, said she got carried away! Her fingernails are like talons, too... and if I was trying to attack her, wouldn't she have scratched me a lot more, and on the face to try to stop me?"

The Chief came into the anteroom. "Well, Mr. Crowbarrrrr, what do you think?"

"I think we've got to take a step back and get a hold of this." I said. I banged on the one-way glass, and Joanne and Theo came out. "Put him in a holding cell. Tell his lawyer we're going to feed him breakfast before we have any more interrogations. When you have Kendra Luskin brought in, make sure the dress she was wearing is brought in as evidence." Joanne and Theo left the anteroom. Officer Meir escorted Peter to his holding cell.

"You seem dissatisfied, Mr. Crowbar." said Moynahan, obviously trying to draw out my thoughts. I allowed him to succeed.

"No, I'm not." I said. "Did you see Kendra Luskin at the Hospital?"

"No, she was still being examined when I left." said the Chief.

"She's a yoga instructor. Well toned, muscular. And this guy is not only not physically imposing, he's not exactly aggressive in his demeanor, either."

"Doesn't mean he couldn't find a way to commit the crime." said the Chief.

"I know." I said. "But I'm tellin' ya, Chief, this one is... off." Then I declared what I was certain about: "I don't think he did it, Chief. I think she's setting him up."

"Why?" asked the Chief.

"That's what I have to find out." I replied, my mind going into a deep reverie...

To be continued.