Celeste Chapter 3
The past couple of hours had been exhausting.
After the emotional storm Capri weathered, crying in my arms for the second time, we had to endure more.
There were X-rays to ensure there were no broken bones and an MRI to check for internal damage and bleeding.
Blood draws. Then she submitted to the rape kit.
As if that wasn’t enough, we were now finally speaking to the police.
Two officers had entered her cubicle. I had to hold back the curse words.
From working at the courthouse, I knew many of the officers from the various police departments within the county.
These two, I recognized. However, in their case, I disliked the smug assholes.
Officers Ingram and Oliver were partners. Both men were arrogant and often made victims feel like the criminals. I’d seen them strut into court more than a few times to give testimony. Their feelings of superiority oozed out of them. Everyone was beneath them. I read it on them.
They were standing next to Capri’s bed. They’d just finished demanding to know who I was, which I answered. They were now speaking to my niece.
“Ms. Malcolm, we need to ask you several questions. It would be in your best interest to be truthful with us,” Ingram stated.
“Why wouldn’t she be truthful?” I asked. He ignored me. I checked my phone. The message I was waiting for wasn’t there.
“I asked a question. Why wouldn’t she be truthful? What can you tell us about the people you questioned at the party? Did anyone see anything? Has anyone spoken to her friend, Vanessa, who took her there? Is she alright?” I fired back.
It was Officer Oliver who answered me. He narrowed his gaze at me. I had news for him. If he thought that scared me, he’d better think again.
“Ms. Malcolm, we’re trying to complete our investigation. We can’t discuss our findings with you. Please allow your niece to speak. It’s in her best interest to tell us what happened and to leave nothing out or to change any details.”
That was it. I’d warned her not to say anything when the cops arrived.
I’d seen too many rape victims in court being torn to shreds like they were the ones to blame for what happened to them.
It was no wonder so many sexual assaults went unreported.
If the police and those who were supposed to help and protect you treated you like a criminal, why bother?
Many times, it was the victim’s word against the rapist’s when there was no physical evidence.
I’d seen it where even when there was DNA such as semen, the victim had to prove it wasn’t from consensual sex.
I rose to my feet. I placed my hand on Capri’s arm.
I made sure my gaze met that of the officers.
“My niece will not be answering any questions, nor filing her official report, until her lawyer arrives. You can either give me your number so I can call you when she does, or you can wait in the waiting area. I’ll come get you when she arrives.”
I got satisfaction from watching them stiffen, and annoyance replaced their slightly condescending tone.
“Why would Ms. Malcolm need a lawyer to speak to us? Only the guilty need one,” Ingram said.
“No, they don’t. It’s always smart to have legal representation even if you’re not guilty of wrongdoing.
And it is her right. Before you try to scare her into talking by talking about her appearing guilty, save your breath.
I work in the legal system. I know how rape victims are perceived and treated many times. She’s the victim, not the culprit.”
They exchanged glances, and then it was Oliver coming at me. “We could arrest you for impeding an investigation.”
“You can try, but that’s not what we’re doing.
We’re simply asking you to wait for her lawyer.
She should be here at any moment. You’re still free to gather evidence at the scene, conduct interviews, follow up leads, and even gather information on her test results here.
Nothing else will be found in those tests other than proof she was drugged.
And remember, before you can ask for the results of her blood alcohol test, you need a court order.
Did you bring that? If not, then you can work to get one.
See, you have plenty to do. Nothing is impeding this investigation,” I told them. I was calm and straightforward.
“What exactly is your position in the legal system?” Ingram asked.
“I’m a court reporter for Judge Levi Fontana. I know you know him. You’ve been in his courtroom more than a few times.”
This information stiffened them even more and prompted wary looks.
Judge Fontana was a former police officer who became a lawyer and then a judge.
He was known to be a hardass. But one thing I knew about him was that he was fair.
When he could, Judge Fontana imposed the maximum sentence possible.
Most of my disappointments came when I was a court reporter for other judges.
I was borrowed when Fontana had no cases.
Those judges, in my opinion, left a lot to be desired.
They gave ridiculously light sentences, rarely going for the max.
“Who is her attorney?” Oliver asked, after a good thirty seconds of silence.
I turned the knife more. “It’s Lucia Fontana. Surely, you know who she is. She’s Judge Fontana’s daughter,” I informed them sweetly.
I watched both men struggle to conceal the anger that flashed across their faces. It took them a few seconds to do it.
“You sure seem to be deeply involved with the Fontana family. Way more than just a court reporter,” Officer Ingram commented with a snide undertone.
“I am.” I left it at that.
There was no reason they should know that Lucia and I had attended the same schools growing up. While we weren’t close friends, we had a mutual liking for each other. When we graduated from high school, she went away to college while I stayed local.
At our five-year high school reunion, she discovered what I did for a living and what had happened to my family.
In addition to telling me how sorry she was, Lucia had gone to her dad and asked him to give me a chance as his full-time stenographer without my knowledge.
He agreed to give me a chance. The rest was history.
I’d thanked her several times. Lucia would always wave me off and say it was nothing.
And she’d given me her personal number a long time ago, in case I ever needed her help. Tonight was the first time I’d used it.
“Er, well, I guess we’ll be back. Here’s my number. Please call us as soon as Ms. Fontana arrives. We’d like not to let the trail go cold,” Oliver responded.
I could tell it stuck in his craw to be nice about it, but Lucia had a reputation to match her dad’s.
You went up against her at your own peril.
That woman didn’t like to lose and did everything possible to avoid it.
She was ambitious yet caring, and she hated to let anyone innocent fail to get justice.
I knew this because we occasionally grabbed coffee between cases at the courthouse and talked. I took the card.
“I’ll do that. Since we’re done for now, I’d like to let my niece get some rest,” I hinted.
They barely gave us chin lifts before they left. The tension in the small space eased. Capri blew out a shaky breath.
“Celeste, I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t been here. Those officers are scary,” Capri said shakily.
“That’s one of the reasons I am here. And you did great. When it comes to them or others like them, let me or Lucia do the talking.”
Before either of us could say more, my phone buzzed, alerting me that I had received a text message. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I looked at it. Relief hit me. It was from Lucia. She said she was five minutes away and would come back to us. All she needed to know was which bed Capri was in.
I responded, “Bed five.” With the prospect of her being here, I relaxed a tad. At least I had someone to help with this part. And for emotional or physical support, that remained just me and my niece.
???
Capri was sleeping restlessly. We’d been moved from the ER into a patient’s room. The doctor wanted to keep an eye on her as a precaution. I had no objections. The past several hours had passed in a tired blur.
It was after seven o’clock in the morning.
I had the lights out in her room and informed the staff that I was closing her door so she could sleep.
The hallway was noisy with people making rounds, other patients waking up and activating their call lights, or yelling for help.
Breakfast will be here anytime. I tried to sleep, too, but my brain wouldn’t stop going over what I’d learned in the past six hours since that fateful call from Nurse Paris.
My heart still ached for Capri and what she suffered.
She hadn’t regained any memories of what happened after she was talking to the girls at the party.
Lucia had arrived and asked her some basic questions.
Then she told her how it would go when they spoke to the police.
Once Capri was prepared, I placed the call.
Thinking about it still made my blood pressure rise.
While Ingram and Oliver pretended to be more understanding, they couldn’t fully cover their true natures.
They tried a few times to make it seem as if Capri had done something wrong or wasn’t telling the truth.
Lucia was quick to stop that. She insisted they tell us what they had learned so far from the scene and from questioning the witnesses.
Although reluctant, they did. Christ, it wasn’t as if we were asking them to reveal top-secret government plans.
They shared that witnesses reported seeing my niece talking to various people at the party, but that was all.
She had been seen arriving with Vanessa.
When asked whether the cops had spoken to Vanessa, they told us no.
According to others at the party, she left not long before Capri was found in a pool house in the backyard.
The girl who threw the party came from money.
Her family had a huge house, an estate, with an outdoor pool, extensive grounds, and a pool house.
Capri had no recollection of going to the pool house.
When they left, the officers said they would speak to Vanessa.
As far as they knew, she had no idea anything had happened to Capri.
I wanted to talk to the little bitch and find out why she left my niece there.
If she couldn’t find her, why not raise the alarm and get others there to help search for her?
We learned that the ones who found Capri were a couple who snuck off to fool around in the small pool house. They’d been shaken by what they saw.
Lucia had left to obtain copies of everything the police had found.
She made sure Ingram and Oliver knew she was to get everything, including a copy of Capri’s sworn statement.
When I told Lucia I didn’t like or trust those two, she agreed and swore she’d keep an eye on them.
Before she left, she asked us to call her if we needed anything, even if it was just an ear to talk to. I hugged her for the offer.
As Capri drifted off to sleep from the pain medicine they gave her, I stewed.
Despite everything the police promised to do, I knew it might not be enough to catch whoever violated Capri.
Even if they did, would they be able to convict the person or persons?
And what if they did, but the perps got off with a light sentence?
All the injustice I’d seen streamed through my brain.
Ultimately, I knew one thing. Justice better be served and served appropriately, or I’d take care of it myself. No one harmed my family and got away with it. I knew I’d have to do some sleuthing of my own. I’d start with Vanessa as soon as I could.