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Honor & Betrayal PT 44
Author: Gabrielle T.
Stuart
***********************
INT
COURTROOM
10:56 HOURS
As Ryerson returns to her seat beside Peterson, Imes stands and
walks toward the witness stand.
IMES
Colonel, just so we're clear, ....... Was it you're
dog's incessant pawing at the carpet that initially drew your attention to
the coffee stained area of the carpet?
MAC
Yes.
IMES
You had never noticed this stain before?
MAC
No. I had vacuumed under the furniture that
evening and I guess I didn't move the sofa back to exactly the same
position. It must have left the stain exposed enough for
Jingo to find.
IMES
People spill things on their carpets all the time,
Colonel. Why did this particular stain draw your
suspicion?
MAC
It was the exact spot where I had accidentally dropped my coffee on
the night in question.
IMES
You're of course referring to the night of
you're alleged rape.
MAC
Yes.
IMES
Colonel, defense counsel has implied that perhaps
in some way you're responsible for fabricating said evidence. Is that the
case here?
MAC
(firmly, her eyes meeting
Ryerson's)
No, absolutely not!
IMES
Once you realized the potential significance that this particular
piece of evidence could have in implicating your assailant, what steps did
you take to assure that it would be handled properly?
MAC
My immediate reaction was of course to get the dog away from the
area. And as soon as the hour permitted, I phoned
you.
IMES
And then what?
MAC
(her eyes meeting Imes)
Three hours and twenty-six minutes later, you arrived at my
apartment accompanied by a forensics specialist from NCIS. I
directed Mister Landry to the area of carpet in question and he methodically
secured the evidence.
IMES
Thank you Colonel. I have no further questions, your
Honor.
With those words, Imes withdraws from the witness stand and returns
to the prosecutions table.
MORRIS
(turning to Mac)
You may step down, Colonel. Does the prosecution wish
to call any other witnesses?
MATTONI
Yes, your Honor, the prosecution
wishes to call Alan Landry to the stand.
******************
INT
BRIG
11:32 HOURS
Stepping over the yellow tape blocking the entrance, Lieutenant
Roberts enters the locker room. As he approaches the crime scene, he
observes Agent Holland and Master Chief Durant standing between the rows of
lockers where the assault had taken place. Drawing closer to
Holland and Durant, Roberts' eyes fall upon the chalked outline of a human
figure drawn on the tile floor......blood stains smeared in and around the
outline.
DURANT
(irritably, catching sight of Roberts as he
approaches)
Look, ....meaning no disrespect, ma'am, but all I
know is that when I walked in here, I found Lieutenant Malory lying there
on the floor unconscious and covered with blood. Commander Rabb was
sitting on the floor beside him.......leaning up against the
lockers.
HOLLAND
What was the Commander's condition?
DURANT
He seemed a bit dazed by it all and was pretty badly beaten
up himself. It's my guess that the perps must have
interrupted his shower or something because all he had on was a towel. That
would only make sense given Petty Officer Tate had escorted the Commander down
here to do just that.
HOLLAND
The perps?
DURANT
Ma'am?
HOLLAND
You said "perps", Master Chief. Do you feel that
there was more than one perpetrator involved in the assault?
DURANT
Well, I hardly think that one man could have pulled it off
alone, ma'am.
Holland gazes to Roberts with a note of suspicion in her
expression.
HOLLAND
I suppose you're right, Master Chief.
(she pauses for a long moment) Did Commander Rabb say anything to
you?
DURANT
No ma'am.....well, not much, anyway! I mean he had a
gash across his forehead and seemed pretty traumatized by the whole
experience.
HOLLAND
As one would expect after what he'd been through.
But what I really need from you right now is for you to try and remember
exactly what the Commander had to say to you during the first few minutes you
were with him.
DURANT
Like I said, ma'am, not much! I mean the
Commander was somewhat in a panic over Malory's condition and ordered us to get
the guy some help. That's basically it, ma'am. Nothing else
seemed to matter to him.
HOLLAND
You can't be more specific than that?
DURANT
No, Ma'am!........ I'm sorry! I
mean everything happened so fast and I knew that they both needed immediate
medical attention.......I mean Malory was barely
breathing! So, on the Commander's order, I sent Tate to get
help. Before I knew it, Malory was being medivaced and
Rabb was being rolled out of here on a gurney.
HOLLAND
So Commander Rabb made no mention to you about what had
happened or gave any indication as to who the perpetrators may have
been?
DURANT
No, ma'am! Not to me anyway.
The vagueness of Malory's answers irritating Lieutenant Roberts
, he steps closer to Durant.
ROBERTS
Well, Master Chief, perhaps you can offer some sort of
explanation as to why something like this could have happened on your watch in
the first place?
DURANT
(arrogantly, his eyes shifting away from
Holland and evading Roberts)
We were critically understaffed last night, Lieutenant,
and overall budget cuts compromised the effectiveness of the
brig's security system. But then, I've
already explained all that to Agent Holland, not to mention Admiral Chegwedden
and Colonel Lehmann and quite frankly I'm resenting the implications that
are being made that I am in some way personally responsible for what
happened. (he pauses for a long moment.....his eyes meeting the skeptical
eyes of Lieutenant Roberts) That said, I'd really like to be
excused. I've pulled back to back watches over the last twenty-four
hours and I really would like to go home and get some rack
time.
HOLLAND
By all means, Master Sergeant. And thank you for your
time.
DURANT
(with a nod of his head)
Ma'am. (walking past Roberts with a smug grin on his
face) Lieutenant.
Roberts and Holland watch Durant carefully as he walks out of the
locker room.
ROBERTS
(gazing to Holland)
I'm assuming that you're aware of the fact that
Commander Rabb has identified Durant as a possible suspect.
HOLLAND
So the Admiral told me,
Lieutenant! He also told me that the Commander never
actually saw the man's face because all three perps wore black hosiery over
their heads to conceal their identities.
ROBERTS
Even with that being the case, ma'am, there's still size and
weight.......hair color......tone of voice.
HOLLAND
Well, Lieutenant, Master Chief Durant has more than that......he
has a solid alibi and the corroborating witnesses to back him
up.
ROBERTS
(shocked)
What was his alibi?
HOLLAND
Durant told me that after he sent Tate to escort Rabb to the locker
room, he proceeded to make his rounds on the remaining two cell
blocks.
ROBERTS
And the inmates are backing him up?
HOLLAND
To the hilt! Several have attested to the
fact that Durant was on their relative cell blocks during the time frame in
which the assault was taking
place.
ROBERTS
(concluding)
Then they're covering for him.
HOLLAND
Maybe. Or the Commander's mistaken!
ROBERTS
I find that hard to believe, Ma'am.
HOLLAND
Well, Lieutenant, according to Admiral Chegwidden, Rabb and
Durant were at odds with one another from the very first moment of the
Commander's incarceration. That alone could have caused some prejudice in
the Commander's mind .....maybe even enough for him to have wrongly
accused Durant. I mean I'm sure that the man was under a tremendous
amount of duress during the assault.
ROBERTS
While I certainly agree with you on the duress issue, ma'am,
I hardly think that Commander Rabb would prejudicially accuse anyone
for what happened. I mean, he definitely had some
personal issues with Durant, but he wouldn't have identified him as
one of the perpetrators without just cause. He's just not the
kind of guy who'd conjure up something like that!
HOLLAND
(gazing down at the blood stained floor, Holland sucks in a deep
breath before responding to Bud's acclimation)
I don't know, Mister Roberts! I think that after
the kind of hell the Commander suffered here last night that he may have been
inclined to put the blame on whomever he felt was the most deserving.....in this
case it would have been Master Chief Durant.
Gazing down at the blood stained floor, Roberts falls into silence
for a long moment as he considers Hollands words.
ROBERTS
(at length, meeting Hollands gaze)
Meaning no disrespect, ma'am, but I still have to disagree.
HOLLAND
Well, this may be hard to swallow, Lieutenant, but
with Durant's solid alibi coupled with the fact that to this point we have
no physical evidence, it's going to be very difficult to pin this one on
the Master Chief. I mean all we really have is Commander
Rabb's word and it's just not going to be enough.
ROBERTS
You're not going to just give up on this, are you?
HOLLAND
All things considered, Lieutenant, prudence would suggest
that I look elsewhere for a possible suspect. Wouldn't you agree?
ROBERTS
Well......yes ma'am, ......but
HOLLAND
Given it's Commander Rabb who's made the ID you feel that I should
be digging deeper.
ROBERTS
Yes ma'am.
HOLLAND
You're loyalty is to be commended, Lieutenant! The Commander
has a good friend in you. And, well.....I agree. I think
we should definitely dig deeper.
ROBERTS
We, ma'am?
HOLLAND
I'm on my way over to Bethesda to attempt an interview with
Commander Rabb. If you have some spare time and can clear it with the
Admiral, why not ride along with me.
ROBERTS
It'd be rather irregular for us to be working together,
ma'am.
HOLLAND
Well, we made a pretty good team when we went down to
Norfolk with a search warrant on Peterson's residence. Anyway,
if I know you at all, Lieutenant, you're not going to sit back and
wait patiently while I investigate this case. Why I'd be willing to bet
that you're probably two steps ahead of me already.
ROBERTS
(lightly laughs with amusement)
No ma'am. Not quite, anyway.
HOLLAND
Well, are you up for it?
ROBERTS
Once I clear it with the Admiral, yes,
ma'am!
******* ****** To be Continued *********