Breaking Down Barriers

The part that I hate most about this job is that everyone in this place hates my guts.

To put this in some sort of context, I am here, as a Major Crimes detective, in this small community to conduct an investigation into a particularly heinous crime, the systematic rape of a young girl.

As an outsider from the city I have been treated as a leper, someone that the locals would prefer not to speak with, and to not answer any of my questions. I got the impression that, while everyone either knew who the perpetrators were, or had worked it out for themselves, they were reluctant to give them up to the police.

"Don't know what you're talking about." Was the most common response to my questions, closely followed by "You're wasting your time talking to us." Not even the threat of court orders forcing them to speak helped. I would somehow have to break down the barriers, and knowing small towns, this was not going to be easy.

The girl in question was not speaking, in fact, hadn't spoken about the incident at all. It was her mother who went to the police, claiming that the members of the local under 20 football team had all participated in this.

"I didn't ask for your help." Not very encouraging opening words from Sergeant Radcliffe, the local law enforcement in this town.

"I realise that, but the girl's mother complained to her local Member of Parliament so it got tossed to us to investigate. She didn't feel that it would be investigated properly by you, given your relationship in this community."

"Her," There was disdain in his voice, what was to come would not be helpful to my investigation. "She has not fitted in with this community, never tried."

"What can you tell me about her?"

"Not much to tell. Six years ago Ted Smithson lost his wife in an accident. He moped around town for a year or so. The local ladies tried their best to cheer him up but he wasn't having it. He blamed them for the accident that killed her."

"What happened?"

"It was after one of their regular get-togethers and they apparently did some serious drinking. Maddie was a passenger in a car that skidded off the road and hit a tree. The impact was on the passenger side front door, and although she was wearing her seat belt, she suffered massive head injuries and died before getting to hospital. The other three only had minor injuries. Ted couldn't handle this and lost the plot for some time. Four years ago he signed up to one of those matrimonial web sites and they fitted him up with Simone. Things went downhill from there. The ladies were upset at him for seeking love outside the town, and Simone had a young daughter, Felicity, who was thirteen at the time. She tried to fit in with the kids at school, but the door was slammed in her face. This caused tensions in the marriage and Ted started drinking heavily. He was walking home from the pub and was hit by a car. Simone claimed that it wasn't an accident. There was no evidence to support her claim."

"So you believe that this accusation to be more of the same?"

"I have investigated, but there is no evidence to support her claim this time either."

"From experience, you won't get anyone to dob in the lads that are alleged to have been involved. The best that I expect to get from them would be that the girl in question was up for it and was consensual, end of story. But, and this is a big but, the Minister believes the mother and won't settle for anything less than a full and transparent investigation into the allegations. Given that there is an election coming up, he is willing to sacrifice his popularity in this town for the greater good of this electorate. So, like it or not, I do not have any option other than to investigate fully, and the sooner the good folks of this town realise that saying nothing will only prolong the agony, the better."

"I'll have a word in important ears and see what eventuates."

"You do that." I left him to have his word in important ears and walked back to my hotel where, to be honest, I was not well received.

"Sergeant Rogers, there's a message for you." According to her name badge, her name was Rita, and this was the first time that she had voluntarily spoken to me. Up until now, I had to drag words from her, two at a time.

I looked at the message slip that she handed me, it was from my Inspector. I couldn't understand why he hadn't called my mobile. I borrowed the phone at the reception desk and rang him. "Are you making any progress?"

"It will take time, the locals are not being cooperative."

"The Minister expects results, the right results."

"If I push too hard his standing in this town will drop into negative territory."

"He's aware of that, but, and these were his words, to lose a couple of hundred votes is not going to make a huge difference at the next election, but to not get a result will. So apply as much pressure as necessary."

While I didn't have the phone on speaker, Rita was close enough to hear his words, and these would be spread around town in a matter of minutes. I realised that this was exactly why he hadn't called my mobile.

I went to my room and rang Simone. "Would you be available for a chat in, say, fifteen minutes?"

"Yes."

"Good, I'll see you then."

I knocked on the door. "It's open, come in." The voice came from the rear of the house. I walked through and noticed several packing cases stacked against a wall. "You'll have to excuse the mess, we're packing and getting out of this place as soon as we can."

"I would encourage you to stay for a while yet. If you leave we will not get anywhere with our investigations."

"Have you made progress? From what I have heard, no-one's talking to you."

"True, it hasn't been easy getting the locals to open up, but I wouldn't be surprised if we don't begin to make progress. If you leave, they will believe that they have won and the investigation will be shut down. I do not want that to happen."

"If it was just me, I'd stay until the last of them are punished, but I have to think of Felicity, she has withdrawn into herself and I can't get through to her."

"Maybe if I was to have a word with her. . ." I left the comment unfinished, the choice was hers.

"You can try . . ." Simone left hers unfinished.

I followed her down the hallway to the door of Felicity's room. Simone knocked. "Go Away!"

"Darling, Sergeant Rogers would like to speak to you."

"I have nothing to say to him that will make any difference."

"Felicity," I said as softly as I could, I didn't want to scare her by sounding official. "I know exactly what you are going through, this situation is not new to me. I want to help you, I know that I can help you, but I need for you to at least talk to me. If I have to rely on what I've been told by the good folks here, we will get nowhere. I need to get as much information as you can give me so that I can wrap this up as quickly as possible. Then you will have a better chance to get on with the rest of your life."

"I have no rest of life to get on with."

"You can't believe that, I don't believe that. I have faced similar situations in the past and have managed to resolve the issues to the victim's satisfaction. Please, can you at least give me a chance?"

Her door opened and I entered her darkened room. Bedraggled didn't come close to describing her appearance. Her hair hung in untidy strands, her face would need a scrub to remove the mascara that had run down her cheeks and then a lot of makeup to look half-way respectable. She wore an oversized tee-shirt that came to half-way down her thighs and was probably what she slept in, and she had a pair of shorts under it. She wore no shoes. She went to her bed and sat on it. "Well, what do you want to speak to me about?"

The last thing that I wanted to speak about was her experiences at the hands of the boys from the football team. "I grew up in a town, not unlike this one and I didn't fit in, just as you haven't. You see my father was an Anglican Priest and he moved there to replace the old one that had died. He tried to change the way things went on around town, tried to bring religion back to the people. Within days I was called 'Churchy', and I was excluded from all of the 'normal' activities the kids were involved in. I was glad to get out of the place and back to the city. I stayed with an uncle and aunt until I'd finished my schooling and joined the police force. The thing that drove me to join the police force was that there were a lot of things that went on around town that were overlooked by the police and that went unpunished. I did not believe that this was right, and while there needs to be a certain amount of flexibility in what was to be punished and what wasn't, there was no line in the sand that should not be crossed. I am here to draw that line in the sand and see that you receive justice."

"Good luck with that." Her voice was soft. She was right, I would need luck and lots of it.

"How was it that you went to the party? From what I hear you hadn't been included in the social activities before this."

"I thought that it would be my last chance to be accepted by the other girls, at least I was led to believe that it was. I had no idea what went on at the football club and I tried to leave when it was obvious that it was usual for the boys and girls to have sex. Some of the younger men joined in as well. One girl I saw was doing it with two men. I wanted no part of it, but when I asked one of the older men to take me home he refused and that's when it all started. "You don't want to leave just when the fun is starting, do you?" He said to me.

"I want no part of this, I want to go home."

"Do you have money for a taxi? No-one here will drive you."

"Can you lend me the money?"

"No, we don't bring money to these shows, the ticket price includes all food and drinks, and activities." It was obvious what was meant by activities.

"Can you call me a taxi and I'll pay him when I get home?"

"No, I can't do that." He went over to one of the young men and spoke to him. The young man came over with him and took me by the hand. He led me to the centre of the room and a circle of boys and young men formed around me. One of the girls came into the circle and stood by me. I thought that she would protect me. I was wrong. She slipped the straps from my shoulders and pulled the top of my dress down. She undid my bra, and while I tried to cover my breasts she pulled my panties down. One of the young men joined us and he placed his finger into my vagina. "She's nice and tight, who's going to be first? She will go first to the highest bidder and then to the rest, all proceeds will go towards the end of season trip, so cough up."

"So much for them not having money. Can you tell me how many of them had sex with you?"

"I lost count, it seemed as if all of them took part."

"Did they use any protection, condoms?"

"I don't know, some of them may have but the amount of sperm that flowed from my vagina, I don't think that they did."

"I don't suppose that you put your panties on after this happened?"

"Yes I did. I had to stop that stuff running down my legs somehow." Felicity told me.

"Where are they now? They haven't been washed have they?"

"No, I threw them in the rubbish bin when I got home."

"Has the garbage been collected?"

"No."

"Good, I think that it might be time to stir the pot a little."

"What are you going to do?"

"I will collect your panties and take them to our forensics lab. They will not only be able to ascertain the presence of semen but can isolate the DNA of individuals. As soon as I get the results I will begin testing all of the young men in town to identify who it was that was involved."

"But they will hate Mum and me even more. Can you wait until after we leave town before you do this?"

"I could but I'll get results faster if you are still here. Don't worry, I will make sure that no-one harms you or your mother in any way."

"I hope that you're right."

"I know that I am." I hoped that I sounded convincing enough for her to believe me. "I'll see you again soon, I just need to speak with your mother and let her know what is going to happen."

"Well, did you learn anything?" Simone asked as I walked back into the kitchen. She had a cup of coffee waiting.

"Simone, when you went to the police, did they take sperm samples?"

"No. Felicity didn't want to be touched by anyone, not even Sergeant Radcliffe."

"That's a pity, if they had used a rape kit we might have something to work with."

"At least we have her panties, we can examine those and collect DNA from them that will help our investigation."

"Did she tell you what happened?"

"Yes. I can understand why she has withdrawn into herself. What she went through at the hands-on not only the young players, but some of the senior players, was horrific, to put it mildly. She will need all the support that you can give her. I will speak with a Counsellor that I know and see if she's prepared to come down and speak with Felicity. She's good at what she does and has a lot of experience in dealing with young girls in a similar situation. In the meantime, I'll collect her panties and take them off to be examined. We should be able to isolate individual DNA strands that will give us something positive to work on."

"I hope that you're right. I still think that we should leave."

"I'd hold back on that for the moment. If you leave now it will cost you a lot of money. I might be able to swing compensation from the town so that you aren't burdened financially."

"I don't want their money. I'd settle for an apology from everyone involved and some sort of community-based punishment."

"Such as?"

"The school badly needs repainting, the lads involved should provide the labour and the town the materials. That way they will be doing something positive for the town instead of roaming the streets at all hours making a nuisance of themselves. Sergeant Radcliffe is too scared of the money families to do anything about it."

"If I can get both, will you accept the money?"

"If it's enough to buy a house in Sydney, then yes, I, we, probably would accept it."

"Leave it with me and I'll be in touch as soon as I know anything. While I doubt that you'll have any trouble while I'm back in Sydney, I'll give you my mobile number, just in case. If you feel the need to have a chat about anything, give me a call."

"Thank you for at least taking an interest in our situation." She leaned over and kissed me.

It had been a while but not that long that the memories didn't come flooding back. They were not good memories.

Simone caught the change in expression. "I'm sorry, I seem to have touched a nerve."

"Yes, you did." I tossed up whether to burden her with my sad memories, Memories heads, and no memories tails. Tails won. "This is something that I am not yet ready to reveal to anyone. Forgive me, someday I might feel the need to unburden myself, but I'm not yet ready for that step."

"You're doing what?" Sergeant Radcliffe couldn't, didn't want to, believe what I had just told him.

"I'm taking this evidence back to the Forensics Lab and getting them to isolate the individual DNA strands, and when I have those I will begin testing all the members of the football club." He didn't miss my emphasis on 'all'.

"I would advise against that."

"Do you know," I looked him in the eye. "When I joined the force I swore to uphold the law. You would have made that same declaration."

"This will not end well let me tell you."

"Are you threatening me?"

"No I'm not, but I can't be held responsible for what others will do if you back them into a corner."

"Did I miss something here? Are you not supposed to uphold the law?"

"I am only one man, I can't be everywhere at the same time."

"I could always call headquarters and get them to send re-enforcements."

"I have to live in this town, you don't. And as for Simone and her daughter, they had better think about leaving before they're forced out."

"Again with the threats. If anything happens to them while I am gone I will not hesitate to bring those responsible to justice."

News travels fast in this place. "So you're checking out then?" Rita greeted me with this as I walked through the foyer.

"I don't know where you get your information, but no, I'm not."

"But Sergeant Radcliffe just called to tell me to make up your bill because you were leaving."

"He hopes that I'm leaving. It's a misunderstanding on his part. I'm heading back to Sydney, but I'll be back, so keep my room for me if you would."

I had only been in my room for twenty minutes when my phone rang. "Sergeant, it's Simone. I have just had a call from someone who's unhappy that I've been talking to you. I've been told that if I know what's good for me and Felicity, I'll keep my mouth shut."

"That's it I've had enough of this bullshit, I'm sick of playing nice. What I want you to do is, you and Felicity get in your car and drive to my hotel. Park out the front and walk inside. Don't talk to anyone, just walk through the foyer and go upstairs to the first floor. Rita will probably tell them that you are going up to my room to speak with me and that's fine, let them think that. My room is down the end of the corridor, walk past it and knock on the door as you do, then go down the fire stairs to the car park. I'll be right behind you. We will get into my car and drive off. They are expecting me to leave, so won't be too concerned when they see me drive off. My windows are tinted so they probably won't be able to see if there are any passengers, but just in case I want the two of you to get on the floor."

"This seems a bit drastic. Do you want us to pack anything to wear?"

"No, we can sort that out when we get into town. I'm not taking any chances that you'll be seen. If they don't see you leave we can be well away before they realise that you have left town."

I had my phone turned off for the journey back to Sydney. I turned it on as I drove down my driveway. It immediately went ballistic telling me that I had several missed calls, all from the same number. I dialled the number and when it was answered, announced myself. "Adam here, you called, several times."

"Adam, where are you?"

"I've just arrived home, I'll call in later in the afternoon, there's some evidence I need examining."

"The reason that I've been trying to get hold of you is that you've really opened up a can of worms. You wouldn't happen to know where Mrs Smithson and her daughter are, would you."

"Yes, they are with me. I didn't think it advisable to leave them there, not after the threatening phone call she got. What is the problem?"

"There has been a fire, a deliberately lit fire, and it has destroyed her house. The firemen were concerned when they couldn't find any human remains in the burnt our shell."

"I thought something like this would happen. I smuggled them out with me when I left. The good sergeant knew that I was leaving and no-one would have seen them with me, so I guess that they haven't put two and two together yet. It will only be a matter of time."

"So where are they now?"

"They're with me. I'll feel better if they stay with me and I can protect them."

"Are you sure that you're ready for this, you have a certain vulnerability when it comes to women, or have you forgotten your recently departed disaster. You trusted her too much and too often and she took advantage of it. How many times did you forgive her before she hooked up with the bastard that killed her?"

"Too many. But I have the feeling that Simone is different."

"Heed my warning Mate. She's in a vulnerable situation right now and will maybe take your interest in her the wrong way. What will you do if she falls in love with you?"