The Van

Ending stretches suspension of disbelief too far

Why would Tommy direct Caroline to a real cop, and why would she believe him, and not assume that that guy was actually an accomplice of Tommy? That's where I thought the story was going.

Not really

What you have here is a classic character who is extremely cocky, and highly empowered by his past success. Given the lack of witnesses, her (idiotic) willing entry into the van, and the lack of forced entry or bodily harm, there is absolutely nothing she can do against him without that recording. She cannot in any way whatsoever prove it was rape, and would be shut down in court by any lawyer worth a penny. He is basically playing a game with her and the cop that he expects to win and has won before. His undoing is the aura of invincibility he perceives around himself.

He tried to play the system again, and she ended up playing him. The only question would be when she'd be able to actually start the recording, especially given that she was an idiot. There was nothing whatsoever the law could do to him without it. It's much more realistic than many stories in this section are. Rape, sadly, tends to be a rather easy crime to get out of if the rapist knows how, and the attitude is rather normal for a serial rapist (or a serial killer, really), even if it was taken to an extreme. Unfortunately with the way the system works, false rape allegations are common and stick all too often, thus making it much harder to punish the actual rapists.

I liked the ending. I'd even say something similar has happened multiple times before, though it would of course be extremely rare.

This is only the second comment I've ever made on a story in seven years.

nice trick while it lasted

rewrite

truly awful dialogue...so stilted and corny

Liked it.

The language was very stilted, and I'm not sure whether that was intentional because the guy was attempting to look smart and harmless, or if it reflects an unfamiliarity with the language, as suggested by the story's tagline. He wasn't "helpless", the word you wanted was "harmless". English, second language?

That said, it's obvious that the girl isn't quite as stupid as she looks, and that she turned on the phone right after she got and looked through the purse. "Caroline hesitated, then nodded. He seemed straightforward and he had found and returned her purse." That suggests that the trust wasn't completely there and that she recorded things just to be on the safe side. Not sure how well that would hold up in court, but it had the story backing, even if it's kind of a cheat.

Interesting story. I kinda liked the ending and his being so cocky as to direct her to the cop that's going to put him away. I liked the twist in the end.

since when do you need witnesses..

Here the deal.. if a girl goes to a cop and says she was raped. They have to take the accused in for questioning.. take her to the hospital for forensic testing etc... Its for the Its up to the DA after all evidence is collected and anyone who might have seen anything is question.. to deside whether or not to arrest the person and charge them.