Never Judge A Book
Chapter One: Misconceived
It was July 2006 The NYPD detectives of 12th precinct were working as hard as ever, bringing down criminals left, right and centre. It wasn't the easiest job in the world but someone had to do it. They'd recently had a new detective join their ranks at twelfth. Her name was Detective Adrianna Marcus. Adrianna was small built, standing at around five two, with medium length chestnut coloured curls. She had big green eyes, usually somewhat magnified by the thick lenses of her glasses. Greek in descent on her mother's side her skin was lightly tanned. Alongside speaking English she also spoke fluent Greek, something she often used to her advantage.
Born 23rd April 1976 to Eddie and Marla Huntley, Adrianna was unlike most cops due to the fact she came from a very privileged background because her father owned a chain of very successful strip clubs, which he'd inherited from his father when he'd died young and her dad had been just twenty one, and was a multi-millionaire. This often caused people to dislike her and believe she was daddy's little girl or a spoilt little rich girl. Which she wasn't. She never accepted his hand-outs, the only time she had was when she had moved into her place. He had given her enough money to buy it outright even though it was only a little two bed thing. But other than that she didn't accept his hand-outs. And there was reason for this. She didn't like him but not because he was rich, big-headed, self-absorbed or anything like that, well maybe a little bit. It was because he was a disgusting paedophile.
He'd touched her up a few times, put his hands up her shirt and touched her breasts and put his hands up her skirt. And he had forced her to perform oral sex on him more than a few times. Then when she was thirteen, just days after her birthday, he'd brutally raped her and it was enough to make her hate him for the rest of her life. He'd done it no more than twenty four times over the next three years. Then just months after raping her just after sixteenth birthday he'd raped her best friend and then paid her friends family off. Paid them enough to drop the charges and avoid going to court. That friend had never spoken to her again. She'd taken that money because she felt he'd owed her for what he'd done to her. Then never accepted another dime from him and cut all ties with him because she hated him. She liked to be independent which was why she had a job and paid all of her own bills with the money she'd earned. Then treated herself with the money she'd earned.
Her parents, especially her mother Marla had wanted her to be a lawyer or a doctor but Adrianna was not that kind of girl. She had always wanted to join the police force ever since she could remember. This had not pleased her mom at all. She had told her being a police officer was not a woman's job and that she wouldn't fit in there because she came from a wealthy background. And that police women were not easy to marry. This had annoyed her. She did not much care for taking a husband. Which had irritated her mom because she told her that every respectable woman she be married to a respectable, well earning man who could and would take care of her. She did not need a man to take care of her. She loved what she did.
She fondly remembered a row she'd had with her mother when she'd been accepted into the police training academy. You'd think after twelve years her mother would've accepted her choice of profession, but Marla hadn't. She was pleased she was out of uniform and was a detective but still wished she'd pack it in and go to law school. Adrianna refused to do so. She wasn't going to give up her job and go to law school ever.
Her parents had split when she'd been three and her mom had remarried three years down the line. She was very close to her stepdad as he had always been more of a dad to her than her own dad. He had been in her life since she was three and half. She called him dad. He had treated her like a daughter, even though he had two of his own with her mom. He said he was her first daughter and treated her exactly the same way he treated her half-sisters. Her dad had also remarried, to a woman half his age and who she disliked because she was incredibly self-centred and had ignored her whenever she had been around. She had been vain and mean. She was a woman who did not like children so when she and her brother, Alexander, were at their father's house they had to stay away from her and behave otherwise she would punish them by yelling at them and slapping them. She was very close to Alexander and he was very protective of her, he always gave her boyfriends the once over and his seal of approval.
Her mom liked setting her up with wealthy men but the relationships rarely worked out for two reasons usually. One most of them were self-centred arseholes and disliked the fact that she was a policewoman. Two, she pushed them away and didn't like to be very intimate with them, which many of them hated. A lot of them had begged her for sex but when she'd refused repeatedly got fed up and ended the relationship. Some of the relationships worked out but then ended because the men were disrespected by their wealthy peers because she was working woman, working as policewoman. Or she'd just realised they were also self-centred idiots. The only one who hadn't been a wealthy man was her last boyfriend, he'd been a cop. But he wanted to be wealthy and expected her to regularly take hand-outs from her wealthy father. Which was why the relationship had ended and he had gone round telling her everyone she was daddy's little rich girl.
She was not what everyone thought she was.
Twelfth was supposed to have been a fresh start for her, she had been determined to drop her spoilt little rich girl tag once and for all. But if only life were that simple. It didn't take long for everyone to get the wrong idea. Her ex-boyfriend had been working there when she'd first transferred over and he had soon spread it around the precinct who her dad was and that she was just a spoilt little rich girl. And that she was tight with her cash and only thought of herself. It frustrated her and this caused her to play along with it. So she effectively became what people expected her to be and not who she really was. This screwed up her chances of losing her spoilt little rich girl tag. The ex-boyfriend who had spread this had transferred two weeks after her arrival for unidentified reasons.
But she was still desperate to lose that tag once and for all. Maybe she needed someone to show her she was not what everyone thought she was. Though constantly being called it really hurt and annoyed her. Maybe this someone was the one person in perhaps the whole of twelfth who wasn't so sure she was a spoilt little rich girl.
She had arrived at twelfth six weeks ago and was struggling to fit in there because of what had ex-boyfriend had told everyone about her. People had taken an instant dislike to her because came from money and it was not helped by her latest case. A young woman had been found, shaking and covered in blood next to body, a man in his late teens, early twenties. She and her partner Detective Don Flack had been sent to the scene. By the time they arrived she was sitting in an ambulance with a blanket wrapped around her shaking shoulders. Lindsay Monroe was beside her, talking to her. "I'll talk to the girl" said Adrianna.
"Ok" said Flack "I'll go and talk to Mac and Danny, see what they've got". Adrianna nodded and they went their separate ways. She went over to the girl. "Hey I'm detective Marcus, what's your name sweetheart?"
"Stephanie Bowden" she replied shakily.
"And how old are you?" asked Adrianna.
"Twenty three" replied Stephanie, trembling.
"Ok Stephanie and can you tell me what happened?" Adrianna asked gently.
"It was self-defence" she stammered before bursting into tears.
"I'll go with her to the hospital" said Lindsay "Do a sexual assault kit"
"If you give me a ring when it's done I'll come over and see if I can take a statement" replied Adrianna.
"Ok" nodded Lindsay.
"Stephanie Miss Monroe is going to go the hospital with you and take some evidence ok?" said Adrianna. Stephanie nodded before the paramedic helped her move onto the bed. Lindsay climbed into the ambulance with Stephanie and the paramedic closed the doors. Adrianna watched it go before going up to join Flack in the hotel room the body was in. "What's his name?" she asked.
"Callum Benjamin" said Flack "Twenty three. The rooms under his name"
"Did she call it in?" asked Adrianna.
"No the woman staying next door called it in" replied Flack "She heard screaming about half-past ten and called the police. Our lot came along and checked it out. Found the girl, he was already dead"
"What is the first guess C.O.D?" she asked looking over to Callum Benjamin's dead body.
"Multiple stab wounds the chest and torso" replied Flack "What's the girls name?"
"Stephanie" said Adrianna"
"What did she say?" he asked.
"She said it was self-defence" replied Adrianna looking at the body. That seemed a little excessive for a self-defensive attack. From what she could see he had been stabbed at least ten times. She'd seen self-defence attacks in her time but ten stab wounds seemed a little excessive. "But this it's extreme self-defence"
"She was probably in fear for her life" said Flack "She's clearly been raped"
Adrianna looked around the room and noticed something odd. Nothing really seemed that out of place. Only a few things had been knocked over and broken. And there was only blood in the bedroom. Surely if he'd chased her around the whole place would be completely trashed and the blood wouldn't be concentrated into just one area. "There's something out about this whole crime scene" she said finally.
"What do you mean?" Flack frowned.
"Well look around. What do you see?" she replied.
"Blood. A lot of blood" he shrugged "That vase has been knocked over and…"
"Doesn't it seem odd that nothings really out of place?" she asked him.
"Well not really" he said, a little confused.
"What are you suggesting Adrianna?" asked Danny "That she cold bloodedly stabbed him to death. Have you seen her? She was shaking and crying like nothing I've ever seen before"
"No I wasn't" she replied defensively "I was just saying its odd that nothings out of place that's all. I wasn't suggesting she did it in cold blood. Just to me it doesn't look like there was much of a struggle. I just think there's something off about it. And yes I saw her. She was clearly shaken up"
"Maybe he drugged her so she wouldn't put up a resistance" suggested Flack "But she came round and realised what was going on so she grabbed the knife and stabbed him"
"Have you got the knife?" she asked Danny.
"All bagged and ready for analysis" he shrugged, not giving her eye contact. "That good enough for you Detective Rich?"
She glared at Danny, her feelings dented by him. He'd always had something against her ever since she'd arrived. Flack wasn't as bad but he had his moments. "I'll go and talk to neighbour who heard her screaming" she said before leaving the room.
"God she drives me loopy" hissed Danny.
"Why?" asked Flack "What does she do that's so bad that it drives you loopy?"
"It's the way she acts" retorted Danny "Like she's better than everyone else. It gets my back up and I can't stand it"
"She does a bit yeah" said Flack
"She thinks so highly of herself" hissed Danny "It drives me mad. She comes from money people who come from money are all the same. Spoilt little brats, think far too highly of themselves and are incredibly selfish"
"I think that's a little harsh" Flack said honestly "She can be a bit of a brat sometimes but she doesn't act like she's better than everyone else. And she's not self-important."
"Yes she is" Danny shook his head and started taking pictures again. "I don't know why she joined the police. We don't need spoilt little-"
"I'm off" Flack interrupted Danny. Ok so he wasn't willing to admit that he didn't agree but he didn't want to hear Danny's pre-judgemental comments about rich people and about how they were all the same. He'd been brought up to never prejudge people. And he liked to stick to the values his parents had taught him. So he left the hotel room and went to wait in the car. She joined him shortly after. "I thought you'd still be upstairs with your best mate." She said closing the door.
"Yeah well I would be if he wasn't giving me a headache about his prejudgements of rich people" replied Flack starting the engine "Might as well head back to the precinct"
"Yeah might as well" she nodded. He pulled away from the hotel and they drove back to the precinct. She sat herself down at her desk and typed Callum Benjamin's name into the system. He had priors for dealing in class A drugs and assault three years ago and spent three years in prison. He'd only just been released the previous day. Then her phone started ringing. "Hey Lindsay… she is… ok I'll be there in half an hour tops" the call ended and she printed Callum's record sheet. She walked over to Flack's desk and dropped the paper onto his desk. "Callum Benjamin's rap sheet"
"Where you going?" he asked.
"Hospital. Stephanie's ready to talk" she replied Adrianna "I'm going to take her statement"
"Ok good luck. Danny rung me and said Lindsay couldn't get a word out of her" said Flack.
"She called him first?" Adrianna frowned.
"Yeah" shrugged Flack "Why?"
"Nothing it's nothing. I shouldn't take it personally" she shook her head. But feeling incredibly pissed for some reason. "I should go". Then she hurried away and went to her car. A blue, three door, Peugeot 206. She pulled the door shut and started the engine. She pulled out of the car park and headed to trinity general. The receptionist directed her up to the eleventh floor. "Thank you" she said and headed over to the lifts. She took it up to the eleventh floor and found her way to Stephanie Bowden's room. She knocked on the door before going inside. "Hey Stephanie" said Adrianna closing the door. Lindsay was sat in the chair beside Stephanie's bed holding her hand.
"Detective Marcus?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah. Now I need to ask you a couple of questions about what happened." Adrianna explained. "Firstly how do you know Callum Benjamin?"
"He is… was my boyfriend" she trembled, tears welling in her eyes.
"How long have you been together?" she asked.
"Eight years" said Stephanie "We were childhood sweethearts… and I killed him"
"I know" she sighed "What happened tonight?"
"We were celebrating" she began "He… he just got out of Ely two days ago so we got on the plane the same day and came to New York to celebrate… we checked into the hotel and ordered room service…. He wanted sex but I said no. It started to go fuzzy… and then I blacked out…" she burst into tears "When I came round… he was… he was… raping me… I was so… so scared"
"Hey it's ok" Lindsay squeezed her hand.
"I fought him off but he… he came after me" she trembled "I ran into the kitchenette and grabbed the… the knife. He chased me… me into the bedroom… and tried… tried to grab me so I stabbed him a couple of… of times"
"At least ten times" said Adrianna.
"No… no I didn't" she shook her head tearfully.
"Yes… you did" Adrianna sighed.
"I… I was so scared" she sobbed "I thought he was going to kill me"
"Ok… what happened next?" asked Adrianna.
"I collapsed in tears and realised what I'd done" said Stephanie.
"Why didn't you call the police?" asked Adrianna.
"I was in shock" replied Stephanie before a fresh flood of tears poured down her cheeks. "I didn't know how to function. I'd just… just killed my childhood sweetheart."
Lindsay pulled Stephanie into a protective hug and comforted her. Adrianna hung back, unsure of what to do or say. "Thanks Stephanie… I'll be off" then she left the room. Lindsay following close behind.
"I can't believe you said that to her!" hissed Lindsay.
"Said what?" frowned Adrianna.
"That she'd stabbed him at least ten times!" Lindsay retorted "She's been raped she doesn't need you shoving it down her throat that she stabbed him over ten times and insisting that she did it so many times. Do you have a heart?"
"Yes I do and I was just stating the facts" replied Adrianna "If he did rape her then deserved what he got."
"IF!" Lindsay exclaimed furiously "If he raped her! What do you mean if? He clearly raped her. She's a mess! How can you say that?"
"I just mean we'll know for definite when the rape kit comes back and if it proves she was definitely raped the DA won't press charges for murder. They'll see she was defending herself" Adrianna tried to explain her previous statement.
"That rape kit will prove she was raped!" Lindsay snapped "What's wrong with you? Why can't you see that girls traumatised?"
"I can see it" Adrianna retorted. "I feel sorry for her because if it's true then he's really messed her up!"
"You don't act like it!" Lindsay shook her head.
"I do feel sorry for her" said Adrianna "I know what she's going through"
"No you don't!" Lindsay laughed in disbelief.
"Yes I do" Adrianna replied insistently "I think all rapists deserve to be thrown in jail and chemically castrated. I know what Stephanie is going through and I don't care if you don't believe me because I know what I'm saying is true"
"Get lost Adrianna" Lindsay scowled. And with that Adrianna headed over to the elevator and headed back down to the car park. She found her car and unlocked it. Slipping inside she slammed the door shut and looked into the steering wheel and started pummelling it. She knew what it was like to be raped. She'd been there herself and she knew what it was like to be a victim. Yet Lindsay didn't seem to believe she knew what Stephanie was going through. And that hurt. Finally she stopped pummelling the steering wheel and clipped her seatbelt in before starting the engine and driving back to the precinct.
Once there she shared Stephanie's statement with Flack and the others. Danny and Hawkes shared the evidence they'd found at the scene. "Semen and vaginal secretions match Callum Benjamin and Stephanie Bowden. The blood was all his and the DNA under her fingernails matched Callum Benjamin's DNA." Said Danny.
"She had minor vaginal bruising, no tearing either inside or out" said Hawkes "And there was no evidence of her blood at the scene so no evidence it was violent enough to make her bleed"
"What about tox?" Adrianna asked.
"Came back negative on all substances, including GHB and Rohypnol" said replied Danny.
"She didn't have any drugs in her system at all?" Adrianna frowned. "What about her blood alcohol limit?"
"0.01" replied Hawkes
"So she was under the legal limit and didn't have drugs in her system. Why did she pass out then?" Adrianna puzzled.
"Maybe she was just feeling ill" suggested Flack.
"Maybe" said Adrianna. "What about the knife?"
"Hers were the only prints on it" replied Danny.
After this she headed home and came in early the next day to go over the evidence. But it didn't add up. She had no drugs in her system, she was under the legal limit and had no head injuries. She hadn't mentioned anything about being ill either. So she couldn't figure out why she'd supposedly passed out. Adrianna made a few phone calls and discovered the knife used to stab Callum Benjamin was not kept in any of the kitchenettes and only small knives were kept in them. So either Callum Benjamin or Stephanie Bowden had brought it with them. And the only prints on it were hers. She'd brought the knife with her. She examined the fingerprint marks on the knife. They were positioned in a way that suggested she'd clutched knife in a downward fashion as her thumb was above her four fingers. So she ordered a tox screen and sat at her desk waiting for the phone to ring. It wasn't too long before Adam called her with the results. She went up to the lab immediately. "Callum Benjamin had high levels of GHB in his system. About 450mg. He would have been incapable of running after her when she claims he did" explained Adam.
"She drugged him?" Adrianna frowned.
"Yes" nodded Adam "Anymore and it could've been fatal"
"Thanks Adam" she nodded before walking off. But she was met by an angry Lindsay and Danny. "I heard you ordered a tox screen on Callum Benjamin"
"Yeah I did" she shrugged "Why?" Lindsay slapped her round the face. "What the hell Lindsay!"
"That poor girl was raped!" Lindsay seethed "And yet you seem to be out to make her a murderer!"
"I'm just seeing what the evidence shows me" Adrianna defended her actions. "She didn't have drugs in her system, wasn't over the legal limit and didn't mention being ill. I checked with the hotel. They don't keep those knives in their hotel rooms for safety reasons and hers were the only prints on the knife. Which means she brought it with her. Callum Benjamin had GHB in his system"
"So what he still attacked and raped her" said Lindsay.
"He had 450mg of GHB in his system, he would've been incapable of attacking her" said Adrianna.
"What have you got against this girl?" Lindsay demanded.
"Nothing. But I think she's been lying about what happened. I'm not saying he didn't rape her but she still drugged him" replied Adrianna.
"He probably put the GHB in a glass of wine and gave her the wrong glass" said Lindsay "He raped her. You only have to look at her to know that"
Adrianna didn't say another word before walking away. She went to see Sid in the morgue. "When do you place T.O.D?" she asked.
"Between nine and ten pm" replied Sid.
"Thank you!" she said. The neighbour had heard a scream around ten thirty and by then Callum Benjamin was already dead. Stephanie had lied to her and she knew it. "And these. Was this rape?" she showed him some pictures Lindsay had taken.
"If she wasn't drugged or unconscious no this probably wasn't rape" Sid sighed "Just very rough sex. There's no vaginal tearing and she didn't bleed. In my opinion of these pictures he probably didn't rape her."
"Thanks Sid" she said before leaving the morgue. She presented her findings to everyone else but they didn't go down well. Lindsay was still insisting Callum had raped Stephanie and there was no changing her mind. And so did everyone else believe that Callum had raped her.
She spoke to The DA and he believed she had enough to arrest Stephanie for Callum Benjamin's murder so she went by the hospital where Stephanie was about to leave and made the arrest. "Stephanie Bowden you're under arrest for the murder of Callum Benjamin…"
"What!" Stephanie cried.
Back at the precinct she put Stephanie in interview. "How are you feeling?" she asked.
"Sore" replied Stephanie.
"Look Stephanie I know you killed him" said Adrianna "You brought the knife with you and you drugged him with GHB then you stabbed him seventeen times"
"No I didn't" tears welled in her eyes.
"Yes you did" replied Adrianna "When you screamed at half past ten Callum was already dead"
"No he wasn't" she shook her head tearfully
"Yes he was" Adrianna shook her head "The coroner said he died between nine and ten pm. There were no drugs in your system and your blood alcohol limit was below the legal limit. He didn't drug you"
"He raped me!" she cried.
"No he didn't. You drugged him with nearly five hundred milligrams of GHB. He would've been incapable of running after you and raping you. You had consensual sex then you stabbed him to death." Said Adrianna.
"No he raped me!" she cried.
"Drop the act!" Adrianna retorted "It won't work on me!"
At that moment the door flew open and Lindsay and Flack came inside. "Leave her alone!" Lindsay hissed before holding Stephanie comfortingly in her arms.
"She thinks I murdered him!" Stephanie cried.
"She's just being a spoilt little brat" Lindsay hissed coldly.
"She knows what she did!" Adrianna retorted.
"Get out of here!" Lindsay shouted. So Adrianna stormed off and waited for the situation to calm down a bit before giving it another go…
So this is the very first chapter of Never Judge a Book my longest ever project. I'm not sure how you'll feel about this chapter. I'd be really happy to get some feedback to see where I can improve this one. This has been in the works for about 18 months and it has taken me ages to perfect this first chapter. I have about 12 or 13 chapters that are ready to go up I just need to proof read them. Please R&R. Thanks!