Chapter Three
Several weeks passed before Roxanne and Simpson finally had the chance to question Frank Henderson, who during the summer had been promoted to Vice- Principal of another high school in Glen Oak, Theodore Roosevelt. While the first few weeks of the school year were hectic as always, he made time to see the cops at the end of Week Three. He flatly and angrily denied the allegations, saying that Rhiannon had an "overactive imagination" and that, in fact, she had tried to throw herself onto him several times during summer camp and that he had always rebuffed her, saying it was entirely inappropriate for a camper and a counselor to have a relationship.
"No surprise there," said Roxie back at the police station. "What do we do know?"
"Well, unfortunately, it's just her word against hers," said Simpson. "Without some corroborating or 'similar fact' evidence, Rhiannon is out in the cold. It's a shame because I believe her!"
"Me too," said Roxie. She was about to put the file away, when she received a phone call. She picked it up. "Richardson."
"Officer Richardson, it's Julie Hastings - you know, Eric's sister." Julie was a teacher at TR and also doubled as a part-time guidance counselor.
"Oh, hi Julie, what can I do you for?"
"Well, Roxanne," said Julie, "I need your help. A female student told me that she got called into the office for a problem. During the course of their conversation, the student says, Henderson 'felt her up.' He tried to grab her thigh but she forced his hand off of her and said 'No.'"
"What's her name?" asked Roxie, hoping it was Rhiannon. If it was, Henderson could be arrested on the spot and he'd go into the hall of fame, or rather shame, of stupid criminals.
"At the student's request, I can only give you a first name for now," said Julie. "It's Helen."
"Okay, I'll keep it on file, but she'll have to come in and give a statement," replied Roxie.
"Of course she will. But you're going to have to try to keep it quiet. Henderson has a reputation for tough discipline, and he can always fire back that he's a victim of 'enemies of the system.'"
"All right I gotcha. I'll call you tomorrow."
Roxanne hung up the phone. "Simpson, you're never going to believe this. Another student has filed a complaint about Henderson."
"Do you think," began Simpson, "that your friend, Ms ."
"Hastings," said Roxie. "Mrs. Julie Camden Hastings, the sister of the minister I was telling you about before."
"Yes, her," said Simpson. "Do you think she knows about Rhiannon?"
"Fat chance," said Roxie. "Julie's taught at TR for nearly five years, after she relocated to the West Coast. Ruthie's very close to her, but she wouldn't betray her friend on something like this, not even to her aunt. But I'm really worried. If two different young females, who go to different high schools and were manhandled by Henderson in two totally different settings, have filed sexual harassment complaints against him, this could be just the tip of the iceberg."
"I agree," said Simpson, "but if we go back there and question him again, we might be accused of going on a witch hunt. I heard of a case in Chicago a few years back that's beginning to line up just like this one; some teachers were being bullied into supporting the accused principal, and some of the accusers recanted their accusations then withdrew those recantations saying they were under duress to drop the charges in the first place 'or else.' The accusations were true and the creep was sentenced to 200 years, although he only really got 5 to 15 since the sentences were concurrent.
"Well, to top it all off, even the guidance counselor who blew the whistle got a demotion of sorts; she still got the same salary but was transferred from her high school to a primary school. That was at a time when many kids were still so innocent they didn't even know the fundamental difference between boys and girls, just that one group grew long hair for some reason. Of course today kids as young as five or six are learning about sex which may or may not be a good thing."
"I'm aware of that, Bill," said Roxie, addressing her colleague by his given name for the first time, "but what do you suggest we do then about this?"
"We should approach this file surreptitiously," said Bill. "You told me a few weeks back that if there had been a lot of female campers treated inappropriately by this Henderson guy, there would have been a revolt. Maybe there was something going on, but they were just too scared to say anything. Rhiannon was the first to speak up.
"So maybe we can talk to her again and ask her to get in touch with some of the other campers this past summer and see if they have any stories; and to either write to her directly or to send us a letter in a plain envelope using a code name that doesn't give too much away in case the letter gets lost or misdirected. Let's call it, oh, 'Operation Black Crescent' since Henderson promised Rhiannon an express ticket to the Great White Way."
"Deal," said Roxanne. "Since Rhiannon's case happened in your jurisdiction, you talk to Rhiannon; and meanwhile I'll get in touch with Helen and see if she can talk to other students at TR, especially transfers from JFK. Then they can talk to other students who are still there. I'll also talk to Ruthie, maybe other students have confided in her as well."
'They'll have to do that on the sly, however," warned Bill. "One word of this getting back to Henderson and this town will be in an uproar the likes it hasn't seen since Ruthie's older sister and her friends trashed the gym at JFK a few years back."
"You heard of that?"
"It was front-page news even in my hometown. But I digress."
"Sure, sure," said Roxie. "I'll call Julie back and see if I can set up a time to meet with Helen at school. I'll go undercover with Kevin on Monday."
"This could be a very long investigation. You'd better be prepared for that," said Bill.
"I wasn't prepared to have my wrist slashed by a vagrant, and I survived that," said Roxie glumly. "I know, it's not the same thing; but I survived being raped, and now I'm a cop. I'll be fine."
Several weeks passed before Roxanne and Simpson finally had the chance to question Frank Henderson, who during the summer had been promoted to Vice- Principal of another high school in Glen Oak, Theodore Roosevelt. While the first few weeks of the school year were hectic as always, he made time to see the cops at the end of Week Three. He flatly and angrily denied the allegations, saying that Rhiannon had an "overactive imagination" and that, in fact, she had tried to throw herself onto him several times during summer camp and that he had always rebuffed her, saying it was entirely inappropriate for a camper and a counselor to have a relationship.
"No surprise there," said Roxie back at the police station. "What do we do know?"
"Well, unfortunately, it's just her word against hers," said Simpson. "Without some corroborating or 'similar fact' evidence, Rhiannon is out in the cold. It's a shame because I believe her!"
"Me too," said Roxie. She was about to put the file away, when she received a phone call. She picked it up. "Richardson."
"Officer Richardson, it's Julie Hastings - you know, Eric's sister." Julie was a teacher at TR and also doubled as a part-time guidance counselor.
"Oh, hi Julie, what can I do you for?"
"Well, Roxanne," said Julie, "I need your help. A female student told me that she got called into the office for a problem. During the course of their conversation, the student says, Henderson 'felt her up.' He tried to grab her thigh but she forced his hand off of her and said 'No.'"
"What's her name?" asked Roxie, hoping it was Rhiannon. If it was, Henderson could be arrested on the spot and he'd go into the hall of fame, or rather shame, of stupid criminals.
"At the student's request, I can only give you a first name for now," said Julie. "It's Helen."
"Okay, I'll keep it on file, but she'll have to come in and give a statement," replied Roxie.
"Of course she will. But you're going to have to try to keep it quiet. Henderson has a reputation for tough discipline, and he can always fire back that he's a victim of 'enemies of the system.'"
"All right I gotcha. I'll call you tomorrow."
Roxanne hung up the phone. "Simpson, you're never going to believe this. Another student has filed a complaint about Henderson."
"Do you think," began Simpson, "that your friend, Ms ."
"Hastings," said Roxie. "Mrs. Julie Camden Hastings, the sister of the minister I was telling you about before."
"Yes, her," said Simpson. "Do you think she knows about Rhiannon?"
"Fat chance," said Roxie. "Julie's taught at TR for nearly five years, after she relocated to the West Coast. Ruthie's very close to her, but she wouldn't betray her friend on something like this, not even to her aunt. But I'm really worried. If two different young females, who go to different high schools and were manhandled by Henderson in two totally different settings, have filed sexual harassment complaints against him, this could be just the tip of the iceberg."
"I agree," said Simpson, "but if we go back there and question him again, we might be accused of going on a witch hunt. I heard of a case in Chicago a few years back that's beginning to line up just like this one; some teachers were being bullied into supporting the accused principal, and some of the accusers recanted their accusations then withdrew those recantations saying they were under duress to drop the charges in the first place 'or else.' The accusations were true and the creep was sentenced to 200 years, although he only really got 5 to 15 since the sentences were concurrent.
"Well, to top it all off, even the guidance counselor who blew the whistle got a demotion of sorts; she still got the same salary but was transferred from her high school to a primary school. That was at a time when many kids were still so innocent they didn't even know the fundamental difference between boys and girls, just that one group grew long hair for some reason. Of course today kids as young as five or six are learning about sex which may or may not be a good thing."
"I'm aware of that, Bill," said Roxie, addressing her colleague by his given name for the first time, "but what do you suggest we do then about this?"
"We should approach this file surreptitiously," said Bill. "You told me a few weeks back that if there had been a lot of female campers treated inappropriately by this Henderson guy, there would have been a revolt. Maybe there was something going on, but they were just too scared to say anything. Rhiannon was the first to speak up.
"So maybe we can talk to her again and ask her to get in touch with some of the other campers this past summer and see if they have any stories; and to either write to her directly or to send us a letter in a plain envelope using a code name that doesn't give too much away in case the letter gets lost or misdirected. Let's call it, oh, 'Operation Black Crescent' since Henderson promised Rhiannon an express ticket to the Great White Way."
"Deal," said Roxanne. "Since Rhiannon's case happened in your jurisdiction, you talk to Rhiannon; and meanwhile I'll get in touch with Helen and see if she can talk to other students at TR, especially transfers from JFK. Then they can talk to other students who are still there. I'll also talk to Ruthie, maybe other students have confided in her as well."
'They'll have to do that on the sly, however," warned Bill. "One word of this getting back to Henderson and this town will be in an uproar the likes it hasn't seen since Ruthie's older sister and her friends trashed the gym at JFK a few years back."
"You heard of that?"
"It was front-page news even in my hometown. But I digress."
"Sure, sure," said Roxie. "I'll call Julie back and see if I can set up a time to meet with Helen at school. I'll go undercover with Kevin on Monday."
"This could be a very long investigation. You'd better be prepared for that," said Bill.
"I wasn't prepared to have my wrist slashed by a vagrant, and I survived that," said Roxie glumly. "I know, it's not the same thing; but I survived being raped, and now I'm a cop. I'll be fine."