Chapter 3: Exoneration
Jerry soon joins Clover and Alex at WOOHP headquarters.
"Jerry! You've got to do something!" blurts out Alex as soon as Jerry enters his office.
"Sam needs your help, Jer!" adds Clover.
"Yes," replies Jerry, "and a Good Morning to you also ladies!" as he sits down behind his desk.
Both Clover and Alex are a bit embarrassed, and furtively look at one another.
"Relax, ladies!" Jerry continues. "Please sit down, and tell me all about what happened this morning."
Clover and Alex go over to the sofa in front of Jerry's desk and take a seat. Clover begins.
"Well, Jer, it all started at around 5 this morning. The police came knocking at our door looking for Sam."
Alex joins in, "They arrested her as soon as she identified herself!"
"We tried to intervene, but they had pictures of Sam in the act of stealing jewelry from Gary's Jewelers!"
"They then took us to Sammie's car, and showed us a bag of jewelry stuffed under the passenger seat of her car!"
"Oh my! That is serious!" Jerry responded.
"What do we do?" asks Alex, as a tear rolls down her cheek.
"First, let me ask a question. Did the police mention the time the robbery was committed?"
"They showed us a picture that indicated that it was taken at 3:23AM!" responded Clover.
"That's not possible!" GLADIS chimed in. "I can account for Sam being in her bedroom, on my video cameras from 2 AM until she was apprehended!"
"Sounds to me like we may have the evidence to clear Sam," remarked Jerry.
"But who committed the robbery?" asks Alex.
"And how did the jewels get in Sammie's car?" asked Clover.
"I don't know the answer to those questions! But I do know that we can clear Sam, because she can't possibly be in two places at once," answered Jerry. "But I want to check our spy satellites too."
"Why Jerry?" asked Clover.
"They may show us something concerning this case!"
Jerry quickly pulls up satellite images from the night before, starting at 1:30AM, and sends the images to the wall behind his desk. Jerry, Clover, and Alex watch, as Sam comes home. They then see the perpetrators stealing her car, about one hour later. Following the car, they see where it stopped at the jewelry store and then quickly retraced itself back to the villa. Unfortunately they cannot make out any of the perpetrators, but these images will also help clear Sam.
"Let's take our proof, and go to the District Attorney. We should be able to clear Sam," says Jerry, as he and the gals go to his car.
But the District Attorney isn't so sure.
"Yes, Jerry, I can see that her car is apparently stolen and then returned, but what's to say there isn't a way for her to sneak out of the house without your computer detecting it? I still have a photo, from the crime scene, clearly showing Samantha stealing jewelry, and hopping into her car. I also have the jewels, and the police investigation report that places the jewels in her car, when she was apprehended."
"But you can see that the car was stolen! Why would Sammie have some other people push the car out of the driveway, and then start it a block away?" asks a flustered and angry Clover.
"Yeah! She has the key! She can start it without hotwiring it!" ands an equally angry Alex.
"She could have done all those things so that we WOULDN'T suspect her!" replied an irritated District Attorney (DA).
Jerry jumps in, to try to diffuse the situation. He signals to the girls to remain quiet, as he begins.
"But if Samantha was the culprit, when does she return to her bedroom? My computer surveillance shows her identifiably in bed from 2AM until the arrival of the police. How can she be in two places at the same time?"
"She could use a disguised mannequin, and substitute it for her, in her bed!" replies the indignant DA
"And we would have to see her putting the mannequin in the bed, which we clearly do not see! Let me show you!" And Jerry plays the tape again from 2 AM to 5 AM.
"Clearly," Jerry adds, "Sam never left her bedroom, nor did she substitute a mannequin for herself."
The DA is flustered. WOOHP is a spy agency like the CIA. They probably have the technology to fake the videos, he thinks. But if it goes to court, a jury will believe those videos. He realizes his ironclad case just dissolved, and, he is convinced, by WOOHP manipulation.
"Very well, Jerry!" the DA reluctantly responds, "I'll drop the charges against Samantha, even though I believe your video was faked!" A flash of anger crosses Jerry's face over the accusation.
But the DA continues, "But I can't prove that it was faked, so I have no choice."
With that, the District Attorney signs Sam's release, freeing her from the holding cell. Within 5 minutes a policewoman has Sam in the DA's office.
Tearfully Clover and Alex rush to there friend and give her a friendly hug. Sam also shows tears of relief. Jerry puts a re-assuring hand on her shoulder, and Sam gratefully touches Jerry's hand in a 'thank you!' gesture.
Before Sam can leave, the DA says, "Young lady, I am convinced that you are free because of chicanery – but I can't prove it. Be advised we'll be watching for any future missteps, and then all the chicanery in the world won't save you!"
Sam has a blank expression on her face, but Clover and Alex have angry scowls on theirs. Jerry signals for the girls to leave the office, and take Sam to his car. He wants to have some final words with the DA. The gals comply.
As the spies leave, Jerry launches into the District Attorney, "As a lawyer, you should know the consequences of making false accusations, even against government agencies! If you continue with these ridiculous tirades, you will force me to file with the US Legal Department an official complaint!"
Now it is the DA's turn to launch into Jerry, "I know that WOOHP is a clandestine organization! I think that you are so used to being protected from the law, regardless of what you do, you have no conscience when one of your agents actually breaks the law! You pull out all stops to exonerate them, even if it means 'dummying up' a security video of your own!"
Jerry is really angry now, "If what you say is true, present your proof in a court of law! Agents who have run afoul of the law have not been shielded from it by WOOHP, but subjected to it! Check your files on Tim Scam, Dr. Vermoosa, and Dimitrius Smalls! We didn't shield ANY of them, when they broke the law – we brought them to justice! If I were to shield guilty individuals in my organization from the law, WOOHP would lose all credibility with the US Government, and would be shut down! Congress and the President have no tolerance for shielding lawbreakers!"
And as Jerry walks to the door, he adds, "I readily shared the evidence I had with your office, on this case. You chose to identify it as faked, without any proof. In the future, I'll think twice about sharing evidential info with YOUR office! You'll have to subpoena it, through official channels to get it!"
The DA responded, "You would withhold evidence? That's a crime!"
"Not withhold! I'll wait for an official request before I release it!"
"That could delay investigations!"
"It is not my fault! I don't want my organization accused of faking other pieces of evidence in the future!" And with that, Jerry walked out the door, slamming it as he leaves, leaving the District Attorney in an angry stew!
Clover and Alex comfort Sam, as they leave the DA's office, and walk to Jerry's car.
"Are you okay, Sammie?" asks Alex.
"I'm a bit shaken, but otherwise okay," Sam responds.
"What did they do to you, Sammie?" asks a concerned Clover.
"Well, they first drove me to Central Lock-up. There I was fingerprinted, and had mug shots taken," Clover and Alex's faces contort into looks of horror, as Sam continues, "but the worst was when I was put in a holding cell with two other teen girls. One was arrested for shoplifting, and was high on pot, the other was arrested for assaulting a teacher in school. She looked like she could be a sumo wrestler! I was very grateful I knew self-defense, with those two in the same cell with me!
"I was very concerned, when they came to take me to the DA's office! But when I saw you two and Jerry there, and I was told that I was being released, I was never so relieved in my life!" Sam stops to wipe some tears from her eyes.
Clover and Alex both give her another hug.
"That's okay, Sammie! We're going to get you home!" said Clover in a soothing voice.
Alex added, "Right, girlfriend! Everything is going to be alright!"
As they arrive at Jerry's car, they all get into the back seat, with Sam in the middle. Soon Jerry joins them.
"I take it you ladies are ready to go home? Good!" With that, Jerry drives the gals off to their villa.