Intersecting Lines – The Trial
Part 03 – The Black Widow
In Court
Andrea's viewpoint
Ana was on the stand and Alex was leading her through the information she'd gained on how Hammond was the source inside the Justice Department's local office while I ran the laptop connected to a huge television screen we'd had set up facing the rest of the court and not coincidentally, two of the cameras. I was waiting to flip through the on-screen images to show the evidence we had there as Alex spoke.
"So Agent Romanov, could you explain how you came to isolate the defendant Joan Hammond as the source of the leak within Justice?" Ana nodded carefully and sat forward slightly, ensuring the microphone and therefore both the jury and the watching world heard her message loud and clear.
"We commenced our investigation from the point of view that given the information on the Witness Program protectee's was very tightly held, the information on the now-deceased members had to have come from within the small group within the Department that had access to those details" Alex nodded.
"That sounds reasonable, so what did your investigation ascertain?' Ana looked directly at the jury as she replied, obviously wanting to make sure she was understood.
"That only three people within the Justice Department office here in Los Angeles had regular access to the information on all the deceased victims" Alex nodded.
"And they were…" she asked.
The Section Head; Senior Agent Richard Lopez, the immediate supervisor of the section that included the Witness Protection database; Special Agent Curtis Robertson and the data entry specialist; Joan Hammond" At Ana's words I flipped the image to show a blow up of Hammond's Justice Department I.D. as Alex nodded and invited Ana to continue.
"Please tell the court how you came to the conclusion that the defendant Joan Hammond was your suspect Special Agent" Ana nodded at the question and looked over at the jury as she replied.
"We were able to discount Senior Agent Lopez as he had been posted to Europe when the first of the victim's was killed, he was working with Interpol at the time which somewhat discounted his involvement" Alex nodded and prompted her to continue.
"Please go on" Ana looked from Alex back to the jury and continued.
"We investigated both Special Agent Robertson and Joan Hammond, however our investigation indicated that Robertson did not actually access the database all that often and a check of his log-in details confirmed that he had accessed details of only three of the deceased" Alex nodded, looking like it was all new to her and she was taking it all in just like the jury then prompted Ana to expand on her answer.
"You said he had however accessed three of the victims, could you explain the circumstances in which he did do so?" Ana smiled briefly and nodded then answered; her voice clearly heard.
"Special Agent Robertson accessed the database to close the files of those three victims" She shrugged. "In each case it was after they had been reported deceased" I nodded as Alex tapped her chin for a moment, apparently in thought, I had to hand it to her, Alex was good at the theatre of a court, always looking as if she was helping the Jury get to the bottom of the case, the ever helpful prosecutor, trying to find the truth at the bottom of the testimony. Alex looked up as if inspiration had hit and spoke.
"If Agent Robertson closed three of the files, could you please explain who accessed the database to close the files on the other victims?" Ana's reply was confident.
"Prior to her arrest, it had been Ms Hammond" Alex nodded and prompted Ana with another question.
"Not Senior Agent Lopez?" Ana shook her head.
"No, according to an exhaustive search of all records, while Senior Agent Lopez theoretically had access, he delegated that responsibility to Agent Robertson and Ms Hammond" Alex turned to the jury and summarized for them.
"So you were able to narrow it down to just these two people who had access to the database, what made you single out Ms. Hammond?" Ana leaned forward a little closer to the microphone, she was experienced at this; making sure no one missed her words.
"A notation in her personnel file that she was a widower and that her name was that of her deceased husband" Ana sat back slightly but her voice was clear. "I then undertook a search of Joan Hammond under her maiden name of Joan Richards, which in turn led me to her mother. A photo posted on social media where Joan Hammond was tagged with her mother, also contained another suspect, Detective Sergeant Paul Kennedy" At that cue I clicked the mouse and the image in question appeared, with Hammond and Kennedy's faces circled in red. There was a ripple or movement across the court as people sat up and heads turned to look between the image and Hammond and Kennedy at the defendant's tables as Alex hammered the point home.
"And their relationship was…"
"They were half brother and sister" Alex nodded in understanding as Ana pressed on. "I ascertained that Joan Hammond's maiden name was Richards. Paul Kennedy's mother bore him then remarried when her first husband, Tom Kennedy, died in a car accident few years after their son, Paul Kennedy, was born. The mother's second husband was Matthew Richards, four years after that marriage she had her daughter Joan, who took the father's surname" I smiled for the jury's and camera's benefit as I flipped the image to show a California Birth Certificate in the name of Joan Richards, seeing Alex turning to the jury as she spoke.
"So we have a prime-facie connection between the primary suspect in the deaths of these Witness Protection program protectee's and a person of interest who could access the database" She paused as Ana nodded while I watched the Defence team, they were obviously looking for something to object to but there was no opportunity to do so, the evidence was as factual as it was unambiguous, making me smile slightly at their frustration. Alex continued with her questioning. "Could you please tell the jury what confirmed for you that Joan Hammond was in fact the leak within the system and not Special Agent Robertson" Ana's reply was calmly confident, she knew her evidence was rock solid.
"Initially we found no evidence and a check of the data logs showed no access. However after talking to the Justice Department's Information Technology section here in Los Angeles, they were able to cross reference with backup tapes made separately from the daily logs and discovered that Joan Hammond had in fact accessed each of the deceased's files prior to their death. In fact she had downloaded the details of each person when she had reason to access their file for work, printed off the details and then accessed the data logs and removed the notation that she had downloaded and printed the data"
"So the Justice Department system recorded such information?" Ana nodded and leaned forward as she answered to make sure everyone heard her words.
"Oh yes, every use of the system, every change and every printout of the information in the system was recorded for security purposes" Alex turned back to Ana and asked the question.
"Why didn't she just download them all at once, rather than doing them over time and risking being caught or leaving an electronic trail?"
"Apparently Joan Hammond was only supposed to access each file when there was a reason to update them, which required her supervisor's sign-off. She would then open the file and make any updates required, while surreptitiously downloading the data before then using her user privileges to erase the logs showing the details had been downloaded and printed" Alex tipped her head to regard Ana.
"If she deleted the data, how did you find the details proving that she had, in fact, done so?" Ana leaned forward again as she spoke.
"The I.T. people at Justice run real-time backups of their network activity, something not generally known within the department. No one was looking at Joan Hammond and cross referencing the differences between the logs in the Witness Protection system computers with the wider Justice Department backups until they were asked to, at which time the tampering was clear as day" Alex summarised it for the jurors.
"So Joan Hammond thought she was covering her tracks but once you went looking you found clear evidence of her activities?" Ana nodded slowly, keeping her attention on Alex, letting the jurors and the camera's focus in on her as she spoke, calmly and clearly, even as she metaphorically hammered nails into Hammond's coffin.
"Oh yes, it took Justice's IT people less than an hour once they knew what they were looking for" Alex nodded gratefully as I flipped to the next image on screen, showing scans of two similar print outs, with discrepancies circled in red, making them easily seen.
"If I could direct your attention to the printouts on the screen Agent Romanov, could you confirm that each discrepancy highlighted is Joan Hammond downloading and printing the information?" Ana nodded as she explained what the jury was looking at.
"Yes, according to the unmodified system back-up data on the screen's right side, at various times Joan Hammond used her access to the individual Witness Protection individuals files and printed out the records of each of the eight protectee's, then erased the records that she had done so each time, not aware that the real time back up was recording exactly what she was doing" Alex nodded then asked a follow up question.
"Why not just download the data to a memory stick and avoid the need to print out the information?" Ana smiled slightly.
"The computers Agent Robertson and Joan Hammond used had no USB ports or CD drives as a security feature, there was no way to copy the data to a secondary storage medium" She paused then continued before Alex could ask the inevitable follow up question. "As another security feature the computers used for managing the program were not connected to the net, either via Wi-Fi or hard line, to avoid potential hacking attempts" Alex nodded.
"So therefore there was no chance to email the data?" Ana smiled and nodded at Alex as she replied.
"That was all part of the methods Justice employed to try and keep the Witness Protection data secure. Basically the Justice Department took all reasonable precautions to protect the identity of the people inside the Witness Program" Alex nodded then spoke; her tone a little rueful.
"But not, unfortunately, from spying by trusted insiders" Ana shook her head as she replied.
"Regrettably no"
We broke for lunch before reconvening, this time I led the questioning and had walked Ana through the ambush and the aftermath, by the time we'd wrapped up it was mid-afternoon.
"Thank you Agent Romanov" Looking up to Craven I spoke. "No further questions of this witness at this time Your Honour" As I turned and strode back to my chair I glanced at Peterson and smiled politely.
"Your witness" As he nodded and Ling started to rise I looked her way and gave her a small, smile. 'For all the good it will do you'
Washington DC The Pentagon
Colonel Sarah Mackenzie smiled to herself as she watched the defence woman start her cross examination of Ana on the television in her office in the Judge Advocate General's section of the Pentagon, the evidence was good and she knew Ana well; Ling might as well try and question the First Amendment, she'd have more luck there. Ana was rock solid; Ling was wasting her time trying to trip her up on factual evidence like that.
Sarah smiled to herself, a trifle maliciously; who knows, if she said something truly stupid Ana might really let loose on her, after all Ana didn't suffer fools gladly. The thought filled her with an evil anticipation as she settled back to watch.
In Court
"Agent Romanov" Ling started. "You have stated that you investigated Joan Hammond and once you determined that she had a familial relationship with Paul Kennedy, you investigated further" Ana nodded carefully.
"That is correct" Ling nodded as she stood to one side, forcing Ana to look away from the jury if she was to address her.
"So you found a hypothesis that fitted your prejudices and immediately concentrated on that, rather than continuing to investigate" Ana raised an eyebrow at Ling, then turned to look at the jury, directing her answer to the people who counted.
"I would hardly categorise it as that, rather a new and more promising line of investigation opening up"
"But would it be true to say you discounted any and all other avenues of investigation as you put it, to pursue one fairly tenuous lead?" Ana shrugged and sat back.
"You might do so but I wouldn't consider it in that context"
"Why not, you found something that accorded with your personal prejudices and ignored any and all alternative possibilities" Ana narrowed her eyes; I could tell she was not impressed with Ling's assertions, something her next reply confirmed.
"From your position as a lawyer you might call it that Miss Ling; investigators however call that following a lead" Ling nodded agreeably.
"Investigators might, but you're not an investigator are you Agent Romanov" I saw Ana's jaw tighten grimly as she spoke.
"I beg your pardon?" Ling tried for innocent.
"You're not though, an investigator that is; you're a bureaucrat, a messenger between the LAPD and the FBI" She shrugged, 'That is what your role is, isn't it?" Ana leaned forward as she replied.
"I am the Bureau's liaison officer to the LAPD" Ling smiled.
"Exactly! Not an investigator's role is it" Ana shook her head.
"That is my role right now; previously I was a field agent" Ling tipped her head to regard Ana as she spoke.
"As liaison to the Seattle PD? Really?" Ana shook her head before replying.
"Before I was a liaison officer I was a field agent with the Seattle Field office"
"Not a very good one apparently, your biggest achievement was being stabbed as I understand it" I saw Ana's eyes widen in shock and was on my feet before I realised it.
"Objection your Honour, what exactly does injuries Agent Romanov received years ago in the course of her duties in a different state have to do with this case?" Craven looked to Ling.
"Well Defence?" Ling turned and smiled at Craven.
"Your Honour, we seek to ascertain Special Agent Romanov's qualifications to act as an investigator in a capital case" I tipped my head to regard Craven who shrugged and nodded.
"Proceed" I slowly sat as Ana's jaw set, her eyes turning to face Ling who smiled a little wider.
"Thank you Your Honour. Now then Agent Romanov, let's discuss your qualifications" She took a few steps back and retrieved a tablet from the Defence table, lifting it up, with a few swipes she started it up and started reading as she drifted back towards the jury.
"Special Agent Romanov, currently liaison officer to the LAPD and before that liaison officer to the Seattle PD. Prior to that a junior agent assigned to work with a more senior agent who filed some less than complimentary reports on your performance" I opened my mouth to say something but Andrea laid a hand on my arm, catching my attention and shook her head. "Hardly a stellar vote of confidence there, so after that you were transferred to work with a different agent and during a case you were working on with him, you ran off on your own during an arrest and confronted a suspect who stabbed you. In return you shot and killed him" Ling said. "Do I have the facts right Agent Romanov?" Ana shook her head then spoke, her voice under tight control.
"The facts, as you call them and as you have interpreted them, do bear some vague resemblance to what actually happened"
"Do you dispute what I have just said?" Ana sized Ling up and sat back, her mouth turning up in a cold smile.
"Not right now, I'm interested to see just how far you intend twisting what actually happened to suit your own purposes" Craven leaned forward and spoke.
"The witness will confine themselves to answering the question" Ana looked his way and nodded as Ling nodded, smiling at Craven.
"Thank you Your Honour. Agent Romanov, before you were shipped out to Seattle you were stationed in Washington at a desk job where you received average assessments at best" Ling shrugged. "Hardly the basis for a stellar career in investigations" She threw the jury a glance. "Did they send you to Seattle to get you out of the way?" Ana shook her head as she explained.
"It is Bureau policy that no agent goes directly out in the field after graduation from Quantico; everyone does a stint behind a desk, usually in Washington, learning about the bureaucracy and the behind the scenes part of the Bureau, only once you complete that are you then assigned to a field office as Special Agent"
"But you had assessments that could best be described as distinctly average at best" Ana shrugged.
"I wasn't all that happy behind a desk, I prefer being out and about on field operations" Ling nodded.
"Field operations, ah yes, let's talk about your 'field operations'…" she put it in quotes. "Your exploits on field operations are well known" Ana frowned, obviously wondering where this was going. "Your 'field operations' resulted in one suspect shot dead in Seattle, a man beaten to a pulp here in Los Angeles and another executed by you on the streets of this city" Ling shook her head. "Your field operations all have a common thread, violence resulting in death and maiming" Ana leaned forward, her voice low and clipped with anger.
"I shot a man in Seattle after he stabbed me twice in the chest and stomach, the man in Los Angeles was a cold-blooded murderer who not only resisted arrest but tried to repeatedly stab me and the LAPD officer I was with while the man I shot on the streets of LA was in the act of shooting an AK47 assault rifle at me and my colleagues"
"And yet each of them resulted in a dead or near dead suspect" Ling held her hands apart like she was asking something. "It seems as if you're more a loose cannon than an investigator" Ana kept her voice quiet, though I could tell it was an effort.
"You might categorise it like that, I don't and neither did the Bureau and LAPD who investigated those incidents" Ling shook her head.
"Probably didn't want your exploits embarrassing them" She lowered her voice and smiled a little conspiratorially, though I knew the camera and jury heard her just fine. "We both know how these things get…overlooked" Ana started to scowl then with effort regained her calm as I stood.
"Objection Your Honour, the Defence is suggesting corruption in both the LAPD and FBI with no tangible proof to back up her claims" Craven thought it over, nodded, turning to Ling and putting her on the spot.
"Do you have any such evidence to support your assertion Counselor?" Ling shook her head and smiled.
"I withdraw the statement Your Honour" Craven nodded as I sat down while Ling turned her attention back to Ana, unfazed by her rebuke.
"So Agent Romanov, your action led to one man beaten to a pulp and two dead, not the best record would you agree?"
"You can insinuate all you like, but that's not what happened"
"Insinuate, I'm just stating the facts Agent Romanov" She smiled. "Then there's your record in Iraq…" Ana's head lifted in surprise.
"What about Iraq?"
"You had quite the reputation there Agent Romanov, or should that be Captain Romanov? You amassed quite the fearsome reputation amongst your peers" Ana watched Ling through narrowed eyes as I tried to intervene again.
"Your Honour, once again I am moved to ask what exactly do Agent Romanov's actions while a serving member of the US Army more than a decade ago have to do with her testimony in this case?" Ling jumped in before Craven could speak.
"Your Honour, we seek to establish a pattern of behavior that calls into question the witnesses credibility as a competent investigator, instead highlighting a pattern of behavior that rendered the witness unsuitable for investigative work of any kind" Craven thought about it then nodded as my gorge rose, I felt like throwing up.
"Sit down counselor, Defence has the floor" Ling smiled and turned back.
"In Iraq you were considered a loose cannon weren't you?" Ana was grim.
"No"
"Really, I note your reputation as someone who actively sought out danger; your colleagues noted that you regularly volunteered for the most dangerous duties, the ones that were most likely to lead to firefights and combat. You were more interested in combat than investigations, weren't you?" Ana shook her head as she answered.
"I was a military police officer; that means we go out with the troops when conducting investigations, so there's an MP on the ground to gather evidence, interrogate suspects and ensure compliance with both local law and the Uniform Code of Military Justice""
"But you weren't there to investigate were you, instead you were there for the thrill of combat" This time it was Andrea who stood.
"Your Honour, how do the defence's amateurish attempts at psychoanalysis of events that happened a decade ago actually have any relevance to the case?" Craven looked to Ling who smiled.
"Your Honour, we seek to establish that the witness was a substandard investigator and detective who was considered a liability by the Army and the FBI, they knew she was unstable and kept her away from investigative work, instead she was channeled toward more violent activities where her training as a killer was of more use"
"What the hell?" It was Ana. "Where the hell do you get that idea?" Craven turned to her and spoke harshly.
"The witness will remain silent" For a second I thought Ana was going to lose it before she got herself under control then sat back. Craven turned from her to Andrea. "Counselor, Defence will have their chance to demonstrate relevance" He glanced at Ling. "Defence, I trust you can demonstrate the relevance of this line of questioning?" Ling nodded, all smiles.
"Indeed we can Your Honour" Craven nodded.
"Then proceed" Andrea sat down, glancing her way I could see the muscles bunching in her jaw, she was as pissed as I was. Ling turned back to Ana.
"By the time your service in Iraq was up you were on the way out of the military weren't you, given your unsatisfactory fitness reports" She hefted the tablet and read from it. "Captain Romanov exhibits classic signs of post-traumatic stress disorder, combat fatigue and psychological and emotional exhaustion" I didn't miss the shock on Ana's face as Ling pressed on. "Her judgment is increasingly questionable and she is reported to actively seek out the most dangerous combat missions where she invariably takes point. This self-destructive behavior warrants grave concern and it is recommended that she be removed from active duty immediately" There was shock in Ana's voice as well.
"Where the hell did you get that?" It was Ana, leaning forward in the witness box. "That's supposed to be a confidential medical assessment" Ling turned a grin on Ana as she explained.
"Service records of non-serving members are declassified a decade after discharge, so a Freedom of Information request saw them provided" She glanced at Craven. "I am happy to table them as evidence" Craven nodded and she turned back to Ana. "Do you deny that the information I've just read out is your final psychological assessment in Iraq, before they discharged you?" Ling's face hardened. "A yes or no answer please Miss Romanov"
Washington DC Washington Navy Yard
Sitting in his office Leroy Gibbs clenched his jaw in frustration; feeling pissed at the way the woman in court was slandering Romanov. He'd worked with the woman in Iraq; she was a loyal, dedicated and extremely competent officer, she sure as hell didn't deserve this sort of treatment. The bit about her medical records set his teeth on edge. While what the Ling woman had said was true, personnel records were declassified a decade after discharge, there was a policy covering that, somehow that had not happened here. He grabbed his desk phone and dialed an internal extension, seconds later Nick Torres walked in.
"What's up?" Gibbs indicated the screen.
"Former serving member now giving evidence in a capital case, the defence just rolled out her medical history in court, including an adverse psyche evaluation, to try and undermine her evidence. Obviously she didn't know about it which is a major breach of protocol right there; …no release of documents is to take place without notification of the former member prior to release…" he quoted. "I want to know what the hell happened here" Torres nodded.
"Sure thing, who is she?" Gibbs handed over a post it note.
"Anastasia Romanov, former Major in the US Army, an MP" Torres looked up, surprised.
"Army? Since when do we clean up Army stuff ups?" The sudden look on Gibb's face told him he'd just screwed up.
"When you're told to, unless you have something else you'd rather be doing? Which can be arranged" Seeing the sudden change of expression on Torres's face Gibbs gave him some context. "I served with Romanov in Iraq, she's an outstanding investigator, if she wasn't Army and still serving she'd probably be working here, maybe as my deputy, maybe as my boss, she's that good" Torres nodded slowly, Gibbs didn't give praise like that often, this Romanov woman must be good "She's settled down in LA now and is happy, I want to know why she was blindsided by this woman…" He waved at the television screen. "…about her medical records" He looked up. "I want to know how this happened" He got a nod.
"I'll get right on it" Seeing his boss return his attention to the screen he decided to get the hell out of there, Gibbs was pissed and while it didn't happen often absolutely no one wanted to be on the receiving end of a Gibbs-style dressing down, speaking of which Gibbs glanced his way and spoke, his voice harsh.
"Dismissed"
In Court
"Well Miss Romanov?" Ana looked like she was having teeth pulled without anesthetic, finally answering.
"It was one assessment yes" Ling smiled.
"Excellent, so the Army considered you too much of a loose cannon and yanked you out of Iraq, a war zone, because you were too dangerous to let loose" Ana shook her head.
"No, that's not what happened" Ling shrugged and made a show of checking the tablet she was holding.
"It says you resigned before they could reassign you" She looked at Ana and shrugged. "Decided your reputation was in ruins and fled did you?"
"No. That is not what happened at all" Ana repeated as Ling shrugged again.
"That's what your service record shows" She turned to the jury who, based on the looks on their faces were a combination of confused and concerned. "We have a military policewoman who was too dangerous to be kept working in a war zone" Ling shook her head theatrically. "Must be bad if she was too dangerous for Iraq" Taking a few steps away from the steaming Ana she kept addressing the jury. "We have a woman who preferred combat to investigations, when the Army tried to pull her out she quit and found work with the Bureau, who also found her a loose cannon and shunted her into liaison work, driving a desk where her violent tendencies and poor investigative record were hopefully under control. Unfortunately it appears that tactic was unsuccessful, as the actions witnessed on the streets of Seattle and Los Angeles and the dead and broken bodies she left in her wake prove"
Los Angeles LAPD Media Centre
Natalie Dearing looked from the television screen in the corner of her office and called out to her assistant.
"Lilly, can you come here please?" Her executive assistant turned and, seeing the expression on her bosses' face, quickly hurried into her office to find Natalie packing up and shutting down her computer.
"What's wrong Nat?"
"I'm wrapping early" Lilly frowned, obviously mentally going through the calendar for the rest of the day, before Natalie interrupted her. "I know I have a couple of meetings, please send my apologies, tell them something came up" Lilly nodded then spoke.
"Are you okay?" Natalie shook her head angrily.
"Not after that fiasco in court, Ana's going to be angry and upset and miserable and pissed so she'll really need me" Lilly nodded, she knew the bond between Anastasia and Natalie, knew that nothing came between them, something she somewhat wistfully envied both of them for having.
"Right, is there anything I can do for you?" Natalie shook her head then looked up, a grim expression on her face.
"Keep me away from guns or that lawyer bitch is likely to end up dead" Lilly nodded, already resolving to check the trial coverage, for her normally almost-disgustingly cheerful boss to be in a mood this foul it must have been bad. She watched as Natalie tossed the last few things into her bag, grabbed her cell and car keys and started moving.
"Sorry to dump all that on you with no warning but Ana needs me" Lilly nodded.
"It's all good, go be with her" With a quick thanks Natalie was moving, out the office and heading for the elevators as Lilly frowned before heading back to her desk, she had emails and phone calls to make, plus she needed to know what the hell had just happened in court.
In Court
Ling spun on her heel and faced Ana.
"How many bureau-sanctioned investigations have you undertaken since your assignment as liaison officer, first with the Seattle PD and more recently with the LAPD" Ana's face was grim.
"None; that is not my job as a liaison officer" Ling raised her hand, stopping her.
"But here you were sticking your nose into investigations that were not sanctioned by your superiors and which you lacked either the temperament or the skills to undertake" Ling tipped her head to regard her. "Your poor investigative record and violent tendencies should have kept you far from any investigation, just as the Bureau intended" I glanced at Andrea, seeing her grim expression as she looked for an opening as Ling continued. "You should never have been involved in this investigation, instead you leapt into it, followed your first, wayward lead, ignoring any others that may have been equally valid and went looking for any evidence you could find that supported your tenuous, prejudiced conclusions against an honest, hard-working Justice Department employee, simply on the basis of a distant family relationship" Ling looked at Ana and continued. "You ceased looking into any other suspect the moment you found a tenuous link didn't you, ignoring any other possibility?" Ana sat there and was silent for a few seconds, staring at Ling, her silence prompting Craven to intervene.
"The witness will answer the question" Ana glanced at him and nodded then leaned forward, the better to be heard as I saw her expression change, the frown vanishing, I realised that Ling had overplayed her hand, giving her an opening.
"I don't know about you Miss Ling, given all your 'obvious experience'…" The scorn in Ana's voice was a sharp, dangerous thing. "…as an investigator but when you find a clue you follow it wherever it leads. I mean John F Kennedy might have been shot by aliens but investigators tend to discount the unlikely and the speculative and concentrate on the factual and the facts led to Lee Harvey Oswald" She leaned forward a little closer to the mike. "In this case there was a definitive, factual link between Joan Hammond and the man who had been recorded asking for me, my partner and my fellow officers to be killed" She shrugged. "Facts like that are hard to ignore" Ling frowned for a moment then cleared the expression before speaking.
"Please confine yourself to answering the question asked Miss Romanov"
"It's Agent Romanov, Miss Ling and I'm more than happy to provide the full and 'complete'…" Ana stressed the word. "…answer to your questions" Undeterred Ling started off on a different tack.
"You were assigned to the Liaison role were you not?'
"Yes" Ling strolled towards the jury, aiming her words at them.
"That was to keep you away from the streets was it not?" Ana shook her head.
"No, I was assigned the role in Seattle while I recovered from life-threatening injuries"
"Received when you shot and killed a man, correct?" Ana nodded once.
"After he stabbed me twice, nearly killing me"
"I understand you are expert in unarmed combat, is that not correct Agent Romanov?" Surprised by the change of topic and suspicious of where Ling was going Ana replied carefully.
"I have some training, yes" Ling made a wave away gesture.
"No need to be so modest Agent Romanov. Your reputation suggests you are quite skilled, other officers in the LAPD re reluctant to spar against you due to the injuries they receive, to the point that most will not contemplate going up against you" She chuckled and shook her head. "Some call you the Black Widow after the Marvel movie assassin" Ana sat back as she replied.
"I haven't heard that" she shrugged as she continued. "Be that as it may be, I train hard; others who haven't aren't as capable; just the same as in any endeavor or sport" Ling jumped on that.
"If you are so capable then why did you have to shoot and kill the suspect in Seattle?" Ana was calm.
"He ambushed me, stabbing me before I could defend myself"
"So you killed him" Ana shook her head.
"I shot him in self defence before he could stab me again"
"And here in Seattle you executed a man on the streets in cold blood, rather than use your unarmed combat skills" Ana sat forward at that, her voice sharp.
"The man you refer to was armed with an assault rifle Ms. Ling, he'd just shot up the car I'd been travelling in and had just reloaded, attacking a man with a loaded weapon with your bare hands isn't like Hollywood; you're likely to get shot to pieces"
"So instead you shot him, once in the stomach and the second time, deliberately in the head"
"As I said, he had an AK-47, I couldn't take the risk that he wouldn't fire again" Ling shook her head, all sadness.
"So you executed a wounded man with a shot to the head" She tipped her head to regard Ana. "Was that your training as a killer from your Army days coming into play?" Ana didn't bite; her voice calm.
"I made the decision that preventing him from firing his weapon, possibly killing others"
"How could you know that Agent Romanov, how could you be so sure? He was lying in the street with a bullet from your gun in his stomach" Surprisingly Ana smiled; Ling, too confident, had overstepped again.
"If he had managed to shoot the weapon, which he was still holding by the way, in my direction, and missed me, there were innocent bystanders behind me in the line of fire" Ana shrugged. "I neutralized the threat to those bystanders, as opposed to risking him shooting either them or me, noting that none of us were wearing body armour at the time"
Realising she wasn't helping her case Ling looked towards Peterson, getting a surreptitious 'wind up' gesture before turning back to the jury.
"I suggest that Agent Romanov's skill set was not that of an investigator, but instead that of a warrior, a killer, truly Agent Romanov's nickname as the Black Widow seems not only appropriate but well deserved" I tensed, looking for some way to intervene but not having one yet as Ling kept on.
"What we have here is an agent who at best was barely functional as an investigator but upon whose evidence the prosecution case partly rests. They developed a narrative that relied on poor investigative work, innuendo and half-truths, unfortunately that narrative is false, as we have just demonstrated, based on the work of this violent and dangerous person who was not deemed fit to investigate crimes either here or in Iraq, instead they benched her to keep her out of trouble" Ling waved her hand towards Ana. "Her employers did not trust her and neither should you"
"Your Honour" It was Andrea, standing she continued. "I find this character assassination of a decorated veteran and respected Bureau agent to be both uncalled for and unwarranted" Craven glanced at Ling.
"Counselor, your response?" Ling smiled.
"I have done nothing but recount the facts, I'm sorry those facts don't paint your witness in a particularly good light, but that is not my fault" Andrea shook her head.
"You've presented a one-sided, distorted recounting of events in an attempt to smear a witness, all to support your so-called narrative"
"Facts are facts Miss Hobbs, you may not like them but there they are"
"Be seated Counselor, objection overruled" Andrea sat down, her eyes narrowed, who she was angrier at, Ling or Craven I couldn't be sure; speaking of which Craven looked to Ling and spoke up.
"Your witness Counselor" Ling frowned then turned to Craven, all smiles.
"I don't think we need to keep Agent Romanov any longer Judge, I doubt she has anything constructive to add to this trial" Before Craven could respond Ana spoke up.
"You left a few salient 'facts' out of your description Ms Ling" Ana leaned forward, her voice clipped and biting. "My job in Iraq was as an investigator then criminal prosecutor for one of the largest criminal cases in recent Army history, the Abu Ghraib trials. I did that job to the best of my ability and saw it through to its successful conclusion. The Army obviously didn't share your opinion of me as they promoted me to Major before I retired" Ana sat back as Craven banged his gavel, Ana speaking up to be heard over the noise.
"The Bureau didn't share your concerns either as they happily accepted my application and both the Seattle PD and the LAPD have praised my work" Craven stared down at her and spoke.
"You are in danger of being found in contempt Agent Romanov" Ana shot him a dangerously contemptuous glance then looked to Ling, her voice biting cold.
"Sorry if that doesn't fit your narrative" With that she looked to back Craven "I'm done here"
"You are dismissed" Ana kept her face impassive as she stood and left but I hid a worried frown as I looked to Liv, seeing the concern there too, Ana may have got a parting shot in but the damage had been done.
