Intersecting Lines – The Trial

Part 05 Smears

In Court

Alex's viewpoint

Brenda was on the stand, having spent much of yesterday walking us through her involvement in the case, going over the steps she'd taken to investigate the case with Sharon before wrapping up for the evening, we'd then reconvened this morning to walk her through the attacks on her and Sharon and the arrests of the suspects, followed by the investigations into their backgrounds and a discussion about her interrogations of the suspects. Finally, as we moved into the last hour of the afternoon session we'd wrapped up and Peterson had started in on his cross-examination.

He'd picked away for a while; nothing of any real consequence, until he'd turned the subject to who might have wanted her and Sharon Raydor dead. He'd started intimating that both of them were hated within the Department as Andrea and I watched, waiting for a chance to intervene.

"Isn't it likely Chief Johnson, that the attacks on you and Commander Raydor had nothing to do with my clients, after all both of you have attracted a level of animosity from not only police officers subject to Commander Raydor's investigations, but from the city's criminal elements who may have reason for attempting to get payback for your actions?" Brenda leaned forward, all calm and composed.

"While potentially possible it seems unlikely" Peterson continued prowling in a circuit between the jury and the witness stand, right past the cameras.

"Unlikely you say? Given your actions over the years you have been in charge of the Major Crimes unit you've made more than your fair share of enemies haven't you?" Brenda made a bobbing motion with her head as she answered.

"Criminal's generally don't like getting caught, let alone being sent to jail"

"But the attacks on you could have come from the Zeta's drug cartel, the Blood Catorcies street gang, the Yakuza or the Blood Brothers motorcycle gang, all of whom you have interacted with recently" Brenda shrugged.

"Unlikely, given that each of those organisations last interactions with the LAPD had cost them dearly"

"They hated you though didn't they Chief Johnson?" Brenda was unmoved.

"That is possible, unlikely but possible, but on the other hand deliberately provoking the attentions of the LAPD is not normally the actions I'd ascribe to criminal elements who wish to avoid jail"

"All of them?" In reply to his question Brenda kept it short.

"In my experience" Peterson made a noncommittal head gesture and continued.

"What about the Barrio Bangers gang, you'd previously arrested their leader and several members but they came after you, so clearly your beliefs are in error" Brenda frowned as she replied.

"As was later determined, the Barrio Bangers were being paid to undertake their attack on my colleagues and I" She looked to the jury and smiled politely. "By one of the defendants actually" Peterson kept his face impassive as he admonished her.

"Please confine yourself to answering the questions asked Chief Johnson" Brenda nodded once as she answered, she was a pro at this, not surprising given how many times she'd given evidence over the years.

"Of course" Peterson wandered across in front of the witness stand, heading towards the jury on this leg of his loop.

"It's obvious that you've made plenty of enemies during your time with the police here and in Atlanta and before that with the CIA" Brenda suddenly looked warily at Peterson as she replied.

"Possibly" Peterson smiled, all false cheer.

"Come now Chief Johnson, you received a medal from the CIA for your actions in Iraq, actions that helped the allied cause there and naturally make you a target" Brenda's face went rigid.

"I am not in a position to discuss any of that" Peterson nodded, all reasonable agreement, or so it seemed.

"I understand; national security and all that" He shrugged then pushed on. "After all your actions in Iraq must have been important to be so recognised, something that must have attracted the attention and the ire of America's enemies in that rather volatile region, people who'd like you dead for your work there" Brenda opened her mouth to say something then closed it abruptly, glancing towards Andrea and I in a silent plea for help. In response I stood and spoke up.

"Objection Your Honour, the Defence is delving into irrelevancies going back almost two decades, knowing that Chief Johnson is unable to respond" Craven looked to Brenda.

"Is this true?" he asked, Brenda turned to face him and nodded in reply before she explained.

"I worked for the CIA for a period of years in a variety of roles and operations, none of which I can reveal in this court" She pulled a face then continued. "That would require you to get approval from both the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and the members of the Congressional and Senate Joint Intelligence Oversight Committees before I could proceed"

Craven nodded slowly, he knew that anyone less than the Supreme Court trying to compel anything from the CIA was going nowhere, more than likely making him look irrelevant at best and at worst impotent. Turning his attention to Peterson he spoke.

"Defence, do you have any definitive evidence that the attacks on the witness were carried out as a consequence of their actions with the CIA many years ago?"

"It is possible Your Honour" Craven frowned then shook his head.

"Counselor, unless you can establish a direct causal relationship between events that occurred while the witness was with the CIA and the attacks on her here in LA, given the constraints on the witnesses' ability to speak about those matters in court, I'm inclined to disallow this line of questioning" He raised an eyebrow. "Can you prove that link Counselor?" Peterson shook his head.

"Not conclusively at this time" That was enough for Craven.

"The Jury will disregard that line of questioning, continue with something else Counselor"

"Yes Your Honour" I mean what else could he say? Instead Peterson turned back to Brenda and favoured her with a smile.

"Disregarding your actions prior to arriving in Los Angeles then, would you agree that you have attracted hostility and aggression from the city's criminal element?" Brenda nodded and leaned forward to speak into the microphone.

"Placing criminals behind bars does tend to do that" She shrugged. "It's an occupational hazard, every officer faces those risks and threats every day, from the officer citing a motorist for speeding to detectives arresting white collar criminals and murderers; threats are a part of the job"

"But you, as a high profile member of the LAPD would attract threats from powerful, dangerous criminals would you not?" Brenda looked at Peterson and spoke.

"Major Crimes, the team I lead, has had a significant success rate, the people arrested by Major Crimes are not happy to have been found out and arrested, then convicted, so the answer to your question is yes"

"So the attacks on you could have come from any number of criminals that you have crossed paths with" Brenda shrugged.

"Potentially" She looked across at the jury as she continued. "However given your clients were the ones paying the Sinaloa cartel to have us killed it seems unlikely" I Peterson kept his cool.

"Just answer the question Chief Johnson, your speculation has no place here" I was about to say something when Brenda spoke.

"I thought I was, I wasn't speculating, just stating facts" I smiled as she spoke, so polite and so good at hammering home the facts even as Peterson shook his head as he admonished her.

"Just answer the questions you are asked Chief Johnson, without embellishment" I glanced at Andrea, getting a tiny head shake, she was waiting to see where he was going before jumping in, making me nod slightly in reply.

"So Chief Johnson, you admit that you have attracted hostility and threats from various criminal factions for your actions, some of whom have attempted to undertake retribution against you" Brenda nodded but before she could speak Peterson continued. "People like Phillip Stroh, for example?" Brenda shook her head immediately.

"This was not his work" Peterson raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, how can you be so sure?"

"Because I wasn't burnt alive" Brenda stated drily, then smiled sardonically. "As a psychotic and murderous serial arsonist that is Phillip Stroh's preferred modus operandi" Peterson made a 'whatever' gesture with his hands and moved on for a moment then turned to face her.

"But you would agree that Phillip Stroh is one individual who would like to see you pay for your actions in thwarting his criminal schemes?" Brenda thought that one over then nodded agreeably.

"Yes" Peterson nodded and turned to face her.

"Then it's not so much a stretch to imagine other criminal groups wanting to do the same, is it?"

"As I agreed earlier it is possible, but not likely"

"Possible?" Peterson looked to the jury. "I would say it is more than likely. After all did you not get in the way of the criminal Marvin Evans, your actions saw him personally threaten you" Brenda frowned, both at the question and where it was leading and then answered.

"Yes, and he is now serving two consecutive life sentences for his crimes"

"But a man like that has connections, not least amongst the fellow gang members of the One-Ten Crips and the friends of Turrell Baylor, people accustomed to violence with a reason to hate you, seeing as your actions got him killed!" Brenda's eyes narrowed, Turrell Baylor was still a sore point with her.

"Mister Baylor's unfortunate death was investigated and I was cleared of responsibility"

"Cleared, perhaps, but you barely avoided a formal reprimand for your actions, actions which led to Mister Baylor's death" Brenda was working hard on keeping her cool.

"As I said, I was cleared" Peterson shook his head as he turned to the jury.

"Cleared, but found guilty of a code of conduct violation for your actions, is that not true?"

We were both on our feet in an instant, both saying the same thing.

"Objection Your Honour" Craven looked our way and tipped his head, Andrea gave me a slight nod and I sat back, leaving this to her.

"Your Honour, I will point out that not only has that case been settled in a court of law, but the person ultimately responsible for that crime, Marvin Evans, the leader of the One-Ten Crips, has been tried on both state and federal charges and found guilty: She rounded on Peterson and spoke. "What exactly are you suggesting Mister Peterson? That because one of the officers here was investigated on a conduct case, it obviates her testimony for every other case they may investigate?"

"It calls into question their integrity..." I couldn't hold my tongue any more, standing and cutting across Peterson, shutting him down.

"I would also like to point out to the Defence that the conduct of your clients has been investigated and, unlike Chief Johnson, their conduct was investigated and found to have been criminal, hence our presence here today. I would suggest then that if anyone's integrity should be questioned, you should be looking at your clients"

New York

Kate Beckett was driving back to the precinct from their latest crime scene, keeping her eyes on the road even as she listened to the trial on Castle's new phone; her partner was watching the live coverage on a huge new smartphone he'd bought specifically for the purpose. Esposito and Ryan might have joked about the 'phablet' as they'd dubbed the huge phone when they'd first seen it, but that didn't mean they hadn't crowded around at the crime scene whenever they had a spare moment, like law enforcement personnel across the country the case simultaneously fascinated and repelled them in equal measure. Her partner looked across to her.

"That Defence guy's going in really hard" said Rick Castle, causing Kate to shake her head as she responded.

"If even half of what Alex and that other DA said is true, his clients are guilty as sin Castle, I suppose he's not got much else so he's defaulted to trying to destroy the prosecution witnesses' credibility" She pulled a face like she'd just tasted something foul then continued. "Basically he's flinging as much dirt as he can at the witnesses in the hope some sticks" Rick nodded.

"Can't see Alex standing still for that" he said, they shared a quick glance before Kate returned her eyes to the road and replied quietly.

"Me neither"

In Court

"Very well" Peterson said with ill grace after Craven had sent us back to our seats. "Let us move onto your involvement with this case" Brenda sat impassively as she waited. "You became involved in this case at the instigation of Sharon Raydor, correct"

"At her request, that is correct"

"Was that before or after she ensnared you in a relationship" Brenda's eyes widened then narrowed before she leaned forward.

"I would object to the nature of the word ensnared" I stood.

"As would I Your Honour, that word suggest a level of malice and coercion not appropriate to this circumstance" Seeing Craven nodding in agreement Peterson shrugged and asked again.

"Very well, was that before or after she entered into a relationship with you?" Brenda remained impassive as I sat down.

"Before" she said as the camera's focussed in on her.

"But you were close, were you not, before you slept with her" I debated objecting but decided to let this play out for the moment.

"Commander Raydor had been my friend for a number of years" Peterson smiled all too widely, his voice all faux-jovial.

"So formal Chief, do you refer to each other by your titles when you're in bed together?" Andrea looked to Peterson as she stood.

"Really?" She turned to Craven. "Your Honour, what exactly does this salacious imputation have to do with the capital crimes the defendants are facing and which Mister Peterson has ostensibly been retained to defend them against?" Craven looked to Peterson and spoke up.

"Well Counselor?"

"We will prove that rather than a dispassionate investigator, Chief Johnson was motivated by a desire to protect and please her lesbian lover, sufficient enough that her usual objectivity was lacking" Andrea looked to Craven and shook her head.

"And the Defence bases this supposition on what exactly, besides gossip and their own innuendo?"

"Be seated counsellor" He looked to Peterson. "This does have a point, doesn't it counsellor?"

"Yes Your Honour, we intend to prove malice and prejudice" Craven frowned.

"Strong assertions there counsellor, I hope for your sake you're right" He nodded. "Continue"

Boston BPD Division 1 Homicide

Riley Cooper glanced up from her desk where she was watching the trial on her computer, looking towards Lieutenant Cavanagh's office, it was empty, had been ever since he'd had an urgent meeting with Marquette two days ago, but the last thing she needed was her homophobic boss hearing this sort of crap.

It was that sort of bigoted attitude that had driven Maura and Jane to leave Boston to get away from it, more and more Riley was coming to the conclusion that if she wanted to be happy and open and out about her relationship with Suzie downstairs in the morgue, she was going to have to move out of homicide into another area, somewhere outside Cavanagh's ability to fuck up their lives.

She didn't want to, she was good at her job, she had the arrests and convictions to back that up, she and Frost worked well together, plus she appreciated the advice and mentoring she was getting from Korsak. In the end however it was pretty apparent that if Cavanagh learned she and Suzie were what he'd so charmingly described Jane and Maura as; 'a pair of rug-munching cunts', then he'd turn his bile and vitriol on them as well.

She grimaced to herself. If they were to be happy together it was looking like she would have to move somewhere else to get away from him, something she wasn't looking forward to, but looked more and more inevitable. Shaking her head, she turned back to the screen, to see that bigoted old fart of a judge letting the defence lawyer get away with his shit-throwing at that female cop.

Maybe she was biased but she sure as hell didn't think the gender of who you loved affected your ability to investigate crimes, an attitude she was sad to say she didn't share with her boss here in Boston or that sleazy lawyer in Los Angeles.

In Court

"Very well Chief Johnson, let me get the facts straight" Peterson glanced at the jury then continued. "Your 'friend' Sharon Raydor…"He put particular emphasis on the word friend. "…invited you in to assist her with an investigation into a crime she was not able to solve. Working together you determined that a number of LAPD officers, almost all men, were to wear the blame for these crimes, during the course of this dual investigation you became involved with Sharon Raydor, was it during this time that she infected you with her loathing for male officers?" Brenda shook her head and leaned forward to answer.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, I do not loath male officers, in fact I lead a team that contains a number of male officers, have done so for over eight years, so I obviously do not loath them" Peterson waved her objections away.

"We'll get to that soon enough" I frowned at that rather ominous foreshadowing, seeing Andrea doing the same. Peterson took a few steps to one side so that he was looking at Brenda while facing the jury and cameras, making Brenda look away from the jury to him, it was an old tactic. "So Chief Johnson, you and your paramour conspired to bring these charges against the defendants?" Brenda was too experienced a hand to fall for that, turning to look at the jury as she responded.

"No, we did not conspire about anything, we followed the evidence trail" Peterson shook his head.

"Not from where I stand you didn't; after all, your girlfriend had been harassing Detective Sergeant Kennedy for some time prior to his unwarranted arrest" Brenda went to answer but he cut her off. "Leaving aside semantics for a moment, let's look at the facts. You and your lover needed a major case to get her promoted, something to get her noticed by the LAPD leadership, so you settled on finding a number of innocent officers who you realised were suitable to be stitched up"

"Objection Your Honour" It was Andrea, she'd beaten me to it, I'd been about a second behind her, too busy being surprised by his assertions. "The Defence attributes motives without proof, it seems that innuendo and slander has become their stock in trade" She looked at Craven and shook her head. "Now he accuses senior LAPD officers of criminal conduct without evidence of any kind" Craven looked to Peterson.

"Can Defence prove your accusations counsel, with proof?" Peterson was silent, leaving Craven to shake his head and look to the jury. "The jury will disregard that statement" He looked back to Peterson. "Continue"

"Yes your Honour" He turned back to Brenda as Andrea sat down. "Tell me Chief Johnson, would you call yourself an unprejudiced person?" Brenda nodded.

"I certainly try to be"

"Do you find yourself discriminating against specific social groups, Mexicans, African-Americans, Latinos or Asians because of their ethnic background? Do they remind you of the criminal elements you so often have to arrest" Brenda shook her head.

"Not at all, I try and treat everyone equally, I have had a number of people of colour in my squad, men and women both, and see them as individuals first, detectives second, their colour comes a long way behind that" Peterson nodded.

"So you don't discriminate? Brenda shook her head.

"No" Peterson turned, standing in such a way that the jury and camera's got him full on as he played to both.

"What about the discrimination against heterosexual men you're guilty of?" Brenda's eyes widened and her response carried her surprise in tone as well as words.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You have shown a distinct preference for gay women in your squad, I mean you're gay, so you must prefer them to straight men" Ignoring Brenda's open mouthed state of shock he continued. "Face facts, you're in a relationship with a colleague, Sharon Raydor, three of your detectives are lesbians, you're close friends with the LAPDs media woman and coroner, they're both gay, so too is the Bureau's liaison to the LAPD, the ill-starred Agent Romanov" He waved our way as both Andrea and I surged to our feet. "Both your lawyers too"

"Objection!"

"Your Honour, please!" Peterson was unfazed, slipping another cheap shot in.

"Nice little lesbian clique you've got going here Chief Johnson, wouldn't you agree?" Craven looked to us,

"Yes?" I looked to Andrea and nodded, she could handle this as I sat down.

"Your Honour, what exactly does the sexual preferences of the witness have to do with this case?" He looked to Peterson who shrugged as he replied.

"Chief Johnson is gay, as obviously is Raydor; she has surrounded herself with women of similar proclivities, replacing straight men who have been transferred out of Major Crimes, her closest associates are all lesbians, all of whom played a part in helping Sharon Raydor bring this ill-starred case against my clients, I believe that the actions of these witnesses, people like Maura Isles are questionable, given they are all working together to send my clients to prison for crimes they did not commit" Craven sat there, looking between Peterson and us, then looked to Brenda.

"Chief Johnson, are the claims of the Defence correct?" Brenda turned to face him, her eyes flicking to us where we both nodded, honesty was needed here.

"Yes Your Honour, as previously stated Commander Raydor and I, we are in a relationship" He nodded as Peterson spoke up.

"And your female detectives too!" Craven glanced his way then back at Brenda.

"Is this true?" Brenda nodded.

"Two of the detectives in Major Crimes were in relationships prior to their joining Major Crimes, both were on secondment to the LAPD from Boston and New York respectively" She shifted in her seat as she continued. "The third detective was a more recent transfer into the team from within the LAPD, and was also in a relationship prior to joining Major Crimes" Craven nodded slowly, glancing at Andrea and I, taking in our expressions, I was livid and Andrea was no better, before looking back to Brenda.

"Were these detectives involved in this case?" Brenda shook her head, blonde hair swishing across her shoulders.

"No Your Honour, two of the three detectives in question did not join Major Crimes until after the case was well and truly closed" I held my tongue, Mikki Mendoza was a borderline case, given she'd been there to help arrest one of the suspects but still… Craven pursed his lips.

"But the Defence's other claims, about Agent Romanov and the other women involved in this case, they're correct?" Brenda shifted slightly in her seat again, glancing my way before answering.

"Partially, for example DDA Cabot did not join the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office until quite recently" Craven looked at her and frowned.

"But the others, the Medical Examiner the Defence have mentioned and the other woman…" He looked to Peterson. "What was her name?"

"Natalie Dearing, she's the police's media woman Your Honour" Craven nodded to Peterson and turned back to Brenda.

"Yes, what about these women's relationships with the investigating officers then, Chief Johnson?"

"They are involved in relationships with other woman, yes" Craven pursed his lips then pressed the point.

"And these other women were also involved in the investigation?" Brenda nodded, drawing a clarification from Craven. "Who were they?"

"Major Crimes' Sergeant Rizzoli, and Special Agent Romanov" Craven sat back for a moment then looked to Andrea and I, then to Peterson.

"So the assertion by Counsel that a majority of the people involved in both the investigation and the prosecution are gay is in fact correct" Andrea spoke up before Brenda could reply.

"Your Honour, the personal relationship choices of the people involved in this case are quite frankly irrelevant, certainly not suitable material for a salacious fishing expedition by the Defence" I nodded from where I stood by her side and spoke up.

"It would be akin to tainting the testimony of officers prosecuting a gay crime because they are heterosexual. Since when does an individual detective's sexuality play a part in their fitness to undertake their profession? Certainly not in any case law I am familiar with" I looked across to Peterson and shook my head. "I thought that sort of attitude was a relic of a bygone era, one we have, fortunately, left far behind" Craven sat back and regarded us both, no doubt remembering our warnings. Finally he shook his head.

"I see merit in allowing the Defence to continue to explore this avenue, for the moment at least. Prosecution will resume their seats, Defence, you may continue" Andrea and I exchanged a look of disbelief as Peterson smiled widely.

"Thank you Your Honour. Chief Johnson, let's talk about the peculiar makeup of the team you and your lover Sharon Raydor assembled to bring these unwarranted charges against my clients"

The look on Brenda's face mirrored the way I felt, a combination of sick and appalled.

Los Angeles Hollywood Division Homicide

Chloe Decker looked up from her computer and shook her head, something her partner, the civilian consultant Lucifer Morningstar noticed, he tipped his head to regard her and spoke quietly.

"Is everything alright Detective?" Chloe shook her head.

"That Defence lawyer is doing everything he can to smear the reputations of some of the LAPDs top female officers, everything I've heard about Chief Johnson and Commander Raydor says that they're both good, dedicated officers" Lucifer nodded and propped himself on the corner of her desk.

"Well, given what little I know of the trial, it would seem the Defence has little else to go on, if he cannot contest the evidence he has to try and contest the people" Lucifer smiled brightly at her. "Playing the man, or woman in this case, not the ball, so to speak" Chloe nodded.

"Yeah, but this sticks in my gut, I mean I considered applying for Major Crimes when they had some openings a few months back, before I changed my mind, that was partly because I'd get to work with Chief Johnson" Chloe looked up at her partner. "She's really that good"

"Then why on earth didn't you detective?" he asked, puzzled. Chloe smiled up at him.

"I don't think that you'd be allowed to work with me there, so it wasn't worth it" Her smile widened at the look of surprise that appeared on his face. He sat there for a few seconds, obviously considering what she'd said before finally replying.

"You passed up a chance to work with someone you admire to continue to work with me?" He smiled softly. "I'm truly touched detective" Chloe reached up and brushed a wisp of hair back behind her ear as she smiled happily.

"I'm happy enough exactly where I am right here"

The smile she got from her partner made her day.

New York

It was a little later than usual but it was dinner time in the Priestly household. Both Andrea and I had been working back a bit late, but we'd agreed not long after we had got together and Andrea had started staying over evenings, that we would do everything we could to ensure we were home to share dinner with the twins.

Now we were sitting down over dinner and discussing the day's schooling with Caroline and Cassidy; they were discussing the Contemporary Social Studies class they had attended today.

"Yeah, it was a lot more fun than normal mommy" Caroline enthused, with Cassidy backing her sibling up.

"Yes, rather than boring stuff, we got to watch that trial in California" I noticed Andrea suddenly swallow convulsively at that comment as I wondered what had happened; intrigued I decided to prod the discussion along a little.

"Oh, which trial was that?" Caroline got in first.

"The one about the crooked police killing people" I raised my eyebrow at that, wondering why on earth a trial in California was of interest in a New York classroom; I'd been immersed in the next issue of Runway and hadn't taken particular note of the news lately so I decided to probe a little more.

"Why were they showing that to your class?"

"Well…" Cassidy began before Caroline butted in.

"They showed it because the teacher said it was a case study of entrenched sociological gender mores in a patriarchal-dominated system" I narrowed my eyes at that before turning to Andrea who was being very quiet, asking the question.

"Really?" She nodded and started explaining.

"It's a big case, a group of LAPD cops were apparently taking money to act as assassins for a Mexican drug cartel" I nodded then raised an eyebrow as I bade her continue. Obviously reluctantly she did so. "The prosecution has made some pretty nasty accusations about the police who investigated and caught them" I tipped my head to regard her, wondering why it was so important.

"Oh, how so?" Cassidy jumped in.

"Yeah, he says they were biased because they were gay" Caroline nodded quickly.

"Yeah, he's being really nasty too" I shook my head then spoke to them both.

"That is simply unacceptable; discriminating against someone because of their choice of partner is the very worst of behaviour" I fixed them both with a look. "I would hope you had not been exposed to any of that sort of behaviour at school" They both shook their heads before Caroline smiled.

"It's okay mommy, we've all had the sensitivity classes" Cassidy jumped in.

"Yeah, but the Judge and that Peterson guy need to do them" Caroline nodded vigorously.

"Yeah, you shouldn't be nasty to people because of who they love" I exchanged a satisfied look with Andrea before I replied.

"That is exactly right my darlings, who you love does not affect what sort of person you are" Cassidy nodded.

"Like you and Andie, you're both still the people you were before, just happier now" she said; I couldn't help but smile at that uncannily accurate summation of our relationship. Caroline smiled as she spoke.

"We like it when you're happy and Andie makes you happy and you make her happy too" At her words I smiled proudly as Andrea nodded and spoke.

"Yep, no one should be discriminated against because of who they love" I nodded happily at her words, I'd worked hard to make sure the twins understood that we were all worthy of respect and I was glad to see they'd taken that lesson to heart. However there was still the issue that had started this discussion. "Tell me more about this trial" They looked at each other and both started.

"It's really bad…"

"It's gross, they…" I held up a hand.

"One at a time please" I looked at Cassidy and nodded. "You first please my darling" She nodded and dived back in.

"It's really bad, the bad guys, the crooked cops, they were killing people for money, the drug cartels were paying them to kill people" I narrowed my eyes as I nodded then turned to Caroline, raising an eyebrow and giving her permission to speak.

"Some of the things they did were really gross, some of the people they kidnapped and then killed was bad" I frowned, not following her. Undeterred she was still going. "The lawyer for the bad cops is saying that the good cops who arrested them weren't doing the right thing because they were gay" I raised one eyebrow at that and turned to Andrea.

"Oh really, what are your thoughts darling?" She nodded once then spoke.

"The defence counsel, Peterson, is making some nasty assertions about the investigating officers, it's got pretty strained in the courtroom" I frowned at her words.

"I was under the impression that the judge was supposed to stop that sort of thing?" She scowled; obviously what she had seen had made quite an impression, something her words confirmed.

"The judge has been letting the defence counsel get away with some pretty questionable things" She shook her head. "Frankly I don't know how he's getting away with some of it" I thought that over for a second, seeing the twins nodding in agreement with Andrea's statement as I pressed the issue.

"Do go on" She nodded once then replied.

"He's pushing the line pretty hard" She paused for a moment, frowning, then pushed on. "There's another thing you should be aware of…" I just looked at her as she trailed off then spoke.

"Yes…"

"The prosecutor, well one of them, is Alex" I frowned; the only lawyer I was aware of named Alex was Alex Cabot, surely not her… Taking in Andrea's expression I realised exactly who it was.

"Alex Cabot is prosecuting?" She nodded as she replied.

"Yeah, she's on a secondment to Los Angeles along with Olivia and she's been co-prosecuting the case" She nibbled her bottom lip for a moment then pressed on. "You should know that the crooked cops tried to kill the police investigating their case and well…we know them too" I carefully placed my knife and fork down on the plate and folded my hands under my chin as I regarded Andrea for a moment, then spoke.

"Indeed? Please continue" She copied my gesture, putting the cutlery down and sitting up straight as she replied.

"The cops who caught them include Maura Isles, Natalie Dearing, Anastasia Romanov and Jane Rizzoli" I blinked at that, surprised beyond words. To find out not only was Alex prosecuting a case on the far side of the country, but that the police involved were her friends, 'our friends' I amended, it was almost unbelievable.

"How is Alex prosecuting a case in California?" I asked, causing Andrea to grimace.

"Olivia was working a case with Kate Beckett…" I nodded, I remembered hearing about that case, Andrea had helped break the story in the media, a very good story as I recalled with a little thrill of pride. "Well after the story broke, elements within the NYPD tried to punish her for leaking to the media" she said, holding up her hand to stop me breaking in. "They had no proof but they suspected Olivia was our source, which she was of course, so they set about forcing her out, they put her on suspension, threatened to assign her to administration duties, basically punishing her for being a good cop who cared about the victims"

I scowled, the case had been a particularly bad one from what I recalled reading, involving multiple dead children and a child sex ring; the trail had led back to a number of very powerful people. They'd denied everything of course but the links that Andrea and the other journalists who'd put the story together had established were pretty much incontrovertible. Obviously those people had decided to use their power to make Olivia pay. I narrowed my eyes and bade Andrea continue.

"And?" At my encouragement Andrea pressed on.

"When their friends in LA heard they arranged for a secondment for Olivia to their section in the LAPD, while Alex got a secondment to the Los Angeles DA's office for the same duration" I frowned at that, angry I hadn't known.

"Why didn't I know about that?" Andrea smiled as she attempted to mollify my concerns.

"You were in Europe for two weeks, over at Paris Fashion Week then visited several of the Italian fashion houses while it was all happening, in fact it all happened very quickly" She smiled. "Since then you've been really busy with the New York Fashion Week issue then this one" I frowned, I had been busy, there was no doubt about that, but to have missed this…

"I see" Andrea pushed on as the twins listened raptly, obviously enthralled by the personal connections.

"So Alex is co-prosecutor on the case with another woman, she's named Andrea too; can you believe it? Anyway, the criminals were LAPD cops on the Sinaloa cartel's payroll, being paid to kill people in LA that the Cartel wanted dead" She shook her head slowly. "It's an amazing story, they killed almost 40 people before they got caught, with Jane and Maura and the others heavily involved in the investigation" I smiled at her enthusiasm for the tale.

"No doubt it is a story you would like to have covered?" She nodded eagerly.

"Oh yeah, it's a great story, I'd love to have had it" She shrugged. "Anyway, based on the evidence the prosecution's supposed to have, the defence hasn't got a leg to stand on, so they're trying to smear the investigators, particular the two senior officers, Commander Sharon Raydor and Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, who you know about"

I sat back, remembering them well from the images we'd had shot for Runway's planned 'Women in Law Enforcement' article. They were both attractive women, especially given their age and the weight of their responsibilities as senior police with distinguished records. Andrea had paused, obviously seeing my reaction, she nodded and spoke.

"Yeah, small world isn't it? So the defence lawyer's gone after both Jane and Ana because they're gay…" She shook her head angrily. "I don't doubt he's going to go after Maura and Natalie for the same reason" She suddenly stopped as a strange expression crossed her face, before she spoke again, slowly. "I wonder if he knows about Alex…" Cassidy jumped in.

"Alex is gay isn't she?" Caroline, ever eager to one up her sister nodded.

"Of course she is, she's with Olivia" Cassidy pulled a face, obviously chagrined to be caught out by her twin.

"Oh yeah, that's right" she said as I pursed my lips while I thought that through, Alex was not one to take a backwards step, she would most definitely not take an attack on her relationship with Olivia lying down.

"I was not aware of this trial, but let us hope that the judge remembers his responsibilities and puts a stop to these unwarranted character attacks" They all grimaced before Andrea spoke.

"Not much chance of that, he's let a lot slide"

"Yes mommy, he's being a jerk" It was Caroline with Cassidy hot on her heels.

"A total waste of oxygen" I frowned a little, before I could say anything however Andrea spoke quickly.

"You really should try and catch some of the trial if you can Miranda, they're carrying it live on cable plus all of the mainstream news outlets have summaries" I understood it was important but still…

"I understand that's important darling, but I have Runway to pull together" Andrea looked at me and leaned forward a little, her voice earnest and urgent.

"Please Miranda, I think it's important" Caroline was the first to jump in.

"Yes mommy, you should see it, that Petersen man was being really nasty" Cassidy followed her sister.

"Yes, our teacher said that the judge was equally com…compl..."

"Complicit?" Andrea helpfully added, getting a nod from Cassidy.

"Yeah, he was being complicit by allowing him to say those things" I sighed.

"I will see if I can, though you know how busy it is with getting the next issue out" Andrea looked at me imploringly.

"Please Miranda, spend a little time watching it, it's really important" Caroline was next.

"Yes mommy, please do" Not to be left out Cassidy chimed in.

It's important mom" At my three girls earnest looks I sighed, I couldn't deny them something they all considered important, there was no use fighting it, I'd already lost.

"Very well my darlings, I'll make some time tomorrow to watch it" The matching smiles I got in return warmed my heart, I'd made them all very happy and all it took was a little of my time. At that thought I looked up to see Andrea watching me, the look in her eyes for me alone, drawing a smile from me at her in return.