LO, I WILL TELL YOU A MYSTERY
Chapter 9 All Shall be Revealed
The fathers arrived in Neptune the next day, but things were too busy for them to concentrate on chastising their daughters. Harriman's assault of Veronica and Hunter's shooting of his partner gave the law a justification for investigating their business, and Will, being an experienced policeman, offered to "share his expertise" (i.e., make sure that Sheriff Lamb did not screw up). Meanwhile Veronica was put in the hospital, where her father hovered over her.
The doctors reported that there were burns on her chest between her breasts, and that her heartbeat was irregular. The symptoms mystified them until Detective Mars explained about Veronica's taser weapon. Evidently Harriman had managed to grab it from Veronica when he caught her in his office, then tortured her by pressing it against her chest for several seconds -- continual exposure rather than the quick shocks Veronica usually used to defend herself. Fortunately the damage, internal and external, would heal, but it would take time. Harriman would also recover and stand trial, though, legally, things were a mess, as Chief Girardi explained to his daughter.
"There are a lot of legal ramifications to investigations, things you'll learn in your law course, and that often get glossed over on TV. Even the police can't enter a locked office without a warrant, and Veronica's just a private citizen. Harriman could accuse her of burglary, and claim that any incriminating evidence we find was planted by Veronica. On the other hand, his lawful response was limited to self-defense and calling the police. The fact that he tortured her and moved her to his house will look peculiar to a jury."
"But Hunter said he left the key, and he was a part-owner of the office. Doesn't that justify her being there?
"If your story is convincing to the jury. Your entering his house with Hunter was a bad idea, too."
The idea of testifying brought up another worry, and one that she couldn't discuss with her father. Over the last three years she had told various white lies to avoid mentioning her relationship to God. But this would be a matter of testifying under oath, something she fully understood the importance of, being a cop's daughter and an AP Law student. Did God expect her to lie if the crucial question came up? As Luke had pointed out last fall, could God himself exempt her from his moral code, the commandment to not bear false witness?
But she had a more immediate problem: Veronica's mood. Mr. Mars spent nearly all his time at the hospital, leaving the investigation to Joan's father, but at one point Veronica asked for a private talk with her girl friend.
"What a way to end a career, right?" Veronica said bitterly from her hospital bed, all her surface wit gone. "Almost getting electrocuted by my own weapon, and getting saved because the enemy's sidekick decided to shoot him. Life's a bitch."
"You're just depressed, Veronica." Joan had a brother whose dreams of the future had all evaporated when he was paralyzed in an accident; she understood depression.
"Yeah? You don't know the entire story. Did I tell you why I wanted to be a detective?"
"Your best friend got killed."
"That was only part of it. There were other things I didn't want to talk about earlier. Like the time I crashed an oh-niner party with some other social rejects. The rich kids got even by feeding us illegal drugs and encouraging us to make fools of ourselves. One girl had a Popsicle and -- um, never mind. Me, I threw myself at every boy at the party until one -- accepted. I lost my virginity."
"My God."
"It took me a year to find out who was responsible. I was afraid to tell Dad; he might have killed the guy who defiled me. The irony was, it was a nice guy, but too zonked out to realize that I was zonked out. Then there was my mother. She deserted Dad a year and a half ago, and she left behind evidence that she had betrayed Dad with other men. One betrayal happened a year before I was born, which meant--"
"That your Dad might not really be your father? Gross."
"DNA tests eventually straightened things out, and even before that Dad and I decided that we loved each other too much to let the paternity thing bother us. Anyway, that's what made me want to be a detective like Dad. Spying on people, that was the only way of fighting back."
And normally she fought back brilliantly, Joan realized. But now she was temporarily out of action, and felt that there was nothing outside herself, except her beloved Dad, to do the fighting for her.
Joan finally realized what her mission was.
"Veronica, I have secrets of my own--"
"I sort of guessed that."
"But I think it's important to tell you now. Do you know how I found the house where Harriman took you after you collapsed?"
"I suppose that it was a nifty piece of deduction."
"No. God told me."
"Go -- who?"
"For nearly three years now, I've been going on missions for God. For the last year, my brother and best friend have joined in as well. I'm not talking about going to church and volunteering for things. God meets me directly, in some human disguise, and gives me instructions. Usually puzzling ones, but that's part of the plan."
"Plan?"
"I think He's preparing my friends and me for something big in our future. I know I'm already a better girl than I was three years ago. He persuaded Grace and me to take more interested in our schoolwork, to acquire knowledge, instead of considering it as drudgery. I learned to forgive when my boyfriend slept with another girl. Recently He's been encouraging me to study law and law enforcement -- that's why I'm here now. God told me to come to Washington with Dad.."
"So you think you have an inside track with the Ruler of the Universe," mocked Veronica. "How great for you."
"I don't think it's just for me, that's the point. I think I was sent to tell you that you're not alone when you try to fight injustice, Veronica. You're fighting FOR something. For God. If you don't want to think of God as a person that walks up to you on the street, fine. My Dad doesn't believe in a traditional God either, but 'godliness can exist in forms where you might not recognize it.'. Think of yourself as fighting for justice. You're part of something big, Veronica."
----
Excerpt from Veronica's diary:
Joan told me a very strange story before she left. It's hard to believe, yet it does explain things. Hunter's weird motivation, and his odd obsession with Joan. How she found me when Harriman had kidnapped me. I don't think I'll write it down, just in case Dad or Mac figure out how to decrypt this diary. They don't know Joan the way I do and they'd think she's crazy. It's only in my head, but I don't think I will forget it.
MONDAY, April 24, 2006.
Spring holidays are over, my heart is beating regularly again, and everybody is back at school. I found that the skin on my chest was still tender, and decided not to wear a bra. I don't know how obvious that was, but Logan and Dick both ogled me, the jerks.
But in general, the jerks didn't get on my nerves as much as usual. I could visualize myself as part of my own clique, me and Joan's God, and look down on THEM, figuratively speaking. Psychologically at least, it was a boost.
I wasn't sure how much to tell Wallace. He and I had been drifting apart since Jackie entered his life, and I certainly wouldn't divulge Joan's secret. Mac startled me a bit by asking "how your wrestling with the devil worked out this weekend"; I'd forgotten that she knew that tidbit.
But the most interesting encounter of the day was with a cute boy that I had never seen before. I didn't know his name, but he seemed to pick me out in the hallway immediately. "Veronica, I have a mystery that you might be interested in---"
THE END
(AUTHOR'S NOTE: VERONICA fans might notice that Veronica's account of her quasi-rape doesn't match the final version we got in the Season 2 finale. That's because I am setting the story in Season 2, before she learned the entire truth.