Chapter 3: Wrong Turn
Three months had passed since their fallout and subsequent make up. Things were going smoothly between them except the constant teasing at work. But they were coping with that and just ignored it however persistent it was.
Another day, another murder to solve. The two detectives were put on the case straightaway and headed to the scene of the murder. The first officers on the scene informed them of the situation and that they had identified the victim and secured the scene. Then the CSI's arrived. "What we got?" asked Danny
"Bonnie Harman" replied Jamie "17 years old"
"Who found her?" asked Danny kneeling down beside the body
"Her mom" replied Flack "Her parents went out for dinner and mom came to check on her when they got back and found her dead on the floor"
"Have your guys finished securing the scene?" asked Danny
"Yep, all done. We've also got guys doing door to door to find out if they have any information" nodded Flack. Danny nodded and started processing the scene.
Sid performed a post mortem which revealed she had died after being stabbed fifteen times, in the stomach, face, arms and legs before slowly bleeding death. And that she'd been brutally raped.
It wasn't too long before they had a suspect. "Got a match on our database" Lindsay said to Danny "Charlie Jones, 17, priors for assault and possession as a juvenile" she handed him a piece of paper with Charlie's home address and school and work addresses on.
"I'll call Flack and have him and Lovato pick him up" said Danny taking his phone out of his pocket. He made the call and Flack and Jamie went to pick him up for arrest.
Flack and Jamie headed to the boy's school and a teacher took them through. "I know that boy's trouble, he is a lot of trouble. It was only a matter of time before this happened" said the teacher.
"Is he a lot of trouble here?" asked Jamie
"Yes. He's always in trouble, he's graffitied half the school" replied the teacher, Mr Chelan "And he's a bully. He bullies a lot of the younger children. He's on his last warning. One more strike and he will be permanently suspended"
"If he's guilty of what we think he's done permanent suspension will be the least of his problems" said Flack
"Why what do you think he's done?" asked Mr Chelan
"He's a murder suspect" replied Flack
"Bonnie Harman?" he asked "She was a pupil here, I believe she went out with Charlie once. It was horrible, what happened to her. We're holding a memorial service in a few days. She was exceptionally bright and was well on her way to getting a scholarship to Yale or Harvard. Wait here, I'll go in and get him" they stopped outside a classroom and Mr Chelan went inside while they waited outside.
Finally the door opened again and Mr Chelan came out but he didn't have Charlie with him. "He's gone to the toilet. He'll back in a minute. I can him direct him to my office or you can wait here"
"He'll probably do a runner if we go to your office. It's probably best if we wait here" said Jamie
"Ok" Mr Chelan nodded.
A few minutes later they saw a tall, dark haired boy rounding the corner playing with his phone. He looked up at them, he obviously realised they were cops because he put his phone in his pocket, turned around and bolted off back the way he'd come. "OI comeback here!" Flack shouted as he and Jamie ran after him. "Stop!"
Charlie looked over his shoulder before speeding up. The two detectives were hot on his tail and seconds later Flack pounced on him and pinned him to the floor. "Right you're under arrest for the murder of Bonnie Harman" Flack put the cuffs on him and pulled him to his feet. They took him back to the car and shoved him in the back. "Did you ever get detention at school?" asked Jamie
"Loads" he laughed "I hated school, I got them because I kept bunking off and not handing my homework in on time. You?"
"Yeah, some." She nodded "Were you ever suspended?"
"Once, it wasn't even my fault. I didn't give that boy that swirly." He smirked "You?"
"Yeah I was suspended three times. I kept fighting all the girls… and the boys, in my year. And winning" she grinned
It wasn't too long before they arrived at the precinct and they booked Charlie in before taking him to interview. "Where were you last night between nine thirty and eleven thirty?" asked Jamie
"At home" he shrugged
"And was anybody with you?" asked Jamie
"No, I live alone. I have my own place" he replied "Look I didn't kill Bonnie"
"Well try explaining your fingerprints on the murder weapon" said Flack placing a picture of the knife Danny had collected at the scene, with Charlie's fingerprints on.
"I've been to her place before" he said, but not convincingly enough for them to believe his story.
"They were fresh" replied Flack "So again how do you explain your fingerprints on the murder weapon"
"Are you two fucking each other?" Charlie asked, smirking at them
"Excuse me?" said Jamie, feeling utterly disgusted with him and totally embarrassed by him.
"Are you two fucking each other?" he repeated, this time a bit louder and smirking even more. "Well are you?"
"That's none of your business!" Flack hissed "Now answer the bloody question. How do you explain your fingerprints on the murder weapon?"
"You are fucking each other then?" he smirked, not answering the question "fuck me! You are!"
"Will you just answer the bloody question!" Flack snapped
"I didn't kill her!" he retorted
"If you didn't kill her you won't mind giving us a sample of your DNA" said Flack
"If it will clear me" he shrugged.
So he gave them a sample of his semen and his DNA and it as tested against the semen sample taken from Bonnie's private parts. But it was not a match. "So he didn't rape her" said Flack
"What if there were two assailants" replied Jamie "He stabbed her and the other raped her. Split the sentencing"
"Ok, we should see what Adam got off the CCTV tapes" replied Flack "That might give us a better idea of who we're looking at here"
"Agreed" she nodded.
So they went up to the lab and spoke to Adam, who had been cleaning up the CCTV. But the CCTV footage from the Harman's apartment building was sketchy at best, even after Adam had cleaned it up and enhanced it. "It's really poor" said Adam "I enhanced it a hundred times and I still can't get a good shot of his face"
"Anything you have got from it?" asked Flack
"Yeah tall guy, about 6'1, medium build. And just one perp" replied Adam "He almost looks at the camera but his hood covers too much of his face to get a good facial description."
"So if there's one guy and Charlie's DNA isn't a match to semen samples Sid collected during autopsy, means he isn't our guy" said Jamie
"She could've be raped earlier during the day" suggested Adam "I ran the semen samples through all of our databases, no matches in AFIS or any other databases."
"So we can't rule out Charlie jones, she could've been raped earlier that day by someone else then killed by him that night." Said Flack
"It's possible" nodded Jamie "maybe he paid someone to rape her then killed her knowing she'd be shaken and wouldn't fight back"
Charlie was put back into interview and Flack went into interrogate him again, hoping to get some more conclusive answers.
"You said my DNA didn't match. Why aren't you releasing me!" he spat as Flack came into the interview room
"Because you still haven't explained how your fingerprints got on that knife!" replied Flack "Now have you got an explanation?"
"Yeah I gave her that stupid knife" he said angrily "For protection against that dick who she was dating ok"
"And you couldn't have just told me that when I asked you last time?" Flack raised his eyebrow "Instead of asking me and my partner if we were fucking each other"
"Handling dangerous weapons is illegal, I ain't dumb. I know that shit" he shrugged "I went by yesterday to give it to her. That's how my stupid prints got on it. Happy now?"
"Does this dick have a name?" asked Flack
"Yeah Pauley Fodders" said Charlie "He's a college sophomore, he's a total fucking wanker… he goes to NYU"
"Thank you. You're still not off the hook, you don't have an alibi" said Flack before leaving the room.
He and Jamie headed to NYU to pick Pauley Fodders up. He was a lot more willing to come to the precinct and did not argue with them. He gave a semen sample and a DNA sample. Which ultimately cleared him because his semen was not a match to that which was found on her body. And also when they told him she was dead he broke down in tears, the natural reaction of someone finding out someone they love his dead. Once again Flack found himself back in the interview room with Charlie. "Alright Charlie you gave me a load of bullshit. I want the truth this time"
"Oh come on that guy is a total fucking wanker" said Charlie "He definitely fucking did it"
"No he didn't, his semen wasn't a match!" replied Flack "I know you killed her, I want you to tell me who raped her!"
"I didn't fucking kill her!" Charlie spat "I fucking loved her. I didn't fucking kill her"
"People kill people they love!" Flack rolled his eyes, this boy's attitude and evident turrets was really starting to get on his nerves. "It's not unheard of"
"You're such a dumbass" said Charlie "If I was going to kill anyone it would be fucking Pauley Fodders for sleeping with my girl, nabbing her and rubbing it in my fucking face. I should've used that fucking knife on him and cut off his fucking cock"
"If you say that word one more time I will make sure your stay is unpleasant" Flack said coldly "Now this time I want the truth and the name of the guy who raped her"
"Yeah, yeah. I don't fucking know" Charlie sneered "I wasn't fucking there!"
"I mean it, if you want to see the light of day ever again you'll tell me who raped her!" seethed Flack
"I don't know who fucking raped Bonnie!" he retorted "But I'll kill whoever fucking did it and the fucking sick bastard who killed her!"
"Calm down, I'm not having you on the other side of this table again you cocky little sod" said Flack "Now can you think of anyone who might want to hurt her?"
"No I can't" Charlie folded his arms "Bonnie was nice ok, she didn't have any fucking enemies. She was like one of the most popular girls at school, everyone wanted a go on her"
"Wanted a go on her?" Flack blinked
"Yeah, she was smart, nice and a total whore" said Charlie "She might've turned someone down, that really fucks the boys off when girls do that. So she might've really fucked someone off… Darren Lodes asked her a few days ago, she told him where to go. He was so fucked off afterwards"
"Ok this better be the truth this time. Because if you've lied to me again and make me look like a jackass I will personally drive you to rikers" said Flack before leaving the room.
He and Jamie picked Darren Lodes up and placed him in interview. Darren supplied a semen sample. Which ended up getting him in an awful lot of trouble. His semen was a match to that found on Bonnie's body. They executed a search of his apartment and found clothes covered in a red liquid, in his wardrobe. The clothes tested positive for blood and back at the lab they matched the DNA profiles from the blood on Darren's clothes to the DNA profile of Bonnie Harman. They had their guy. He was charged with first-degree murder and rape and taken to rikers.
They organised Charlie Jones's release but he was incredibly pissed with them. "You fuckers wasted my whole day. You accused me of a fucking murder that I did not commit and a rape I didn't fucking commit. You're gonna fucking pay" he spat walking away from the precinct "You're gonna fucking pay for this!"
"God I hate dealing with teenagers!" said Jamie
"Yeah that one is a cocky little sod. I hope we never meet again" replied Flack "If he was my son I would wash his mouth out with soap. He can't stop swearing, he wouldn't stop swearing in interview."
Soon after they clocked off for the night and headed back to Flack's place. They grabbed a takeaway because they'd gotten off shift quite late and downed some beers. They watched TV for a bit then switched it off and changed entertainment tactics. She chucked a blanket on the sofa and some different pillows and slid into something else. They engaged in some causal sexual teasing for a while before stripping off and having sex.
Meanwhile mac and Danny were attending to an evidence collection at Bellevue hospital, along with detective Nadine. A young man had been assaulted on the sidewalk and rushed to hospital. Thankfully his injuries were not critical and he was fully conscious when they arrived. But something else struck them. "Charlie Jones?" Danny recognised him from earlier
They took samples and his clothes and bagged them before asking him a couple of questions. "Did you get a good look at him?"
"I can do better than that. I know his name" replied Charlie
"Go on" said mac
"Detective Flack" he replied
"You what?" frowned Danny
"He attacked me coz he couldn't get me for Bonnie's murder" said Charlie "I was just wandering along and he pounced on me"
The detective, detective Nadine made a call to have Flack picked up straightaway for the assault on Charlie Jones. Although he had a watertight alibi right?
The officers went straight round and kicked in the door in and burst into the apartment.
They were busy making very passionate love on the sofa, just the two of them alone in his apartment, some music playing gently in the background so they could move to the rhythm. But they were so rudely interrupted as the door practically blew off its hinges.
They flew apart and looked at who was standing in the doorway. "What the hell is going on?" Flack demanded furiously, honestly you try to have some meaningful sex with your girlfriend and someone breaks your door down right in the middle of the act. Was there anywhere you could get privacy in this city anymore?
"You're under arrest for assaulting Charlie Jones" replied one of the officer
"YOU WHAT!" Flack exploded
"Get up and get dressed" said the officer
"Can you get out and close the door then?" retorted Flack. The officers went back outside and closed the door. "What the hell are they talking about?" asked Jamie "He was fine when he left the precinct and you've been with me ever since"
"Yeah well I know I didn't do it. If that little cocky sods done this for payback I'm gonna do it for real" he seethed yanking his jeans back on.
Once he was dressed the officers cuffed him and led him to their car and shoved him in the back. Jamie followed in his car, unable to believe this was really happening.
Back at the precinct he was put in interview, where mac and detective Nadine interviewed him. "Where you at 10:30 last night?"
"In my apartment, with Jamie, eating my dinner" replied Flack "And after that we were drinking and watching TV and detective Nadine knows what else because she had her officers burst into my apartment after kicking my door in!"
"Well I didn't know did I?" she raised her eyebrow
"You can pay for it!" he hissed
"We found your DNA under his fingernails" said Mac "And your handprints on his jumper"
"Yeah I arrested him this morning and he resisted arrest" said Flack
"He identified you as his attacker" said detective Nadine
"Yeah he wants payback for me ruining his day by having him in holding all day and accusing him of a rape and a murder he didn't commit" replied Flack "He was really hacked off when we released him and he said he was going to make me pay for it"
Mac and Nadine then took a statement from Jamie, where she backed up that he had been with her all night. "Detective Flack says he was you from when he clocked off at ten o'clock last night until he was arrested earlier this morning" said detective Nadine
"He was" replied Jamie
"And you did what?" asked detective Nadine
"Had takeaway, had a couple of beers, watched TV then well you know what it was because your officers burst in on us!" replied Jamie
"And he didn't leave the apartment at any time?" asked detective Nadine
"No he was with me from the moment we clocked off to the moment he was arrested" said Jamie
"You're in a close, personal relationship with detective Flack" said Nadine "Is that not correct?"
"Yes I am, but I wouldn't lie for him" replied Jamie "If he did something like this he'd own up to it, and he wouldn't do it anyway. And I'm not lying for him now"
"Very well" said detective Nadine
However the attorney prosecuting the case and detective Nadine wanted to discard it due to them having a close, personal and very intimate relationship. Without it Flack could go down for the assault he didn't commit. "They want to discard my statement" she said sitting down on his desk "Because we're together. They think we're lying."
"But we're not" he sighed "You'd never lie for me and I'd never lie for you… professionally I mean. It's perjury"
"She implied that I was a liar, she made it clear that's what she thought I am" replied Jamie "And the attorney prosecuting this case wants to discard it too because without it he'll probably secure a conviction. And end up sending an innocent man to prison"
"That kids made this whole thing up over a stupid misunderstanding" he said furiously "He's going to ruin everything I've worked for"
"I know" she sighed.
He was taken to arraignment court and released without bail, thanks to his exemplary record. He was allowed to carry on working, which made it all worse. Because people started making accusations against him and Jamie.
And this pushed them apart. Everyone at work started throwing accusations around, accusations about her lying to cover his arse. One being that he'd asked her to lie for him and she'd gone along with it, another being she'd lied for him out of her own freewill and another being she'd been there when the attack happened and was lying and covering both their arses. On top of that everyone was talking about the officers bursting in on them while they'd been having sex. People would snigger at them when they saw them or would make snide comments about it. Which they thought were funny but Jamie and Flack didn't. It wasn't exactly easy to be intimate with each other and be a regular couple, when people were slinging bullshit allegations at them every five minutes.
And as the days slid by the accusations continued and the strain on their relationship became increasingly evident. They were desperately trying to make it work and hold things together but it was crumbling under the pressure of the upcoming court case and the accusations made by those with whom they worked, the only exemptions being their friends from the crime lab.
Flacks case then went to court, three weeks after the alleged assault on Charlie jones. If he was found innocent and acquitted he could turn over a new page and carry on working as a detective for the NYPD. If he was found guilty and convicted he could looking at up to ten years in prison and losing his job forever. Jamie's statement was brought in after Flack's defence lawyer argued it in. While it did convince the jury, their relationship simply fell apart under the strain. They'd been arguing with each other all the time, over stupid and insignificant little things that weren't usually things that caused arguments. And had barely been intimate since he'd been arrested, once, maybe twice.
Flack was acquitted and Charlie was in turn arrested for perjury. He was indicted, found guilty in court and sentenced to six years in prison. But his and Jamie's relationship had basically dissolved under the pressures of the court case, the accusations and the constant jokes about their sex life. They had been trying so hard to make it work but nothing worked, it was falling to pieces.
And finally they ended it. She had come round after work that day, but they both knew why they were there. "Do you want a drink?" he asked
"No thanks, I won't be saying too long" she sighed
"I think we need to talk" he sighed too. She nodded and they sunk down on his sofa. At first they didn't know what to say to each other but then it came.
"I just don't think this is going to work" said Jamie "It's been a tough couple of weeks and all the stuff at work, the accusations and jokes about our sex life. It's too much"
"I know" he looked down
"Then you nearly went to prison and you were all over the place and we pushed each other away" she continued
"I've been trying to think this over and I think you're right" he replied "It's all too much, if we split it will all stop. It will take some of the pressures away"
"So that's agreed then?" she asked, they'd both been thinking the same thing. "We're breaking up?"
"Looks like it" he sighed. There was a voice in his head, a small voice telling him not to let this happen. Not to break up with her. But the decision was made, they'd made a decision. They were breaking up. "I suppose it's for the best"
"Yeah" she nodded before standing up. They walked towards the front door and she pulled it open. She turned around and looked at him. "See you at work then"
"Yeah" he replied. She smiled slightly before leaving and pulling the door closed behind her. He looked down then sunk down resting against the door, kicking himself internally. "What the hell have I done?" he muttered "I've just let the best thing in my life walk away!" He instantly regretted it. It was a massive mistake.
Jamie walked along the corridor, hands in her pockets. She went into the elevator and sunk down to the floor and burst into tears. "What have I done?" she sobbed quietly "I've just let the only man I've ever loved walk away!" had she really just let that happen?
It had been a mutual decision but there are things you can regret very quickly. Like letting the right person walk right out of your life. However fate does having a way of working out in your favour. Sometimes. Because though it make take months, some heartbreak, some hard to hear and some easy to hear realisations and some unfortunate circumstances, you know life and death circumstances, if its meant to be to, it's just meant to be.
