Force Judge Advocate's Office – London, England
1010 Greenwich/ 0510 Eastern
Harm was sitting at his desk, watching the two British barristers discuss the accident involving the Naval Attaché's wife. Lieutenant Walker sat in a third chair, at a right angle to the desk. She was busy taking notes. For his part, Harm couldn't understand the attitude coming from the one lawyer. He had initially objected to having the meeting here, then he objected to the time of the meeting.
Now, as he listened to the two men, he wondered why the victim's lawyer had been so insistent on a British lawyer handling the other side of the case. The accident itself was cut and dried, as were the reports from both the police and the hospital. The insurance company was prepared to make payment for the damages, but it seemed the victim and his lawyer wanted something more. Perhaps the man had been hoping that a fellow Brit would be more sympathetic to sticking it to a Yank.
If so, he had been sadly mistaken. Mister Hargrove was hammering away at the man, listing in detail the points against his arguments and making his disdain in general quite clear.
"Sir, if your client was that seriously injured, why did he wait before seeking medical advice? The police report clearly states they asked if he was hurt and he replied that he was not. Also, emergency services had been sent to the accident and they made similar enquires, also rejected. Now, you have him visiting hospital two days later, seeking treatment for neck and back trauma," Hargrove said.
"The medical authorities I consulted assure me this is not entirely uncommon in accidents of this nature," the man replied.
"From a minor accident between a Mini driven by my client and a Rover driven by yours? I should think it would have been my client who would have come off worst in that case. Not to mention the police put the speed of the collision at around 35 kph. That's about 20 mph for you Yanks," he added for Harm and Annette, who both smiled.
"Well, I can see this is getting us nowhere. I had hoped that your client would be sensible, but since she is not, I will have to submit my brief to the courts."
"Please do so. I look forward to reading it, for the laugh if nothing else," Hargrove replied, as they all watched the man leave in a huff.
"So, what's next, Sir?" Annette asked for her seat.
Harm deferred to Mr. Hargrove, who smiled.
"Well, Lieutenant, I think the best place to start is by you and I going round to our client and having a talk. Let her know where everything stands and going over her account of the accident. Then, we wait for whatever nonsense that man decides to send us. Unless I miss my guess, he'll be at the courthouse last thing today, trying for an early hearing while hoping the papers get delayed in the post."
"That's sneaky," Annette said.
"But perfectly legal, unfortunately," was Harm's reply.
"Quite so, Captain. I think he's what you Yanks call an ambulance chaser."
Harm and Annette both had a good laugh at that. Harm was finding he liked the Brit and he hoped the man could take care of this case for them. Before he would say or do anything else, he phone rang.
"Captain Rabb."
"Captain, Commander Coleman down in Naples, Sir."
"Please tell me you have good news, Commander," Harm said.
"We think we've got him, Sir," Coleman replied.
"You think? Not know, just think?"
"Yes, Sir. We're waiting on NCIS to process the evidence, but I'm confident that this is our man. His record lists a number of documented altercations between himself and the victims, as well as other female officers who've served under him."
"Served under him? Who is your suspect, the CO?" Harm asked, his tone rising.
"Unfortunately yes, Sir. Five female officers in the last two years have requested transfers from the Mahan and three of those requests cited an excessive level of unprofessional behavior on the part of the CO. Also, the disciplinary rate for females versus males is quite high and when the female officers are subjected to extra duty, it's always under the CO's personal supervision. Male officers, when serving extra duty, are supervised by the XO," Coleman reported.
"I hope you have more than that, Commander."
"Yes, Sir. The CO's blood type matches that of the semen found on the victims. He was off the ship at the time of both victim's murders, as well. And he owns a knife consistent with the wounds on the victims, which NCIS has and is currently testing."
"And have you made an arrest yet?" Harm asked.
"No, Sir. I'd like something more solid before doing that. I have advised him of his Article 31 rights and provided him with a JAG officer to represent him, Sir," Coleman replied.
"Alright. Continue with what you're doing, Commander. I need to go brief Admiral Kieso about this, before it blows up."
"Good luck with that, Sir."
Harm had to laugh at that. He'd certainly need luck, considering he was about to tell the Admiral that one of his destroyer commanders was possibly a rapist and murder. But, that was one of the joys of the job. The hard stuff always ended up on your desk, the easy things were handled by the junior officers. So, Harm picked up the phone and called up to the Admiral's aide requesting a time to see the Admiral. She told him to be there at 1300.
With that, Harm said his goodbyes to Mr. Hargrove and dismissed Lieutenant Walker before turning his attention to the other folders sitting on his desk. Once thing was constant, as soon as he dealt with one stack of files another stack would certainly appear.
The American School – London, England
1208 Greenwich/ 0708 Eastern
Mattie was sitting with Hillary and Heather Parkhurst at lunch, where the conversation was all about the approaching weekend. The twins had their overnight bags in their mother's car and the plan was for Mrs. Parkhurst to drop the trio off at Mattie's house after school. The twins would take the two spare bedrooms, then they would spend the afternoon getting as much homework done as they could. That way, the rest of the weekend would be theirs to enjoy.
Mattie still needed to make plans with her parents for what they'd do on Saturday, but it had never really seemed a good time to bring the subject up with either Harm or Beth. So, it would be a scramble to figure something out. The one piece of good news is that neither of them had been forced to go out of town at the last minute.
"So, Mattie. We have plans for the weekend besides just staying at your house?" Heather asked.
"Not really. My dad's been a little busy at work, so I haven't been able to ask him. Why?" Mattie asked back.
"Just curious. Seeing as how you're new to London, didn't know if you had anything you wanted to see. Maybe we could do that."
"How about the Tower of London, then. We could do that Saturday, then maybe talk Beth into taking us shopping in the afternoon."
"Oh, yes," said Hillary. "Harrods, most definitely."
"Listen to Hillary, she's the shopping queen in the family," Heather said with a grin.
"As if you and Mum don't like shopping just as much as I do."
Mattie laughed listening to the twins argue over how liked shopping more.
"What about you, Mattie?" Hillary asked, turning to the redhead.
"I'm not much into shopping," Mattie told them. "I'm more about comfort than fashion. Dad and Beth are trying to change that, but Dad is totally clueless himself, so…"
"Well, if we do go shopping, we can help you," Heather told her. "Or we could go to the movies. There should be something good playing."
"That sounds fun. Just no action movies, please," Hillary put in.
"Oh, why not. Some of those are very good, especially when the hot guy takes his shirt off," Heather shot back at her with a grin.
"Ah, so that's why you let me pick 'Top Gun' last weekend," Mattie said.
"Oh, yes. Granted those guys are way old now, but the volleyball scene was absolutely perfect."
Hillary and Mattie just laughed at the look on Heather's face.
"You said your dad was a navy pilot?" Hillary asked.
"Oh, God. Do NOT let him hear you say that. In the Navy, they're called aviators. The Air Force has pilots," Mattie said.
"What's the big difference?"
"You would have ask Dad. I'm not sure. I just know not to say he was a pilot."
The bell rang signaling the end of the lunch period and that it was time to get back to classes, so the girls cleared the table and left the cafeteria. Mattie walked with the twins to the next class, still thinking about the weekend. It was nice that she was making friends, especially ones who could push her beyond her old boundaries.
NAVFOREUR – London, England
1258 Greenwich/ 0758 Eastern
Harm sat in the outer office, awaiting his meeting with Admiral Kieso. After his initial call, he had spent his time compiling all of the relevant information on the case. He couldn't be sure how deeply the Admiral might want to delve into the case and needed to be prepared. The Admiral's secretary had offered him coffee when he'd first entered the office, but Harm was currently feeling a little coffee'd out and had declined.
Now, Captain Pratt opened the inner office door and beckoned Harm to enter. The Admiral was sitting at his desk, a file open in front of him. After a quick glance at the doorway, he returned his attention to the file while Harm approached and braced before the desk.
"As you were, Captain," Admiral Kieso said without looking up. "Sit down. I'll be done in a moment."
True to his word, less than a minute later the file was closed and handed to Captain Pratt.
"Have Mrs. Sullivan send that back for revision. And this time, tell them I want it in English, not bureaucratic mumbo jumbo. Make sure they know that until one of those eighteen to twenty year old sailors can clearly understand what it says, I'll just keep sending it back."
"Aye, aye, Sir," Captain Pratt told him, a grin on her face.
"And wipe that grin off or I'll make you do the rewrite and let Stevens have the weekend off," Kieso told her.
"Yes, Sir."
"Judging by the folder you're carrying, you're not here to lighten my day, are you Captain?"
"No, Sir. We have a suspect in the two rape-murders off the Mahan," Harm said as he opened the folder and handed over one of the stacks of paper.
"I see and who is your suspect?" Kieso asked.
"It's the Commanding Officer, Admiral. Commander Kenneth Lockwood."
"And this is the reports from your office down in Naples, I see. How certain are they that the Commander is the killer?"
"It's circumstantial at the moment, Sir. He was ashore at the time of both murders, he had a history of problems with the victims as well as other female officers who have served aboard the Mahan. His blood type matches to semen found on the victims and he owns a knife consistent with the wounds on the victims," Harm replied.
"I see," was all Admiral Kieso had to say at the moment, as he read through the documents in front of him. "Captain, you're the lawyer. Play the defense on this for me, please."
"Well, I'd probably start with the means. The knife he owns is a very common type, I wouldn't be surprised if there were thousands of them down in Naples. It still needs to be tested, so at this point we don't know this is the murder weapon, only that it could be. The fact that he was ashore is less than convincing when you realize that the ship had been at sea for five months. After that long, almost everybody wants to get ashore. How many other sailors were also ashore at those times? And that match by blood type isn't precise. I mean, how many others aboard just the Mahan have that blood type?"
"Alright, so where do we go from here, Captain?"
"If the testing on the knife proves it's the murder weapon, we arrest the Commander and proceed with an Article 32 hearing on two counts each of violating Articles 118, 120 and 128. If not, we need to start looking again, without ruling Commander Lockwood out. But without the weapon, I would not recommending we move to an Article 32, due to double jeopardy issues," was Harm's answer.
"What do you think, Pratt?" Kieso asked his aide.
"I'm not a lawyer either, Sir. That's why Captain Rabb is here. I'd go with his recommendation."
"Do it, Captain, and keep me in the loop."
"Aye, aye, Sir," Harm replied before beginning to rise.
"Another thing, Captain. What's the latest on the Krennick court-martial?" Kieso asked.
"You'd have to talk to Admiral Morris about that, Sir. Considering my connection with the case, I have stepped away from it."
"I see. Alright, that will be all then."
Harm came briefly to attention before turning and exiting the office. One of the things he was coming to like about the Admiral was the speed with which he worked. No long, drawn-out discussions, just get to the point and move on. A glance at his watch showed about twenty minutes had passed from the time he'd entered the office until he was back out.
One bonus to that, was the fact that Harm had more time to get paperwork caught up. He wanted to leave on time tonight, remembering that Mattie was having friends over for the weekend. It wasn't a lack of trust on his part, as much as it was due to not knowing the other girls. So, he wanted to be around as much as possible and also meet the girls.
VOQ, RAF West Ruislip – England
1818 Greenwich/ 1318 Eastern
Commander Alexander was sitting at the little desk in her room, going through the various flight manifests. After finding the departure flight for Krennick that morning, she now had to attempt to find one for Rabb as well. The entire day of April Fifth had been covered without his name appearing on anything from either Andrews or Oceana. So, now she was making her way through the ones for the sixth, though she held out little hope. To her, if they were having a relationship, his arriving a day later just didn't make much sense. But, there was a strong difference between not making sense and not occurring, so she would press on with her search.
This, however, wasn't even half of it, though. Alexander also wanted to track down the return flight as well. When she did eventually present these as evidence, she wanted it to be as airtight as possible. She also hoped that the security logs from Quantico would be found and give her even more information. Unfortunately, there seemed to be a problem there. Those documents had never been transferred to microfiche and the boxes that contained them were having to be tracked down. Even when they were, the officer assigned would have to sort through them to find the documents she would need, so Alexander doubted she'd have them by Monday.
The telephone rang then, breaking her train of thought. Using her pen, she marked her place before turning to grab the offending instrument.
"Commander Alexander's quarters," she said.
"Commander, my name is Chegwidden. I've been told to contact you in regards to a case you're trying."
"Yes, Sir," she snapped out, coming close to attention.
"Relax, Commander. I'm retired now. Commander Manetti managed to contact me and said I needed to talk with you."
"Yes, Sir. I'm prosecuting the court-martial of Captain Alison Krennick and your name came up as a potential witness to confirm or deny certain accusations."
"I see," came a guarded response, which instantly aroused Alexander's curiosity.
"Do you remember a case involving Gunnery Sergeant Ray Crockett?"
"I do. He was charged with attempted murder of his commanding officer. I assigned then Lieutenant Commander Rabb and Lieutenant Austin to do the investigation. They eventually proved that Gunny Crockett hadn't been trying to kill the CO by replicating the shot."
"And this was when, Sir?"
"March or April of 1996, Commander. After eight years, I don't remember the exact date, sorry."
"And were you present when the replication of the shot was conducted?" Alexander asked.
"Yes, I had gone down there. I had something of a personal interest in the case, since Crockett had once saved my life," Chegwidden told her. "That's why I had sent Rabb down there. The man is probably the best investigator in the Navy, he won't stop until he finds the truth."
"Was there anyone else present besides yourself, Commander Rabb and Gunny Crockett?"
"Yes, Colonel Gordon, the CO, was there, as was Commander Krennick, Lieutenant Austin and some other Marines. Commander Rabb drove the vehicle for the recreation of the event."
"Drove the vehicle?" Alexander asked, her curiosity taking over for her objective of getting the information she needed.
"Yes. The shot Gunny Crockett took was at the driver's side mirror of a moving Humvee at 1000 yards, Commander," Chegwidden told her. "It was a hell of a shot."
"Did anything happen after that recreation, Sir?"
"Yes. Once he proved the incident wasn't an attempt to kill Colonel Gordon, the Colonel found Gunny Crockett guilty of destruction of government property, if memory serves, and I invited the Gunny to have a drink with me."
"And did any of the others join you?" Alexander asked.
"Commander Rabb did. I thought he deserved it, after the week he'd had. I think Commander Krennick and Lieutenant Austin returned to Washington," Chegwidden told her.
"Do you remember what time you left Quantico, Sir?"
"No, I don't. Like I said, it was eight years ago."
"But you are certain that Commander Krennick and Commander Rabb did not leave together and that Commander Rabb joined you and Gunny Crockett for a drink?" Alexander asked.
"Yes, I am, Commander," Chegwidden told her.
"Thank you, Sir. Be advised that I am going to ask for you to come to London and possibly testify to those facts."
"That would be fine. I actually happen to be in Milan visiting my daughter, so coming to London would not be a big problem. I can be there on Monday, if you wish."
"That would be perfect, Sir."
"I'll see you then, Commander," was all he said before hanging up the telephone.
A smile now on her face, Commander Alexander turned her attention back to the flight manifests and attacked them with a renewed sense of vigor. Yet, there was something that Admiral Chegwidden had said that was nagging at the back of her mind. She couldn't put her finger on it, just that it was there. So, as she worked her way through the various sheets of paper, that little voice kept trying to tell her something she was missing, but there was no clarity to it.
Finally, she stopped reading and just let herself think. With the rest of the weekend before her, she had time to let her brain figure it out.