Conspiracy

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N:

Chapter 23 (Questioning the Suspect)

Jade was able to join Detectives Mark and Velma once they were granted a warrant to search the Vega household. Gary approved his team's involvement, albeit reluctantly, but he was desperate to have this solved.

"Thanks for letting me observe." The reason she was there was to learn. Sikowitz informed her she couldn't touch anything, and was only allowed to watch and see how a search investigation went.

The detectives wore gloves and special covering for their shoes, and their movements were slow so3they could truly cover every inch of the places they looked. "There's clear proof of kidnapping," Velma stated while acknowledging Jade's gratitude. "Holly's been granted protective custody, but I wish she'd take it. Gary's beside himself right now. I know Holly's concerned something will happen."

"There isn't much we can do about that," Mark replied. "If she doesn't want to take it, we can't make her. Still, she's a hostage, and I'm looking forward to arresting this monster."

Jade agreed with a nod and walked into David's study. She'd never seen this room in its fullness. "You know those pictures of the girls at the store?" Mark and Velma followed her. "Holly knows she's being followed. I think David took the picture. Kept it up for his own vanity."

She watched Velma open a drawer and became concerned when the woman's face twisted in horror. "He's kept records too." She walked over and saw an open manila folder that was labeled 'reality'. There was a note, presumably to himself, as a reminder that this family wasn't his real family and not only did he acknowledge that he hurt them, but that they would never be happy with him.

One of the many things in the folder was the very picture of Trina lying on the ground and in the arms of her mother and sister. She felt her stomach churn and looked away quickly. She heard Mark take a breath, then looked up as he reached into the drawer.

"We could appreciate that he has kept records," Mark muttered, "I can see why the Captain didn't want us getting involved in this. God, to think his daughter…hurt by that demon."

"Statutory," Velma whispered, "We have the bastard." The woman shuffled through some papers in the folder and furrowed her brow. "Letters, notes, some addressed to and from the Commander. She's been keeping him safe all this time."

"Do you think she knew what he'd done?"

"I'm going with no." Jade perked her ears up and saw Velma holding up a letter. The woman's eyes scanned the words and she read it aloud. "'I said I don't want to talk about it, Becca. I done something rash, something terrible. You and Lanie wouldn't be happy, I think, but I said I don't want to talk about it. It isn't important-it shouldn't be important. It is important, but if I don't think about it, then it didn't happen. Right? I showed Gary, I wanted him to hurt-to suffer. I was so angry. Don't ask me what I did, I don't want to talk about it.'"

Jade scoffed loudly and crossed her arms. "Something to consider during questioning." The detectives glanced at her and she shrugged. "We could bring Mrs. Oliver in for questioning. Say we place that picture down in front of her and just let her see it without saying anything about it."

Fortunately they didn't have to bring Rebecca in, because they received a call from Detective Sam Valentine saying the woman ended up walking into the station. Clearly Beck managed to make her turn herself in after all, even if it was days late.

Jade stood at the observation window with the detectives, analyzing Rebecca before anyone went in to see her. "Want to see how police questioning goes, kid?" Mark asked with a smirk. Jade looked up at him and huffed.

"I'd like to question her myself if I could, but I'm guessing I can't."

"Nah, we can't let you do that, I'm afraid. But you're free to observe."

"I figured."

Rebecca was already unhinged. Her once pristine hair was no longer groomed and in a frizzled mess. Her clothes were sloppy and smudged with stains from sweat and coffee. Her body was trembling violently, and her cheeks stained with tear streaks.

Jade pursed her lips and they vibrated from a hum. "You said she's no longer the Police Commander?" Mark hooked his thumbs over his belt and chuckled.

"That's right. Everyone investigated her conduct, but the stress got to her. She resigned before the Chief could give her a pink slip."

"I see." Jade took the photograph from a nearby desk and handed it to Mark. "I saw this done in a documentary. Place the photo down in front of her…say nothing about it. She's emotional, and this may make her more so…if she can, she might say something to implicate either David or Lanie-and what we really want is Lanie."

Mark took the picture and shook his head. "Got it." The man rubbed his chin and looked at Rebecca closely. "Velma. You should take this, I think." Velma glanced over and nodded before taking the picture and walking to the door.

Jade was puzzled by this, she thought for sure Mark would do the questioning. "How come you don't do the questioning?"

"It's a matter of criminal profiling and psychology." Mark leaned back against the desk and folded his arms. "Certain people may respond better to certain people. In the case of Rebecca, she appears that she may respond better to a female who can come across as compassionate and interested in her. As she is an emotional wreck right now, compassion will be the best thing to reach her. Velma is the best with that."

"Oh. I understand."

He was right, from Jade's last talk with Rebecca, the woman truly did respond to somebody taking an interest in her. In which case, compassion and interest would achieve the most results.

Inside, Velma set a folder down in front of her and made eye contact with Rebecca. "Rebecca Oliver? Just relax, dear, this will only take a moment. Nothing bad is going to happen here, all I want to do is ask you a few questions. Okay?" Velma smiled and Rebecca's body slowly ceased its violent tremor.

"O-Okay?"

"You wanted to talk to us, if I recall." Rebecca moved her hand up to the side of her face and closed her eyes. "I know you used to be the Police Commander. What happened there?"

"I resigned. I…I wasn't fit for that position. My son. He hates me now. My husband can't stand me." Rebecca leaned forward and brought her hands up to her chest.

"You have to understand, family's important to me. I've always valued my family, I love them. Nothing I've ever done has been intended to hurt them."

"Normally I wouldn't do anything to hurt somebody, to tear apart the image of a happy and loving family. I-" Rebecca stopped herself and watched as Velma casually placed the photograph of Trina on the table and pushed it forward. Jade saw the woman's eyes grow and was amazed to see her tense and stumble over her words. "What is this?"

"That?" Velma leaned back and folded her hands over on the table. "That is picture." Rebecca whimpered and whined frustratingly before pointing her hand to it.

"I can see that."

"It is a girl who was sexually assaulted a little over three years ago. The image was sent to her father. To keep him quiet, I assume." Rebecca's voice cracked and she started to shake again. "But you mentioned your son, your husband, and a happy family? Tell me more about them. I'd love to hear about this happy family of yours."

Jade whistled under her breath and heard Mark's proud chuckle. "He-He was never meant to hurt them. He wasn't supposed to." Rebecca's hand slid down to her lips, covering them as she let out a startled cry.

"You know the girl in the picture?"

"N-No. Er, yes, or I don't know. Oh god!" The woman dropped her head into her hands and a loud wail echoed in the air. "Holly's baby. David hurt Holly's baby. It wasn't supposed to be this way. It was never supposed to be this way."

"What wasn't supposed to be this way? I am not here to judge you." Rebecca lifted her head slowly. Her lips quivered and her eyes filled with fresh tears. "Would you like some water? I can get you a drink if you'd like. I have half of a ham and cheese sandwich that is in the mini fridge beside my desk. I can get someone to grab that for you if you'd like to have something to eat."

"You could?"

"Certainly."

Mark leaned back and snapped his fingers at Detective Franklin. "Pete, go grab that sandwich." Peter nodded and rushed off.

Rebecca set her hand to her stomach and looked down. "I…I think I'd like that. It might calm my nerves. But I might want a bucket first." Velma pointed to an empty trash can nearby, then left the questioning room.

Jade watched this tactic with a sense of admiration. Rebecca was left alone with the photograph. She was studying it closely, and with each second that passed, her sobs and trembling grew worse until she leaned over the trashcan.

She had to look away as the woman vomited. When Rebecca finished, she could be heard calling David a bastard and saying she wasted ten years trying to let him live the fantasy of having an ideal family.

When Velma returned, Rebecca grabbed the sandwich and pushed the photograph forward. She'd been gone for a while and Jade wondered what she'd been doing until Gary walked into the observation room.

Jade looked up to see the man leaning against the wall. His arms were in his pockets and his uniform jacket hung over his arms like a cape. "Velma says this woman's about ready to talk. I want to hear her say it. I want to see a confession, if anything. I like the whole 'be a friend' method, but if it were me in there…"

"That's why you're not in there," Mark replied earnestly. "You're too close to this, Gary."

"I know."

"W-We stole them," Rebecca whispered. Jade looked back and saw Gary's arms fall at his sides. His face went long and his eyebrows curved down in the middle. "David. Alwayspining for Holly, he wanted a family but she never gave him the time of day. Then she went for Gary, and Gary had everything. Together they had the perfect family, they had the dream family. I know what that's like-I had that too until recently."

"Until recently? What happened recently?"

"My son. He said to me 'I know, mom'. He said to me, he wants nothing more to do with me. My husband…he wants to leave me. I love my baby, I love my son, Lanie said she'd hurt him if I told." Rebecca put her hand on the photograph, then pulled it away as if the photo were fire. "I…I never knew David did this. He wanted a family, he wanted what Gary had. He wanted…He wanted that life."

"And you gave him that life?"

"He didn't want Lanie. Holly was 'expendable', Holly pissed Lanie off already, so we took her. Lanie said David could have his fantasy and we'd take care of Gary." Rebecca looked up to Velma and cleared her throat. "Lanie's uncle. Lanie convinced him to promote David, to demote Gary. Then he retired, it was up to me because I was a high enough rank to promote…I wanted to stop caring about him, I wanted away, but I thought Lanie might hurt my baby. I never even thought…that David might hurt Holly's baby."

Gary's head bowed and Jade could hear him uttering under his breath. "Bitch," he said softly, "the bitch has lost her mind." His arms crossed and his muscles tightened as his breathing grew heavy.

"Are you confessing, Mrs. Oliver?"

"You have to believe, I was younger then." Rebecca gasped out and clutched her chest. "It's no excuse I know, but…I just, I don't know. Lanie said Holly's life didn't matter, nothing mattered anymore. She hated Holly-I just followed. I love my family, I don't want to lose them."

Gary scoffed angrily and lifted his head. "Wish she'd stop talking about her family." His voice rose and his glare fell on the woman who couldn't hear him. "Or did you forget you took away my family? Too scared to lose your own family, but don't give a shit about taking someone else's family to fulfill a fantasy of some punk with a fucking mental disorder?" He clenched his fists and his voice grew deep and full of hatred. "Twelve years. Twelve fucking years you took my family from me. I hope to fucking hell you do lose yours."

Jade frowned at him and looked away, unwilling to make eye contact with his rage filled gaze. "An eye for an eye, I suppose."

Velma put her hands together and brought them up to her face. Her fingertips touched her nose, and her eyes closed as she let out a slow and calm breath. "Are you telling me Lanie Shapiro is involved in this?"

"Involved?" Rebecca sniffed and slowly wiped her eyes. "She's not just involved, she did everything. It may as well have been her that did this." She pointed at the picture and erupted in a disgusted groan. "I don't know what her problem was. Ever since high school, ever since college. She hated Holly, she was jealous of her I think. Holly got the better of everything-a better life, a better family, a better education."

"Holly Richardson and her girls were lifted from a store parking lot. Can you tell me who it was? Are you willing to cooperate?" Rebecca's eyes grew and her entire body ceased movement.

After several seconds, a violent cry shook the foundation, and Rebecca buried her face into her hands. "It was me. Oh god, it was me." Jade cupped a hand over her mouth and looked over her shoulder to see Gary practically collapse on the ground.

"I coaxed her to my car, then I pushed her in. Then…then I pushed her babies in. Trina screamed and cried, but the little one? She didn't know what was happening." Rebecca hugged herself and screamed frantically as Velma wrote down the statement. "I-I pretended like it wasn't happening, I pretended I wasn't doing anything wrong. I-I hit Holly, I knocked her unconscious so she wouldn't fight me. I held a gun to her when she woke up, told her I'd…told her I'd shoot her babies…"

Jade could feel the rush of anger inside her, and the blood boiling to the top. She knew if her own anger were overflowing so much, Gary would not be handling this well.

Velma lifted her eyes up and gave Rebecca a solemn look. "That sounds fairly harsh for a woman who cares so much about the ideal of family." Jade looked away from the window once more, and to her horror, Gary was gone.

"Oh no."

Just then the door to the questioning room flew open and Gary stepped inside, his eyes were full of anger and his teeth were bared. Rebecca gasped out and Velma twisted around as the man pointed out at her.

"Charge her," Gary ordered, "Charge and book her." Velma turned around with a sigh and Rebecca looked at her with wide eyes.

"I'm under arrest."

"Yes. I will read you your rights." Rebecca closed her eyes and breathed in sharply.

"I see. Everything I said. Use it. I…I want to make a confession. Will my son be protected? Will my husband?" After Velma turned off the video recorder, Gary crossed his arms and met Rebecca's gaze with his own venomous glare.

"They will be," he replied firmly, "But I'll be honest with you. I couldn't give two shits about your family. But the law seeks justice, not vengeance, and I won't let anything happen to your husband or your son." He scrunched his nose and looked away with a scoff. "Clearly. That's more than you can say about my own."

"I-Gary, I-" Tears welled up in Rebecca's eyes and she leaned forward, pleading with him. "Please. It was Lanie." There was something more, but Jade didn't understand what it was. The tone in Lanie's voice was more than simple remorse or even acknowledgement of guilt.

She furrowed her brow and looked over to Mark. "What's going on here? She's talking to him like she knows him. I mean, I know she knew him back in high school, but-"

"They dated," Mark answered. Her jaw dropped as the man approached the observation window. "Briefly, but it happened. Sophomore year, I think he said? For about a month. He said she was clingy and came on way too strong, she had issues and apparently, she still does."

"Save it," Gary growled, "I have nothing to say to you. As if 'sorry' would be enough, and throwing the blame on Lanie? You just said you're the one that took them, unless you lied in your confession."

"No, I just…I'll cooperate with the police. I will!" Lanie shook her head and stared down at the photograph. "I was a police officer once, so I should know…you have enough to arrest him. David. And Lanie? She's done things. I know she's done terrible things. She can't hurt you, she can't hurt Holly. She knows this. She can't do anything if you arrest David…she knows this. She knows her power's slipping. She's already gotten word that her conduct as a judge is being looked at, she's certain people are watching her. There's no way she can do anything right now. Now's the best time to make any arrests."

Gary's eyes darkened as Rebecca leaned forward. "Gary, if I knew what could happen-"

"Oh you knew damn well. You're were closest to Lanie, you even slept with David-whether it was out of pity or some other sick reason, so you knew what they were capable of." He approached the table and jammed his finger down onto the photo. "You think it was just David that was responsible for this?" His voice wavered and Rebecca bowed her head. "You think it was Lanie? You just said you held a gun to her! You aimed a gun at my wife, threatened my children, and delivered them to that lunatic!"

Gary stormed out of the room and reentered the area Jade and Mark were in. "Come on," he growled, "It's time to make an arrest."

"Should we let him do this?" Jade asked quietly. Mark shrugged and shook his head with a sigh.

"We're not going to stop him, and we should be arresting David. I'll do what I can to keep Gary calm…let's just hope David legitimately resists arrest."

"Why?"

"It will be easier to not have to keep Gary from beating the poor son of a bitch up than it would be to keep him from doing so."

Well, what are your thoughts on the questioning and all? Rebecca sounds a bit hypocritical, and Gary seemed to take things hard, but at least now they have cause and ability to arrest David. A lot was learned in this chapter, and a lot happened.