Due Process (Joe Dillard #9)(8)

“Thanks,” Riddle said. “I could use a little shot in the arm.”

Starring got up, poured a cup, and handed it to Riddle.

“My only vice,” Starring said.

“What, coffee?”

“Caffeine. But I only drink one cup a day, at nine o’clock in the morning.”

“Some people would say that’s weird,” Riddle said.

“It is weird,” Starring said. “I’m weird, but it doesn’t make me a bad person, does it?”

“Guess not.”

“So, what’s up?” the chief said. “You sounded a little rattled over the phone.”

“The watch commander had me go to the hospital to interview an alleged rape victim this morning,” Riddle said. “I called you as soon as I finished. The whole thing is strange. I thought I better run it by you because you might want to run it by Armstrong before we do anything.”

Riddle was referring to Mike Armstrong, the interim district attorney general who served four counties in Northeast Tennessee: Washington, Carter, Unicoi and Johnson.

“What’s so strange about it?” Starring said.

“Might be a gang rape, might be a complete fabrication. There might be race involved, at least one black guy on a white woman. And if what this woman is saying is true, it happened at a party thrown by the ETSU football players last night, which is going to bring a lot of attention. The players hired a stripper, and she claims at least three guys pulled her into a bathroom and raped her. But there are some serious problems.”

“Such as?” Starring said as he sipped his coffee.

“She says she was drugged and remembers very little about it, and her tox screen bears that out. She had a mixture of alcohol and ecstasy in her system, but the tox screen doesn’t detect date rape drugs, and I think maybe some GHB or Rohypnol might be involved. She said somebody gave her a drink at the party and that’s when she blacked out, so the drink may have had one of those drugs in it.”

“Did we get a blood draw for a DFSA panel?” the chief asked.

“Actually, Officer James was on top of it. She woke up Judge Tinker and got an order. It’s on its way to the lab. But she might have put the drug in the drink herself. She might be faking the whole thing. Who knows? The biggest problem is that she can’t positively identify her attackers, although she thinks she remembers a black hand pulling her into the bathroom. She has a history of serious sexual abuse, which means she most likely has some psychological problems. She’s on probation for heroin possession and she has two young children, both of whom were with her cousin last night while she was out stripping. She said she had sex with her boyfriend before she went to the party. She didn’t call anybody after she left the party because she says she was too intoxicated. In fact, she didn’t mention she was raped to anyone until she got picked up around 1:00 a.m. for refusing to leave a convenience store and found out she was going to Woodlawn for a mental evaluation.”

“What did they say at the hospital?” Starring asked.

“That there were signs of sexual abuse. That it was within the realm of possibility that she was raped. Swollen vagina, a couple of bruises, but not serious bruises. They collected sperm samples and hair and did scrapings, the whole ball of wax.”

Starring shook his head and stared down into his coffee.

“You’re right, this could be a powder keg,” he said. “Football players, strippers, race, the university. Damn, Riddle, it’s Sunday morning. This is supposed to be my quiet time.”

“You have to dump this on Armstrong,” Riddle said. “He’s the politician. He’ll either think he can get something out of it or he won’t, and that’s how he’ll make his decision. Won’t have anything to do with the girl. She’ll either be a pawn or a throwaway.”

“That’s a terribly cynical view of the criminal justice system, Investigator Riddle.”

“It’s what happens when you mix politics and criminal justice,” Riddle said. “So...are you going to pack this off on Armstrong or make the call yourself?” Riddle said.

“Oh, I’m going to pack it off on Armstrong, no question. I said you were cynical. I didn’t say you were wrong. I’m going to call Armstrong right now. I’ll probably wind up going over to his house, and you’re coming with me.”





SUNDAY, AUG. 25

District Attorney General Mike Armstrong opened his front door and said, “This better be important. I don’t like to miss church.”

“I’m sorry,” Police Chief Gene Starring said. “I wouldn’t have called you if it wasn’t important. In fact, I think I’d call this one a little more than important. It could be explosive, Mike. You’re going to have to make a tough decision.”

The two men, along with Investigator Bo Riddle, walked into Armstrong’s modestly decorated den inside his home in one of the older neighborhoods in North Johnson City. His wife had gone on to church, and his two girls had just gone back to Knoxville, where they were in college at the University of Tennessee, a hundred miles to the southwest.

“Sounds ominous,” Armstrong said. “And ominous isn’t good right now. There’s an election next year. The primary is in April and only one person has made any noise about running against me. I don’t need something that could blow up in my face.”