Science Fiction: GU: Justice Net (Science Fiction, Dystopian, The G.U. Trilogy Book 1)

by David Archer

  Martin checked to see if Carson's location could be established for the other two attacks, and got excited when he realized that they’d all happened when Carson was done with classes for the day, when he would normally be in his office. A scan of archived commonway videos for the times and dates involved didn't turn him up, so unless he was in an appointment somewhere, he was essentially without an alibi.

  Calling up Carson's appointment schedule, Martin found that he was actually in a meeting with his department chair when the first attack had happened. It was only a matter of a few seconds' work to alter the appointment calendar, and then he did the same with the chair's schedule. Anyone who looked now would see that the meeting took place the day before.

  Carson Pace had no alibi for two of the attacks, and a little judicious editing of the commonway video of his office lobby soon showed a man of about Carson's size leaving and later returning, wearing a hooded jacket that concealed his face and hair.

  Next, Martin went to the evidence log for all three of the cases. In each one, DNA samples had been recovered from the victims, but no match had been found in the system. Carson's DNA, however, was on file because he was an organ donor. Martin quickly copied the DNA coding from the victims and made minor edits to the one in Carson's file. When he was finished, it was a ninety-six percent match, just low enough not to come up in a DNA search.

  DNA samples were sometimes corrupted, especially when recovered from a living victim. They might be contaminated by bits of the victim's own tissues, or contamination could occur in the lab. In any event, a ninety-six percent match would be enough to build a case on, if he could get at least one of the victims to ID Carson as the perpetrator.

  Using Pennyfarthing's identity, Martin sent photos of Carson to all three of the victims, asking if there was any possibility that this might be the rapist. It took less than fifteen minutes for the first victim to respond, saying that she would consider it possible, even though she knew Professor Pace and had never thought of him as a possible suspect before. Eight minutes later, the third victim replied that she was certain the man in the photo was the one who had attacked her.

  It was almost an hour later when the second victim responded, saying that she had often wondered if it might have been Professor Pace who had assaulted her that day. She stated that she had begun to feel uncomfortable in his classes, and it seemed to her that he was avoiding any eye contact or conversation with her. Now that she allowed herself to think about it seriously, she said, there was no doubt in her mind that he was the one who had violated her.

  Martin, still using Pennyfarthing's identity, wrote up a brief report suggesting Carson Pace be brought in for questioning, attached the responses from the three victims, and sent it off quickly to the original investigating inspector. The wheels were in motion, and there was no doubt in his mind that he was on the right track to making Charlotte his own.

  Now all he had to do was wait.

  * * * * *

  Detective Inspector Lewis Hansen was sitting at his desk when his holoterminal chimed to tell him that he had received a message. He tapped his desk to call up the holographic display, and opened it up to read.

  Special Inspector Haywood Pennyfarthing, one of the special unit inspectors that he'd never heard of and hoped he would never meet, had sent him a message regarding his old rape case at the University. He'd been working on it for a year and a half, ever since the first attack, but had no suspects. He opened the message and found a photograph that looked familiar. The message explained that the photo was of Professor Carson Pace, a history professor at the University. Reading further, Hansen began to feel excitement building up. All three of the victims had told Inspector Pennyfarthing that Pace could very well be the rapist, and two of them were convinced already. Added to this was the fact that Carson's DNA was almost a match, and that he had no alibi for any of the three attacks, and Hansen was beginning to feel that he had finally found his man.

  He quickly began making notes. The very first step would be to get together with the three victims, show them the photos again in a photo lineup, and ask them to state clearly whether they believed this was their attacker. If at least two of them would make that statement, he would have everything he needed to bring Carson in for questioning and a genuine lineup.

  He had the victims' comm numbers, and immediately placed a call to the first one. “Ms. Jackson? This is Inspector Hansen, I spoke with you a while back about what happened to you, do you remember?”

  “Oh, yes,” the girl said. “I got an email a while ago from somebody, it sounds like you're about to make an arrest in the case?”

  “Well, let's just say that we’re somewhat optimistic that we may have found a suspect. Now, you identified a photo as possibly being your attacker. I'd like you to come down to the station, if you would, and take another look at that photo among some others, see if you still think he's the one. Would that be possible?”

  “Oh, absolutely! I'll be honest with you, I know Professor Pace, and it never struck me how much that man looked like him until now. The more I think about it, though, the more I think we might be on the right track. When would you like me to come?”

  “The sooner you can get here, the better,” Hansen said. “I got to get the other two girls in here, too, but you can come in whenever is convenient. Like I said, the sooner the better.”

  “Okay. I've got some time free right now, I'll just head on down there. Same station where I met you before, right?”

  “Yes, ma'am, just let the front desk know you're here and they'll send you on back to me.”

  Hansen called the other two victims, both of whom said they'd be delighted to come down right away. Both said they were certain that the professor was the man who had attacked them.

  Less than an hour later, all three women had arrived. After careful questioning, each of them admitted to being at least ninety percent certain that Carson Pace was the man who had raped them. Hansen began filing the necessary forms to get a Questioning Warrant.

  Down in his office on Ground Level, Martin was using Pennyfarthing's identity to monitor Hansen's activities, and when he saw that all three girls were willing to point the finger at Carson, he chuckled. If there was one thing he knew, it was that eyewitness testimony was the most unreliable testimony there was, but it was also the most believable. It was incredibly easy to get people to believe they had seen what you wanted them to have seen.

  The wheels of justice sometimes turn slowly, but not always. Hansen got his Questioning Warrant only an hour later, signed by Justice Ralston. It was only a little after three in the afternoon, and he knew that Carson didn't leave the University until four-thirty. He walked out of his office and snagged a couple of uniforms that were standing around the coffee machine.

  “You two, with me,” he said. “We've got us a suspect in the college rape case.”

  The two officers looked at each other, then hurriedly put down their cups and followed Hansen. This was the big case for their station, and they were delighted at the prospect of being in on the arrest.

  A transport cruiser was in the station's garage, and they climbed into the front of it. Unlike some of the vehicles used on Ground Level, this one used the same hover technology as every other vehicle in the upper levels. The AI came to life on the front screen. “Hello, Inspector.”

  “Gigi, locate University of America History Professor Carson Pace, and take us to that location.”

  “Professor Pace is currently in his office at the University of America history department. You will arrive at your destination in fourteen minutes and twenty seconds.” It didn't bother to offer music, a program that was automatically overridden in police vehicles.

  “This guy was a professor?” Officer Tyndall seemed surprised. “A professor, raping students, isn't that a bitch?”

  “He's not convicted yet, but it's definitely looking that way. I got three victims who have all identified him as their attacker. We're just picking h
im up for some questions.”

  Tyndall shook his head. “You don't mind if I hope he decides to resist, do you?”

  “Hey, curb that kind of talk right now. Remember, he's innocent until he is proven guilty. That's the whole basis of our justice system, we don't prejudge anybody.” Hansen stared at the screen for a moment, watching the view of the buildings sliding by on either side. “That being said, if he were to resist, I'm not going to worry a whole lot if he gets banged up when he falls down.”

  They rode in silence the rest of the way, and arrived on schedule in front of Carson's lobby door. The car settled to the floor about five feet from the door, and the three officers stepped out. The two uniforms fell in behind Hansen as he entered the lobby.

  There was a receptionist on the desk, and she looked up in surprise. “Gentlemen, how can I help you?”

  Hansen shook his head. “You can't, I'm afraid.” He walked right past her desk and toward Carson's door. The RFID tag in his badge signaled the door to open, and he got his first close look at Carson since his previous interview more than a year earlier.

  The professor was behind his desk, poking at the air as he worked on getting all of his records up to date. When he saw the door open and looked up to see Inspector Hansen, his eyes registered surprise, but not fear.

  “Carson Pace? I'm Inspector Hansen with CDPA. I'm afraid you're going to have to come with us to answer some questions.”

  Carson looked confused. “Questions? Questions about what?”

  “Professor, you've been tentatively identified by three victims of rape as the man who attacked them. As I said, you need to come with us for some questions.”

  Carson was so stunned that he didn't even think to rise from his seat. “But that's ridiculous,” he said. “I've never raped anybody.”

  The two uniforms stepped around his desk and took hold of his arms, lifting him to his feet. Carson didn't resist, even though he was sure there must be some mistake, but his face turned red when they exited his office and he saw a lobby full of people watching them. No one spoke, but everyone stared.

  Carson was shoved into the back of the transport cruiser, and Officer Tyndall slid in to sit on the bench across from him. His hand rested on his SALT gun, though he knew that if he used it in such close quarters, he would be just as affected as Carson. He toyed with the idea of putting on his filtering mask, but that might look like he had planned something in advance. He decided that he could stand a little coughing and gagging himself, if this piece of crap were to try to make a move.

  Carson tapped his wristband, but his holo-tab failed to appear. He tapped again, then looked at the policeman across from him. “I need to call home, I need to let my DP know what's going on.”

  Tyndall shook his head. “No calls until the inspector says so. Unless you want to call a lawyer, that is.”

  Carson looked at him as if he had two heads. “I don't need a lawyer, I haven't done anything!”

  Tyndall shrugged. “Just sit there and be quiet, then.”

  TWELVE

  Carson was taken from the transport cruiser and escorted by the two officers into an interview room. He was placed in a hard chair behind a table, and knew that the big mirror on the wall to his right was undoubtedly transparent from the other side. While he had no idea what was going on, he was sure that observers would be standing behind that mirror, watching him and gauging his reactions to questioning.

  Inspector Hansen was met by his Station Chief, Captain Morris. “Lewis, bring me up to speed,” the Captain said.

  Hansen nodded. “I got a report from Squad Z a couple hours ago that implicates this history professor from the University in the rapes that took place out there over the last year and a half. Well, the Special Unit Investigator sent a picture of the professor to each of the victims, and they confirmed that it seemed likely it was the right guy. His DNA is a possible match, if you allow for errors, and he has no alibi. I spoke to him once before about one of the rapes, but he seemed to have an alibi and sort of fell through the cracks. I had those same girls come in and look at a photo lineup right in front of me, and they all picked his photo. I questioned them again and they're all pretty sure this is the guy. I want them to come back and pick him out of a regular lineup after we get done questioning him.”

  Captain Morris looked through the two-way glass at Carson. “Do you know how great it would be if we can close this case? This guy's been the biggest stain on our record in the last ten years. If you can tell me you're certain you got the right guy, then I'm a hundred percent behind you, but make sure you're certain before you actually charge him with anything. I don't want to take any chances on this case falling apart when it gets to court.”

  Hansen nodded, his smile tight. “I'm with you, Sir. I want to make sure this guy never comes out of the Net.”

  The captain turned and went back to his office, while Hansen stepped into the interview room. He'd already given orders to have the victims come back for the lineup, but he'd scheduled it for more than an hour later. That gave him plenty of time to try to break this monster.

  “Professor, I've got to get the formalities out of the way, first.” He held a card in his hand, but it was obvious that he knew its contents by heart. “You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer any questions. If you do not remain silent, anything you say may be used against you if charges are filed. You have the right to consult with an attorney before and during any questioning, and if for any reason you cannot afford an attorney, you can immediately get one from the Public Defense Pool, and consult with them by video while you're being questioned. Do you understand these rights that I have just explained to you?”

  “Yes, yes, of course I do!” Carson said.

  “Do you wish to have an attorney present, or are you willing to speak with me now?”

  “I told you, I don't need an attorney because I haven't done anything wrong! Let's just get on with it, I don't want to be here all evening.”

  Hansen smiled and sat down across the table from Carson. He had decided to begin with a soft approach. “Professor Pace, I'm sorry you're going through this, but I'm afraid I'm just doing my job. Unfortunately, what I told you before is true. All three victims of the University Rapist have indicated that you seem to be the man who assaulted them.”

  Carson rolled his eyes, and stared at Hansen. “Inspector, this is ridiculous,” he said. “Check my record—I've never so much as been late with my rent! I've never been in any kind of trouble, not any kind of trouble! I've never raped anybody, and I never would!”

  Hansen shrugged and spread his hands. “Well, now, the thing is that this is exactly what you would say even if you are guilty, right? I mean, it's not like we really expect you to just come in here and sit down and confess. I mean, who would do that?”

  Carson's eyes went wide and he leaned forward across the table. “Well, I'm not gonna confess to something I didn't do! That'd be pretty stupid, wouldn't it?”

  “Hey, I understand,” Hansen said. “Like I said, I'm just doing my job. It just strikes me as kind of odd that we've got three different women who were all raped months apart from each other, but they all claim that you were the one who did it. It also seems kind of odd that two of the victims have been your students, and one of them says you started acting strange around her after she was raped. Can you explain any of that?”

  Carson shook his head, and it took a moment for him to realize that his jaw was hanging slack in shock. He snapped his mouth shut and shook his head again, trying to clear the cobwebs that seemed to be taking it over. “I have absolutely no idea who any of the rape victims were,” he said. “In general, victim's identities aren’t disclosed anymore, or had you forgotten that? It would be pretty difficult for me to treat someone differently over being a rape victim if I don't know who the victim is, don't you think?”

  “Well, you see, that's part of what's worrying. She says you started acting differently toward her, which indicates that
you knew she'd been raped, but if you are the rapist, then you would know that, wouldn't you? I mean, she says you wouldn't look at her or call on her anymore, and that might be the way someone would act if they felt guilty about what they'd done to her. How about that?”

  Carson stared at him, his mind reeling. “Okay, so when did these attacks happen? Let's figure out where I was at the time, how about that?”

  Hansen smiled and nodded. “Okay, let's do that.” He tapped his wristband, and looked at some information on his holo-tab. “Okay, the first one occurred on January nineteenth of fifty-three, last year. The victim was leaving a student coffee shop, one of those little independent ones they set up in empty rooms. This one was kind of out of the way—you have to go down a long, narrow hallway to get to it. She said there was a guy coming toward her as she was leaving, wearing a hooded jacket. He had his hands in his pockets and his head down, so she couldn't see who he was. Just after he passed her, she suddenly was grabbed from behind and dragged into a storeroom off that hall. There were no lights on, so she never got a good look at her attacker. He clapped a hand over her mouth and whispered that if she screamed he'd kill her, then did what he wanted to do. She said it only took a couple of minutes, and then he was suddenly up and out the door. None of the commonway cameras anywhere nearby show anyone fitting his description either before or after.”

  Carson had brought up his own holo-tab. “January nineteenth? What time?”

  “It happened about two-thirty in the afternoon.”

  Carson poked at the holographic display over his wrist. “Two-thirty in the afternoon? I would've been in my office. I—it looks like I uploaded class records at about three-thirty, that day, and that would've taken me an hour or more to get ready. At two-thirty that afternoon, I would've been sitting in my office working on it.”

  Hansen nodded for a couple of seconds, but then began shaking his head. “Unless you maybe already had it prepared beforehand, or maybe you just did part of your record updates and finished them up the next day. That would be kind of hard to tell, now, wouldn't it?” He looked at his display again. “The second one happened on July twenty-sixth, around the same time. The victim was on her way to debate practice and had taken a shortcut through one of the amphitheaters. The room was empty and dark at the time, but she heard a door behind her and looked back to see a man in a hooded jacket coming her direction. She said hello and he waved a hand at her, so she didn't think anything of it until he suddenly grabbed her and pulled her to the floor. Same thing as before, he covered her mouth and threatened to kill her if she screamed, and it was over a couple of minutes later. He jumped up and took off while she tried to pull herself together.”