“Do you think that you could arrange for us to have lunch with her tomorrow?” Jason asked.
“It shouldn’t be a problem. She is somewhat of a social climber and likes to hang around with the jock and popular students crowd,” Laura said. “I think you qualify under that category!”
“Thanks, I guess. Just remember, babe, that what I am trying to do has to stay a secret,” Jason warned Laura. “If students on campus find out that I am looking into what happened to Victoria, it will probably drive whoever did this further under cover!”
“You know that I am on your side, Jason!” Laura told him. “I promise that I will be coy about things.”
“That’s the spirit, Laura,” Jason said. “We are dealing with a very sensitive issue, and Victoria’s life is still at stake here. What she did was very foolish, but it wasn’t something that deserved a death sentence!”
Laura was good on her promise, and at lunchtime, Jason, Laura and Angela Simon had lunch together. It really didn’t take long to get around to the subject of Victoria Romano, since Angela had been making that the center of her conversations to whoever would listen. Angela first talked about the details of Victoria’s breakup with Brice Henderson, and then moved onto the sexting emails that appeared during the St. Patrick’s Day dance.
Jason played his hand perfectly as he casually asked Angela, “Who do you think was behind all of those emails. That took a really concentrated effort to do!”
“I don’t think that it was anyone in the jock-football crowd she was hanging out with until her breakup with Brice,” Angela said. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if it was someone who admired her, but she wouldn’t give the time of day to.”
“Who would that be, Angela?” Jason followed up.
“There were several students in the classes we had together who would give anything just to have a regular, simple conversation with Victoria. But she didn’t even admit that these kids existed!”
“Wow, that sounds really harsh,” Jason replied. “Is there anyone in particular that you are talking about?”
“One person who sticks out is a kid named Ryan Zucarrion. In one sense I can’t particularly blame Victoria for looking the other way. Ryan is this real gawky kid, with a full set of braces, complete with rubber bands, a bad complexion, and a really grating personality. Once in while she might talk to him, if it had to do with a class issue, but most of the time, Victoria would act like he didn’t even exist. For some reason, this Ryan kid thought that he was a serious suitor for her, but that was only in his mind. Whenever he would try to act like he was her friend, she would mostly ignore him.”
“Were you able to gauge Ryan’s reaction when Victoria would snub him?” Jason asked.
“I’m sure he didn’t like it,” Angela went on, “but it is hard to tell with someone so immature. Ryan would try to make himself the center of attention at times, but whenever he did, it played as really annoying to the rest of the class and the teacher. To me, Victoria’s reaction to Ryan wasn’t different from anyone else.”
“Did she ever talk to you about Ryan outside of the class?” Jason asked.
“Not that I can remember off hand. I really think that other than in class, Ryan didn’t exist in her life.”
Angela went on to discuss several other kids who were also awkward and socially inept, but none of them stuck out in Jason’s mind like Ryan Zucarrion. Jason had to keep a real poker face as Angela chattered on through the rest of the lunch period, but inside he was pretty sure that he now had a plausible ‘why’ that Victoria Romano was singled out.
After the bell rang at the end of lunch period, Jason got up, said goodbye to Angela, and then walked Laura to her 5th period class, holding her hand. “Thank you, babe,” he told her as he gave her a quick kiss, “that meeting with Angela was really helpful. I’ll talk to you later!”
After school, Jason and Daniel met to share what information each of them had learned today. After they compared notes, they both realized that they most likely had identified the perpetrators of the sexting scandal. Now the question was how to prove it.
“I am going to put in a call to Captain Garcia to ask him what we should do,” Jason said. “We really have to be careful that we don’t blow things at this stage of the investigation.”
“I promised Tim I would help him work on our mixes,” Daniel told Jason, “but I will be happy to meet with you again, if you have some sort of plan of action developed with Captain Garcia.”
Jason did talk to Captain Garcia for quite a while about what to do. Captain Garcia explained to Jason some of the complexities of dealing with a case like this and how they had to have an alternate string of solid evidence not obtained by just a confession, which could be considered entrapment, given the way it was to be set up.
“Let me handle all of the details,” Captain Garcia told Jason. “I will set things up with your school, the courts to obtain search warrants, and involve their parents when the time is right. What I want you and Daniel to do is meet with these two suspect kids right after lunch. I will have a conference room set up at your school where you can talk. It will be wired, but don’t you worry about that. This tape will never be used in court. I don’t want you to lie or be dishonest in any way during your discussion. Be very straightforward with these two kids about what you are doing. Then see if you can get them to admit what they did. I think that they are more likely to open up to you, even to brag about what they did. I don’t think that they will fear you because you are not school administrators or the police. However, once they admit any part of the crimes, they are mine!”
Later that afternoon, Jason talked again with Daniel, explaining to him what Captain Garcia had asked them to do, and what the plan of action would be tomorrow. He also called Laura to thank her again for setting up the meeting with Angela and told her that most likely there would be major developments tomorrow.
* * *
The next day, Jason and Daniel were called to the office right after lunch. They were brought into a conference room that had been set up for their meeting with Ryan Zucarrion and Jacob Marjoram. Captain Garcia was there and he briefed the Jason and Daniel for a few minutes. “Just be yourselves. Don’t let them rattle you in any way if they become insulting. Outline the facts as you know them, appeal to their vanity if necessary, and see if you can get them to admit their participation. Once they say anything incriminating, see if you can break open the door, and get them to admit everything. I’m counting on you two to break the ice! Good luck!”
About five minutes later, Ryan and Jacob were ushered into the conference room. Jason introduced himself and Daniel, and then began talking about Victoria Romano.
“Daniel and I have been asked by Victoria’s parents to look into what happened last Thursday at the dance, and to try to find out who was responsible. We have been checking into things, and it seems that all indications are pointing at the two of you!”
Ryan responded first. “So the two famous teenaged detectives on our campus have been busy?” Ryan was exactly like Angela had described him, with short curly black hair, big teeth with full braces and rubber bands, a bad complexion, and a very grating voice.
“Before we go to the authorities, we thought we would try to get your side of things,” Daniel said.
“We don’t have to talk to you,” Jacob said in a quiet voice. He was slightly taller and thinner than Ryan, had longish brown hair, horn rimmed glasses, and a weak looking face, with a long nose and pointed chin.
“True, no one has to do anything they don’t want to at this stage,” Jason answered. “It took someone who really had some good computer skills to accomplish what was done last week. Maybe that isn’t you. Maybe we overestimated your abilities.”
“Hah!” Ryan snorted. “It wouldn’t take much in the way of computer skills to send out a bunch of emails. Even a clueless person like Brice Henderson could do that if he applied himself.”
“But Brice didn’t do it,” Daniel
said. “He would have had to have access to hundreds of student email addresses. And that points to you Jacob. Aren’t you the TA for Mrs. Potter who sends out emails for her?”
Jacob looked down at the table. “Yeah, so what!”
“Wouldn’t it be a simple thing for you to copy those addresses to your own devices?” Daniel pressed.
“I suppose,” Jacob said slowly in a drawn out voice.
“I think we all know that you have the capabilities to do what was done,” Jason continued. “You also had access to Brice Henderson’s computer when you were tutoring him at his house. It wouldn’t take more than a minute to stick a thumb drive in a USB port and copy the pictures off his hard drive. But what I am interested in is the why. Why did you have it in for Victoria Romano?”
“That bitch!” Ryan said with bitterness in his voice. “She always goes around the school with her nose up in the air. She thinks she is better than everyone else!”
“Wow, that is a pretty harsh judgment,” Daniel said. “What exactly did she do to you?”
“It’s not so much what she did, but the fact that she totally would ignore me most of the time, even when I tried to get her attention,” Ryan continued.
Daniel looked at Jason. “Ah, women!” he said shaking his head. “We guys are never going to totally understand what goes through their minds, but one thing I have discovered is that if you just act normal and be yourself, they are much more likely to respond to you than if you are pushy.”
“So Victoria ignored you,” Jason said, reentering the conversation. “But just being ignored by someone doesn’t really justify the major humiliation that was put on Victoria. She nearly committed suicide because of those photos!”
“I am sorry about that,” Jacob said in a low voice. “I didn’t ever imagine that she would take it so seriously.”
“You didn’t think sending nude photos of her to hundreds of her fellow students wouldn’t have a major impact on her?” Daniel asked Jacob with some anger in his voice.
“It was just meant to be a prank,” Jacob replied. “Victoria Romano brought it on herself by taking those pictures in the first place!”
“A harmless prank, huh,” Jason said. “So you are admitting that you sent the emails.”
“What if I did,” Jacob responded. “You can’t prove anything against me, and you are not the cops!”
“That’s true,” Jason said. “Daniel and I are not the police. But we are your fellow students wondering whatever possessed you to do such a cruel and mean thing to another human being!”
“How exactly did you get the pictures?” Daniel asked. “Ryan, you seem to the one who has the biggest grudge against Victoria.”
“It was a combination of luck and Brice Henderson’s stupidity,” Ryan said. “I had gone over to his house to tutor him. As I was approaching the house, I could hear him laughing and joking with his other buddies about the photos. Apparently he was breaking up with her, because he said, ‘Why couldn’t she have sent me these six months ago!’ It then was a simple matter to get them off his computer. He never even was aware that other people had access to those pictures.”
“Now you had the pictures. But why did you want to send them out in such a dramatic way?”
“For years the Victoria Romanos and Brice Hendersons of the world have been lording it over other high school students because they declare themselves the ‘in’ crowd,” Jacob began. “It was time to throw a few bombs into their house of egocentric mediocrity!”
“So this was also supposed to be a social class statement?” Daniel asked. “Because Victoria had been hanging out with football players she deserved to be brought down a few notches on the social ladder?”
“But Brice had just broken up with her, something that she took very hard,” Jason interjected. “Then your email campaign just totally devastated her! Yeah, what Victoria did was very foolish and maybe she did act stuck up at times. Victoria sure could use some counseling and good advice, but I don’t think she deserved to be so humiliated that she would want to take her own life!”
“Things didn’t work out the way we expected,” Ryan said. “But don’t try to use anything we said today against us. We will deny everything and you don’t have any real proof against us!”
Just then the conference room door opened and in walked Captain Garcia. Behind him was Sergeant Malone. “Jason and Daniel can’t make an arrest but I sure can,” Captain Garcia stated. “Ryan Zucarrion and Jacob Marjoram, you are under arrest on charges of cyber-bullying, and possession and distribution of pornography over the Internet. I am sure the district attorney’s office may come up with other charges as they take this type of crime very seriously these days! Sergeant Malone, take these two boys into custody, read them their rights, and take them downtown.”
Jacob and Ryan turned red faced with shame and anger. “You can’t do this to us!” Ryan shouted. “This is entrapment! Nothing we have said in here can be used against us!”
“You boys should get a law degree and pass the bar examination before you try to practice law,” Captain Garcia replied in a very stern voice. “You are in a public place where there is no reasonable expectation of privacy. Jason and Daniel were very upfront with you about what they were doing and why they were talking to you. Unfortunately for you, I, Sergeant Malone, and two of your parents have been listening to everything you just said. I have no intention of using this tape in court anyway. I have better evidence. Based on what Jason and Daniel learned during their investigation, I had probable cause to obtain search warrants for both of your houses. Earlier today those warrants were executed, and all of your computer equipment was seized. The warrants cover anything on you or in your backpacks also.
“You will now be brought downtown to our headquarters where your parents will be present for additional questioning. Our computer forensics expert is starting to go through the content of your computers, including anything that was erased recently. I strongly urge you to cooperate with our investigation. If you do, most likely your case will be prosecuted through the juvenile court system. If you don’t cooperate, the district attorney may decide to prosecute you as adults! Sergeant Malone, take these two fine young men out of here!”
Sergeant Malone proceeded to read Miranda rights to Ryan and Jacob. Then they were handcuffed and taken to his patrol car.
Back inside the conference room, Captain Garcia was finishing with Jason and Daniel. “You boys did great work on this case. It would have been very difficult for police officers to obtain the information that you did so quickly.”
“Teenagers are often much more open to talking among themselves than they are to authority figures,” Jason replied. “Everyone I talked to was very upset about what happened to Victoria.”
“The really sad thing is now three lives have been ruined by this incident,” Daniel added. “And for no good reason!”
Chapter 30
Justice and Recovery
(March 24-25)
Thursday, the buzz all over the Merriam High School was about the arrest of Ryan Zucarrion and Jacob Marjoram for sending out the photos of Victoria Romano. None of the names were released to the media, due to their age, but it didn’t take long for the students to figure out who was responsible, especially since a few students actually saw Ryan and Jacob being taken away in handcuffs.
Wednesday after school, Jason had called the Romano house and talked to Mrs. Romano. He told her that the two boys responsible for the sexting emails were now in police custody. “It’s very likely that the case will stay in juvenile court, depending on whether or not they cooperate with the police investigation.”
“Thank you so much for taking this on,” Mrs. Romano told Jason. “My husband and I are grateful for all you did, and especially for the speedy manner in which you brought it to a close. I also want you to know that Victoria had her first meeting with Dr. Agoura. It seemed to go very well from what Victoria told me.”
“I am happy to hear that,
Mrs. Romano,” Jason replied. “I know that Victoria has a long road to full recovery, but with the boys responsible in custody, I think that a lot of pressure will be taken off of her, and she can start beginning to deal with what was done to her.”
“I agree, Jason. I hope that one day she can thank you, Daniel, and your friends personally for all you have done for her.”
Downtown at the Silicon Valley Police headquarters, the investigation was nearly complete. The examination of Ryan’s and Jacob’s computers revealed not only the pictures of Victoria, and the student email list taken from Mrs. Potter’s classroom, but plans for other cyber-attacks in the future.
When confronted with this evidence, the boys decided to cooperate so that they would receive more lenient sentences from the juvenile court that would hear their case. With the two boys pleading guilty to the charges against them, it would not be necessary for Victoria, Jason, or Daniel to testify. Eventually the boys were remanded to custody at a juvenile facility until they were eighteen. As part of their sentence, they were permitted no access to any computers or computer technology during this time. Their families were fined $5,000 each for the cost of the rescue team, and due to the shortness of their sentences, the two boys had to spend an additional year in house arrest wearing tracking devices.
Victoria Romano remained out of school for the rest of the semester. Her senior year would be spent at a private high school. She did spend months in counseling working everything out. It was a very long recovery for Victoria, but she no longer was suicidal about the incident.
Days of Destiny Page 23