Loading...“Just because I come from a country town, and just because I speak kind of slow, doesn’t mean that I’m stupid.” I looked at the two men in the room with me. This was a different Tracy Bowman to the girl that they’d hired a week ago, the one with the good references from her previous employer that told them that she was a dedicated but not highly talented Para-legal, that she was a little shy, and while working well as part of a team, didn’t tend to mix socially.
One of the men, the one seated behind the huge mahogany desk, the older one, was the senior partner in this law firm. The other, the younger one seated in a comfortable leather tub chair, the one with the smarmy expression on his face was his son, a junior associate and soon to be partner. “You are telling me that I don’t fit into this law firm because I lodged a complaint against your son, this little shit, for raping me.”
“My son tells a different story, he tells one of consensual sex and revenge on your part, revenge because he didn’t wish to continue with this relationship beyond the one night. You have provided no proof other than your version of what happened and there is absolutely nothing to suggest that this can be otherwise. Because this could lead to ill feeling within this company, I have reached the conclusion that, in the interests of workplace harmony we have no option but to terminate your probation and let you go.”
“I can’t believe that you can do this. I have a legitimate complaint and you won’t even investigate it.”
“Unless you have proof it’s a case of your word against my son’s, and I have no reason to believe that he would lie to me.”
Just then his PA came into the room. “Sir, there are some police here and they say they want to speak to you and Peter.”
“What the fuck.” He cast a questioning look at Peter. “Send them in.”
Two plain clothed policemen and a police woman came into the office flashing their ID’s. The leader spoke. “I am Detective Inspector Thomas, this is Detective Sergeant Mandy Wilson and Detective Constable Roger Benson. We are investigating a rape complaint made against Peter Blenkiron, that’d be you.” He looked at Peter. “It is alleged that the incident took place at his apartment last evening.”
“This is preposterous! To accuse my son of rape just on the word of this woman is totally ridiculous. I am a lawyer, as is he, and we will not say another word to you until you can come up with some substantive and compelling evidence to support these outrageous accusations.”
“As I said, we are investigating the complaint, we are not yet in a position to lay any charges against anyone. We would like to interview Peter Blenkiron to get his side of the story before we proceed any further. You have a choice, we can do it here where we can be seen by the staff or we can go to the station where it can be done in private. It’s your choice.”
“As I said before, her allegations are preposterous. I have no intention of allowing my son to make any statement unless there is some evidence that points to his guilt, not some baseless allegation.”
“Very well, if you want it that way we’ll do it by the book. I will ask you gentlemen to come with us to the police station where we will show you some of the substantive and compelling evidence that will convince you that this is not a trivial accusation.”
“What’s going on?” I was asked as the procession left the offices.
“I have just laid a complaint against Peter for raping me last night.”
“What! You’ll never make it stick, it’ll be your word against his.”
“It is more than my word against his, there is evidence to support me, don’t ask me how I got it, just believe that it exists. I understand that I’m not the first girl to make these accusations against him, and I’m not the first to complain to Human Resources who did nothing. What is going to happen is that the authorities will investigate and, if in addition to the rape charge they find that the company has failed to follow up on these complaints, it will be prosecuted under the Workplace Relations Act. It could cost the company millions. If any of you have had similar experiences to mine I’d like you to swear an affidavit to that effect giving dates and times and I’ll make sure that these are followed up.”
I had been warned from day one by the other girls that Peter the young and smarmy one was a womanizer who looked on any new girl as fair game, but then I knew about this before I even started my job here.
I had been warned, yet I still went to dinner with him. He took me to the most expensive restaurant in town, the one where the A list dined, and to say that I wasn’t impressed would be to lie. A glance at the prices beside the dishes on the menu was enough to impress me, he was spending what was, to me, almost a week’s wages on the main course alone and the wine prices, I would just about have to take out a second mortgage to pay for just one bottle. I would say that any woman would be impressed.
The entrée was so small that I thought of asking for a magnifying glass to see it but it was very nice. The Sommelier poured a glass of wine for me and I took one sip, at that price I was going to stretch it out for as long as I could. By the time the main course had arrived I had only lowered the level by about a centimetre but Peter topped it up nonetheless. Meanwhile he was on his second glass.
The main course was marginally more generous than the entrée and it too was very nice. I had chosen a crispy skinned duck with a mandarin glaze served with steamed vegetables. I would have thought twice about paying that amount of money for what was a glorified traditional Chinese dish, but then I wasn’t paying.
Between mouthfuls I asked him about how he saw me fitting into the company. I knew how this was going to happen before hand, I just wanted to make sure that this meal lasted as long as possible. I needn’t have worried because he talked just about non-stop once I got him started. I learned something of the company history, how his father had started out with a small practice and had built it up by going after corporate business, the cases where costs were written off if the company lost and were padded when they won. Either way the lawyers made a lot of money.
By the time that we’d finished dessert I had only consumed one glass of wine, it had been topped up several times but only a small amount was added each time. “I think I should be getting you home.” Peter said as he added yet another small drop to my glass.
“I just have to go to the ladies before we leave.” I grabbed my bag and headed for the toilets.
Peter was standing when I returned. “I think that I’ll pay a visit before we leave, why don’t you finish your drink while I’m gone.” By the time he got back my glass was empty. We left the restaurant and I began to look for a cab, there were none to be seen. “Look Tracy, I live a block from here, why don’t we walk to my apartment and I’ll get my car and drive you home.” He looked at me. “Is everything okay, you don’t look well.”
“I don’t feel well, my head feels funny.”
“When we get to my apartment, why don’t you lie down and have a rest for a few minutes until you feel better before I take you home?”
“I don’t want to cause you any trouble.”
“It’s no trouble, I just want to be sure that you’re okay.” He had his arm around my shoulders supporting me as we walked. I leant against the wall of the elevator as we rose to his floor. We entered his apartment and he ushered me into his bedroom and I had me lie down on his bed. “You just have a rest for a few minutes, if you feel like you’re going to be sick the bathroom is through that door. I’ll turn the light off so it doesn’t get in your eyes.”
I lay there for about ten minutes before I heard him come into the room. I heard a drawer open and he went into the bathroom. I heard him fill a glass of water and drink before he returned to the bedroom. He stood beside the bed for a couple of minutes and then I felt his hand on my breast, stroking it gently. I brushed it away, “Don’t.” He took his hand away but a few minutes later it returned. Again I brushed it away. “Don’t.”
I heard him walk around the bed and stand on the other side. A hand lifted the hem of my skirt and placed it on my belly so that he had free access to my pussy and it wasn’t long before his hand moved lightly up the inside of my leg to the hem of my panties. My legs closed on his hand preventing further movement, “Don’t.” He left his hand where it was and a while later I could feel his fingers working their way under the elastic. “Don’t.”
He took his hand away and I felt him climb onto the bed and lay beside me with an arm across my stomach. We stayed in that position for I don’t know how long before his arm moved upward and I felt a hand cup my breast. That was all it did, just cup the breast, there was no caressing the nipple, it was just there. At least it was just there for some time before his fingers slipped between the buttons of my blouse and caressed the tops of my breast. “Don’t.” I mumbled. I mustn’t have sounded convincing because he began to undo the buttons and open it. Now both hands were on my breasts, he had raised my bra over them and was caressing my bare flesh. “Don’t.” He didn’t stop straight away and when he did it was to move one hand down to my pussy, his finger going under the elastic and entering me. “Don’t.” I mumbled. His finger stayed.
It was soon joined by the other hand and they moved to the waist of my panties and dragged them down. He was kneeling beside me and I felt his breath on my pussy just before his tongue pushed its way between the lips. His next move was to undo his trousers and, sitting beside me he kicked off his shoes and pulled his trousers and shorts down.
Once more lying beside me he took my hand and placed it on his erect cock. If he was expecting me to stroke it he was to be disappointed, I removed my hand. The bed moved as he rolled over and pulling my legs apart he spat into his palm and rubbed the spit onto his cock before bending down and spitting on my pussy. The next thing I felt was his cock attempting to enter me.
“No, don’t.” I mumbled, trying to close my legs.
“Come on Tracy, you know you want it. I’ve seen the way you look at me, you’re just itching to have my cock inside you.” He pushed harder and my resistance faded.
I’ll give him this; he had stamina. It must have been Viagra that he had taken because he just kept on going, nothing seemed to stop him, not even an orgasm. At first it was missionary and when he tired of that he rolled me over and lifted my hips so he could do it doggy style. If he hadn’t held my hips I would have fallen back onto the bed. He did it on his side from behind and he attempted to shove it in my arse but gave up on that when he couldn’t get it in.
He eventually rolled off me and went to sleep. I waited until he was in a deep sleep, snoring heavily, before I eased myself from the bed and picking up my panties and purse, crept from the room and let myself out of the apartment.
Waiting for me outside the building was Detective Sergeant Mandy Wilson.”Well, how did it go?”
“I deserve an Academy Award for my performance tonight. Let’s get back to the station and collect this stuff that’s running down my legs. Then we can have a look at the video and see if it will stand up in court.”
The medicos took specimens from my vagina and sent them to the lab for DNA testing and I cleaned up and joined the others back in the squad room. The memory card from the small camcorder was plugged into a computer and the large screen came to life. There were several comments about my appearance before we all settled down to watch.
DI Frank Thomas was the first to break the silence. “We couldn’t have asked for better evidence, even with the lights out the infra red lens picked up the action clearly. Good job Tracy, even I was convinced that you’d been drugged. This along with the video that Mandy took at the restaurant and the chemical analysis of the wine, it was Rohipnol as you thought it would be, will be enough to ensure a conviction and put him away for a long time. Good work everyone.”
“Before you go, I’ve asked the other girls that work there to swear out affidavits against him and I’ll be following up on these myself.”
I went home and grabbed a couple of hours sleep before going to work. My first task was to lodge a formal complaint against Peter. I knew what would happen but I had to at least go through the motions. As soon as I had left Human Resources the message was sent and I was invited to join the Blenkirons in Mr Blenkiron’s office.
“Okay, the next step, Benson, I want you to interview any girl who has had a similar experience, we need as much information as possible about his activities. I know they’re young and attractive so don’t take all day, but at the same time use a little discretion, please, we don’t want to spook them with heavy handed tactics. Mandy will you come with me while I interview these guys, I want to see the expressions when we confront them with the evidence.” He was enjoying himself.
The four of them were in an interview room at the station and had just gone through the official protocol of setting the time and attendance for the tape record. “Mister Blenkiron, we have video evidence of your son slipping something into Tracy’s drink last night. We also have a chemical analysis that has confirmed the substance to be Rohipnol, also known as the ‘date rape’ drug. That on its own is enough to charge him, but as that irritating guy used to say in those TV commercials, ‘but there’s more.’ We also have video evidence from your son’s apartment that shows your son ignoring Tracy telling him that she didn’t want sex, but he persisted to have non-consensual sexual intercourse. Is that enough evidence for you?”
“This is entrapment! You can’t use this. I’ll have its use denied and it will get back to his word against hers and let’s see if that’ll hold up in court. Unless you’re going to formally charge him we’re leaving.”
“If that’s the way you want it, Peter Blenkiron, I’m arresting you for the rape of Tracy Bowman in your apartment last evening, anything that you say will be taken down and used as evidence in court, if you do not have a lawyer one will be appointed. Do you understand what I have explained to you?”
“Dad?”
“Don’t worry son, I’ll have you out of here in no time and then this Tracy and these police will regret ever crossing our paths.” He stormed off to apply for bail.
The next few weeks were hectic to say the least, what with the gathering of evidence and the interviewing of the several girls that had come forward with affidavits alleging rape against Peter, to see if the story remained consistent and unshakeable. Our case was looking positive until one of the girls recanted her statement.
Kathryn Meadows had worked for Blenkiron and Associates for two months before she made allegations against Peter. The matter was hushed up and she received money to keep the matter quiet. In return she was given a good reference so that she had no trouble finding another job. It appears that this was done because her father was a long time client of the law firm and they didn’t want to lose his business. Now pressure was being brought to bear on her to recant in return for a significant financial contribution to her newly married status.
We reasoned that if the opposition has attempted to suborn one witness, attempts would be made on others, I hoped that they wouldn’t try it with me given my contribution to the arrest, but we needed to be wary of any other attempt to influence me. For this reason I was given a security guard to watch over me.
Huw Davies was chosen because he was a couple of years older than me and looked as if he was the type that I would go with. He was tall, around 182 centimetres, 85 kilos and ruggedly handsome. His dark hair was cut not very short and had a slight wave to it, his eyes were green and they smiled as if he was constantly amused, but this was deceiving because his mind was always on the job at hand. Because he was to be my constant companion he was allowed to stay with me, in my spare room.
He arrived on the first day of his duty with a duffle bag in camouflage colours filled with neatly folded clothes. He had been in the military and while he didn’t admit to it I got the impression that he could have been in the SAS, he just had that attitude about him.
At first he was terribly formal; ‘yes ma’am, no ma’am’ and stuff like that but after a day or two’s encouragement from me he began to call me Tracy. He was handy to have around, he thought nothing of cleaning and he could cook dishes to die for, something to with being stationed in some exotic country.
He knew something of the reason why I was under his protection and he left it up to me as to whether I would disclose any more information. I chose not to, given that I was super-cautious about the influence of the Blenkirons. As I no longer had a job with them I spent much of my time talking to the other girls and encouraging them to help me maintain the momentum that had been generated. On these visits Huw stayed discretely in the background, but a couple of the girls noticed that he always seemed to be there and asked questions. I chose to introduce him as my new boyfriend because I didn’t want them to think that I was afraid.
About three weeks after the event I had an uneasy feeling that I was being followed. “Huw, I don’t know if it is just me being paranoid but I think I’m being followed.”
“Don’t you worry about a thing, I have it covered.”
“You knew? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want to frighten you. If you take a look in the shop window as we approach, the one that is at 45 degrees, you’ll notice a man with a black hoodie with his hands in his pockets. He’s been on us for the last couple of hundred metres. I thought at first that he was muttering to himself until I noticed the Bluetooth headset he’s wearing. He’ll probably have an open phone line to whoever’s controlling this operation. If he makes a move I’ll have him.”
The matter of fact way that he said that took away some of the fear that I was beginning to feel, I felt safe in his hands.
When it happened it caught me totally unprepared. We had stopped to look at a store display when Huw suddenly pushed me into the shop doorway. All I heard was the word ‘fuck’ from Huw and he disappeared. I was more afraid than I have ever been, I just crouched in the doorway as people were scurrying for safety.
The next thing I knew was a man in a black hoodie was thrown to the ground next to me but before he could get up a booted foot planted itself on his neck, pinning him to the ground, every time he tried to move the foot pressed down harder. “Tracy, this man tried to kill you. Don’t worry he can’t hurt you now and the police are on their way.”
A couple of drops of blood appeared on the ground and I saw a stream of it running down his hand, I also noticed that his arm was hanging by his side unlike the other that moved freely. Huw had been hit. I called for an ambulance.
When the police arrived Huw gave his statement. “Tracy and I had been walking along this street and I noticed that this man was following us so I kept a watching brief. When I noticed his hand go under his jacket I pushed Tracy into the doorway and his shot missed her. I tracked across the road and came up behind him as he was trying to see if he had been successful. I disabled him and here he is. If you look under his jacket you will see the small calibre silenced pistol that he used, it will be missing one bullet which you will find lodged in my shoulder.” As calm as that, the man is injured and is carrying on as if he was addressing a meeting of the local Ladies Sewing Circle.
“Can either of you think of any reason you were targeted?”
“I am involved in an investigation. I reported my boss’ son for raping me. My boss is a very powerful person and any threat to that power could cause him to take radical action. I’m afraid that’s the only thing I can think of.”
“Very well, we’ll look into that.”
A quick search of the man produced the weapon. “Do you mind if I have a look?” Huw asked. He produced a pen from his pocket that he stuck in the trigger guard. “Hm, you don’t see these much any more, a Beretta, sort of gone out of fashion of late but in their time super-reliable and because there is very little recoil, accurate over short distances.”
“You know guns then sir?”
“A little, yes. I was in the SAS for a while.”
The ambulance arrived and I travelled to the hospital with him. “How can I ever repay you for saving my life?” I was holding his good hand and had no intention of letting it go. I stayed with him while he was X-rayed to locate the bullet and I was still beside him when it was removed. Because it was an easy enough procedure it was decided not to use a local anaesthetic but it still must have hurt because his grip on my hand just about broke every bone in it.
I sat by his bed through the long night, as much because I wanted to be with him and support him, as because I was shit scared to go home alone to my apartment, alone. I have lived on my own for years and have never before been afraid of being alone.
Huw was released early the next morning and I took him home and fed him breakfast before helping him undress and putting him to bed. The sight of his bare chest and muscular shoulders awaken girl urges in me that I hadn’t felt for some time, I was going to have to watch myself or I’d fall for him in a big way. Some time during the afternoon as I wiped down the kitchen bench for the twelfth time I told myself that I could do worse and to not be so stupid.
I cooked a dinner straight out of my Nanna’s recipe book, grilled lamb chops, mashed potatoes, pumpkin and peas (frozen). He looked at my effort for several seconds before attacking it and pronouncing it, with such false sincerity that he wouldn’t be out of place in politics, that it was the best meal he had tasted for a long time.
“You don’t have to spare my feelings, I know I’m a crappy cook.”
After dinner I took his shirt off and dressed the wound. When I had finished I couldn’t resist the urge to hug him and, before he could say anything, kiss him. What started out as a gratitude kiss soon became much more and he responded, his good arm pulling me to him.
With a little persuasion from me he agreed to sleep in my bed, ‘so that I could better look after him’, which I fully intended to do, especially his sexual needs, and mine. As he stood beside the bed I stripped his trousers from him followed by his shorts revealing, unsurprisingly, his impressive cock. I just had to kiss it, and take it in my mouth, and suck it, and suck it, and, you get the picture. He held me to him as he unloaded into my mouth. There was so much cum that it was all that I could do to swallow it before my mouth overflowed.
In bed I took his good hand and placed it between my legs. He was good, oh my god he was good, the whole of me felt him being good. I know that I’m prattling here but I was so happy I couldn’t think straight. His finger, I think it was only one, was inside my pussy doing wondrous things while his thumb was giving my clit a right working over. My orgasm, which wasn’t long coming, what I meant to say was that it didn’t take long to get there, but when it did it lasted a long time, and was the most intense I have ever had. Injured though he was, he was the answer to my prayers. I had died and gone to heaven.
“You’re not who you claim to be are you?” He asked over breakfast.
“What do you mean?”
“You claim to be a country girl and you act as if you’re overawed by the city life and your job as a Paralegal with a big law firm, but you’re not, are you?”
“I am a country girl and I work as a Paralegal for a big law firm, and that is the truth.”
“Stop bullshitting me Tracy or I swear I’m out of here and you’re on your own.” So I told him the truth. “Yes I was born in the country but I left there years ago to pursue my Law studies. I am a fully qualified lawyer working in the legal section of the Workplace Relations Commission and I am currently investigating Blenkirons for failing to follow up on complaints of a sexual nature against Peter Blenkiron and I am hoping to get evidence that they actually destroyed records of complaint. I’m currently keeping a low profile until the commission hearings begin.”
“I’ll accept that.”
“I’m glad because if you left I would be the most miserable person alive.”
Because of his injury we had to make love in positions that didn’t place a strain on his injured shoulder. I straddled him, that was nice, I could control my pleasure with my hip movement and the speed that I moved, and I don’t know whether it was the position or the man, when I came it was with such force it literally took my breath away and I would collapse on him and not move until his cock had fully subsided. Then there was the doggy position, he could manage that comfortably and he was more in control. When I came it wasn’t quite the same as when I was on top, don’t get me wrong it was still great, but when he came it was him losing control, pushing into me with all his strength as he flooded me with his cum. This man had succeeded in a short time to erase the feelings of loathing toward men that dominated me from the time Peter Blenkiron shoved his cock into me.
When Huw was able to put his weight on his shoulder I insisted that we try the missionary position. It was good, his penetration wasn’t quite as far as other positions, I could have improved it by raising my legs and wrapping them around his body, and the orgasm wasn’t as strong, but as I explained to him as we lay in each other’s arms afterward, “This is my submission to you, you are on top and can control it all, I am sexually in your hands and all I can do is to hold you and kiss you to show my love for you, because I do love you. From this day on I will do as you wish, you have but to ask.”
“Tracy, darling Tracy, I love your sentiment here but I can’t go along with it. Because I love you, I want our love to be a mutual experience with neither dominating, I don’t want to lord it over you, forcing my will on you, I want us to let our hearts, our bodies, and our souls dictate our loving.” Now you know why I love him so much. Our lovemaking just got better and better as our love grew.
Two weeks after the shooting several important things happened. The police contacted us to tell us that they were unable to find out who had hired the shooter, the hit was arranged through intermediaries and there were cut-outs at each step. He must have been well paid if he was prepared to take the fall. They did say, off the record of course, that they were certain that Blenkirons had something to do with it and would continue their investigation. The next piece of information was that they had accessed the company’s Human Resource database and by tracking the data input, in the relevant files they were able to prove, because each time a file was accessed it left a trail as to time, date, and who was responsible, that records had been deleted at around the same time that was indicated in the affidavits, a cover up had occurred.
The third event was that Huw had gotten so sick of my cooking that he took control of the kitchen, we ate well again. Oh, and the sex was better now that he had almost fully recovered.
When the trial date arrived the Prosecutor had decided that, for dramatic impact, he would save my evidence until last.
The police were the first to give evidence, they told of me approaching them following an incident involving the defendant and one of the Blenkiron employees who had been involved in an accident following a date with Peter Blenkiron. They gave details of our discussions and the decision we made for me to apply for a job, and there was no pressure brought to bear to ensure that I was given the position, the company was unaware of what we were doing, and for me to go on a date if invited. It was stressed that I should not encourage such an invitation.
Peter Blenkiron was the next on the stand. After the usual preliminaries to swear him in and establish that he was who he said he was the questioning began.
“Mister Blenkiron, you work for your father in his law practice, is this correct?”
“Yes.”
“And you are a lawyer?”
“Yes.”
“Do you get on well with the employees?”
“Yes.”
“The fact that you are the son of the Practice owner doesn’t affect your working relationship with, particularly the female employees?”
“No, why should it?”
“You don’t use your position to pressure these women into going on dates with you?”
“No.”
“Tracy Bowman, the young lady that has made these allegations, how did you get on with her?”
“Fine. She was friendly enough once you got to know her, in fact she could be a bit of a flirt.”
“You got on so well with her that you invited her to dine with you at your favourite restaurant, is this correct?”
“Yes.”
“How did the date go, did you enjoy each other’s company?”
“Yes, we got on well, it was very friendly, in fact I had reached the decision that I would invite her out again.”
“After you had finished dinner you left the restaurant, where were you going?”
“I asked her if she wanted to go home.”
“With you?”
“No, I was thinking that if she didn’t want to go home straight away I would take her to a club or something. I didn’t want the evening to end just yet. If she wanted to go home I would find a cab for her.”
“What was her answer?”
“She said that she was feeling unwell. I put it down to her having a little too much to drink.”
“How much had she had to drink, how many glasses of wine?”
“I’m not sure, a few I guess.”
“In your opinion was she drunk?”
“She was having difficulty in standing up, so I guess she was.”
“So you decided to take her to your apartment and allow her to rest a while until she felt better? Why did you decide on your apartment and not just take her home to her place?”
“My apartment was closer.”
“And when you got to your apartment, what happened next?”
“I carried her into my bedroom and placed her on my bed.”
“Was she fully clothed at that point.”
“Yes.”
“Then what happened?”
“As I was about to leave the room to let her rest I heard her say, ‘don’t go.’ And she patted the bed beside her. She wanted me to get on the bed beside her.”
“Then what did she do?”
“We were lying there for some time and then she reached across and placed her hand on my genitals.”
“So you believed that she was initiating a sexual contact?”
“Yes.”
“Did you do anything to discourage this contact?”
“No.”
“So you had sexual intercourse?”
“Yes.”
“How many times did you have sex, was it just the once or was it several?”
“Several, once we started she didn’t want to stop, she just couldn’t get enough of me.”
“At any time did she say or do anything that would suggest to you that she did not want to have sex with you?”
“No, in fact she gave me the impression that she wanted it.”
“When all this was over did you take her home?”
“No. I fell asleep and when I woke up she had gone.”
“Thank you, that will be all.”
His counsel asked just one question; “In your mind you believed that she flirted with you to encourage you to invite her out and that she initiated the sexual intercourse?”
“Yes.”
Then it was my turn. I took the stand and was sworn in. “For the record, what is your name?”
“Tracy Jane Bowman.”
“What is your occupation?”
“I am an Investigating Officer for the Commission for Workplace Relations.” That threw the cat among the pigeons. The Defence Team were suddenly very much interested, up until now I was just another girl who had made accusations against Peter Blenkiron and they hadn’t thought it necessary to check out my background, and following me wouldn’t have given anything away because I was on indefinite leave for the duration of the trial, I wasn’t going to my office.
“What does your job involve?”
“I investigate complaints made by employees on such matters as non-payment or under-payment of wages, workplace bullying, harassment, and importantly, inappropriate sexual behaviour between employers and employees.”
“When did you begin investigating the defendant?”
“The Commission had begun investigating about eighteen months ago, there had been several complaints. About six months ago there was an unfortunate incident involving a girl, Christine Redman, Chrissie to her friends. She appeared outside the defendant’s apartment building in the early hours of the morning and in a dazed state. She wandered onto the road into the path of a passing car. She was badly injured and has remained in a coma in hospital ever since. The investigating police were curious as to why she should happen to be where she was at that time and in the condition that she was in, so they questioned her friends and work colleagues from whom they learned that she had been on a date with the defendant. That was when I became involved in the matter.”
“Her blood sample taken in hospital revealed, along with some alcohol, the presence of the drug Rohipnol, commonly known as the ‘date rape’ drug. There was also semen present in her vagina. When questioned, the defendant stated that, yes he had sexual intercourse with her but that he didn’t notice anything unusual about the victim’s behaviour when she left his apartment.”
“I waited at the hospital for several days in the hope that she might recover sufficiently to make a statement. Her treating doctors eventually persuaded me that there was no hope of her ever recovering. I made a promise to her before I left her that I would do whatever was necessary to seek justice for her. I don’t know if she heard it or not, but I plan to keep that promise.”
“What did you do then?”
“I approached the police and spoke with Detective Sergeant Wilson who is in their Special Victims Unit that investigates rape, among other things. I explained to her what I was investigating and its status, that I had been unable to gain enough information to prosecute the Blenkiron Company for failing to act on the complaints levelled at the defendant by some eight female employees. We had been thwarted by the lack of evidence. We had reason to believe that the complaints had been removed from the personnel files.”
“After much deliberation it was agreed that I should seek employment with the Blenkirons to see if the defendant would invite me on a date and if he did, how we would proceed. I had the qualifications for the job and the next time a position was advertised I applied for it and was successful. I made sure that I had little contact with the defendant and did nothing to encourage him in any way. Within a week I received an invitation from the defendant to go out on a date with him. I accepted.”
“Your Honour, the Defence objects to the evidence that this witness will give on the basis of entrapment.”
“Over-ruled. For me to disallow this evidence on entrapment grounds the witness will have had to, in some way, by her behaviour toward the defendant or some other factor or inducement, influence him to invite her to ask her out on a date. She has just given evidence that she did nothing to encourage him to issue such an invitation.”
“From our investigations we knew which restaurant he would take me to so we set up a surveillance team to gather evidence. When he told me that he would take me home I excused myself and went to the ladies toilet. While I was away from the table the defendant was observed putting something in my glass of wine. Detective Sergeant Wilson recorded this incident and, when the defendant went to the toilet himself she took the contents of my glass for chemical analysis. It was subsequently found to contain a significant quantity of Rohipnol.”
“When we left the restaurant I complained of feeling unwell and the defendant suggested that, instead of him taking me straight home, I should accompany him to his nearby apartment and rest there until I felt better. When we got there he took me into his bedroom and had me lie on his bed. It was here that, thinking that I was under the influence of the drug he had administered, he raped me.”
“Objection!” the Defence Counsel was on his feet.
“On what grounds?”
“Rape has not yet been proven.”
“Over-ruled. I would have thought the mere fact that your client administered a drug to the witness was a clear indication that he was prepared to go to any length to ensure that she did not resist his sexual advances, and that to me constitutes a rape.”
“And you have evidence of this rape having taken place?”
“Yes. After he had me lie on the bed he left the room for a short time. During his absence I got up from the bed and placed my purse on the dressing table and activated the small camcorder with an infra red lens to record the events. The defendant came back into the room and took a pill from a drawer and went into the bathroom where he poured himself a glass of water and took it. He returned to the bedroom where he began to caress my breast.”
“Did you do anything to stop him?”
“I said ‘don’t’, in fact I said the word ‘don’t’ several times during the time that he was raping me.”
“Your Honour, if it please the court we would like to tender as evidence the video recording of the incident. We will not show the full two hours but we will pick up the action where the defendant first begins to caress the witness’ breast. If the jury requests to see the entire recording we will provide it.” Twenty minutes of the video was shown. “If you have listened carefully you will have heard the witness say the word ‘don’t’ several times. She in fact said that word thirteen times but the defendant persisted.”
“That is a very radical step, allowing yourself to be raped just so you could get evidence against the defendant. What did you do after he raped you?”
“I waited until he was asleep and left the apartment. I proceeded to the police station where a sample of the semen was taken for DNA analysis, then I cleaned myself up and went home. When I got to work I immediately went to the Human Resources Department where I lodged a formal complaint against the defendant. At first I was told that, as the incident happened outside working hours and the workplace, they had no jurisdiction and could do nothing about it. I pointed out to them that the defendant had used his position within the company to encourage, in parenthesis, me to accept his invitation. Some time later I was called to the office of Mr Blenkiron Senior where an effort was made to get me to withdraw my complaint. This is when the police came in.”
The Defence Counsel crossed out the words ‘consensual sex’ from his points to raise.
The Defence Counsel tried to discredit my evidence with little success so he tried one final time. “Ms Bowman, you stated in your evidence that you pretended to be under the influence of a drug, why did you deem that to be necessary?”
“The defendant would have realised from my demeanour during the course of the evening that I was in no way interested in him sexually, so it was necessary for me to resort to this subterfuge.” I decided to rub it in. “I mean to say, if you were a woman would you have sex with that slimy little turd unless you were either drunk or stoned?”
“Objection! I ask that the last remark be stricken from the record.”
“So ruled. The jury will ignore that last remark.” It was stricken but it was still out there.
In his final submission the Prosecutor didn’t pull any punches. He not only emphasised that the evidence was complete and established beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant had doctored my drink with Rohipnol so the I would not resist his sexual advances, and that he had ignored my several attempts to stop him having non-consensual sex with me, but that he lied to the court in an attempt to protect himself, that has guilty of perjury as well as rape.
After final submissions and directions from the judge the jury retired. The fact that it took more than two hours probably meant that the voyeurs on the panel wanted to sit through the entire video of the incident. After deliberating for three and a bit hours a guilty verdict was returned.
The Commission hearing came two days later. We called the girls and each of them were taken through their affidavit and questioned closely about the events. They gave their testimonies in a clear and concise manner free of histrionics and anger. They gave evidence that they had each sought treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Then we called a computer expert who gave evidence of tracking the data entry and print logs in the computer server and finding that entries had been made on each of their personnel files on the day that they stated that they had lodged a complaint and that another entry deleting the previous entry was logged on either the same day or the next day, evidence that records had been deleted.
Our next witness was the clincher. Hilary McDermott was their Personnel Manager and we were going to ask if she could recall the complaints. What came next surprised even us, she gave evidence that it was she to whom the girls had made the accusations and that she had entered the details on the relevant complaints form. When she had taken the matter up with the Senior Mr Blenkiron she was ordered to destroy the complaint form so that, in his words; ‘this has never happened.’ So she shredded the forms. But what she did do was to keep a copy of the complaints on an external hard drive that she could plug into the USB port on her terminal. We now have a record of every complaint, every cover up.
The girls and I adjourned to a coffee shop to celebrate. The company was fined a record amount because, not only were the complaints ongoing over a period of time, but the cover-up was a deliberate attempt to deny the girls’ justice.
Huw caused a stir when he came in to take me home. When he first entered the coffee shop their eyes were drawn to him, he looked vaguely familiar and as he approached our table you could almost feel the lust, then when he took me in his arms and kissed me, the exhaling of breath was deafening. “You sneak, where have you been hiding him?”
“Down girls, he’s mine, aren’t you darling?” I turned my face to him and he acknowledged it with a passionate kiss that left them in no doubt of our love.
“I have one final thing to do before we go home.” I said to him as we got in the car, “will you take me to the hospital.”
We walked down the corridor to the Intensive Care Unit and the nurses greeted me as a regular visitor. They already knew the result of the rape trial, the hearing was the final hurdle in the justice process. “How did the hearing go?”
“Great, it’s all over.”
“We’re glad, now all we need is for Chrissie to get better.”
She was exactly as she had been the last time I saw her, barely visible under the tubes and wires that have kept her alive for so long. The only sounds above the general hum of the hospital were the hiss of the respirator and the heart rate monitor, b-e-e-p, b-e-e-p, b-e-e-p, b-e-e-p, its incessant tone the only real sign of life.
I leaned over and kissed the small patch of face available, “Chrissie, it’s Tracy, can you hear me?” Beep, beep, beep, beep. Her eyes opened and there was a hint of recognition for the first time in months. Beep, beep, beep, beep. “Chrissie darling we did it. He’s going away for a long time for what he did to you, and others, but especially you. You have been avenged.” Her smile widened, then her eyes closed. B-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-p .