Chapter 41: Another Rescue

It was a normal day at Camelot; just like any other day. There was nothing special going on and everybody was scurrying around doing their things. I was relaxing out on the deck with my morning cup of coffee and the newspaper. The sliding glass door opened and closed and soon I sensed a presence beside me. I looked up and there stood Allison looking like something was troubling her. I invited her to have a seat on my lap to chat.

"Allison, you look troubled this morning. What's going on?"

"Art, I noticed something at school that has me puzzled."

"Well, let me have it."

"There's a girl in one of my classes who seems very reserved and shy. I have tried to make friends with her but she has built a wall around herself and won't let me in."

"Some people are like that. Maybe she is recovering from some traumatic event and does not trust anyone to get close in fear of being hurt again."

"She seems like such a nice girl. I did find out that she lives with her uncle in a poor neighborhood across town. I wondered why she never shows up in gym class and is always wearing long sleeves and slacks. She seems to be so lonely and I just want to let her know that I care about her. Also she has been missing from school for about a week and I am worried for her."

"Maybe I can find out something about her for you. What is her name?"

"Mary-Lou Carpenter."

"Let me see what I can learn and I'll let you know what I find."

I went to the school and talked with the guidance counselor about Mary-Lou. The counselor told me that she has not been in school for that whole week. I asked her about the girl not taking gym class and the counselor told me that her uncle had sent a note to the school exempting her from gym classes. He wrote that she suffers from some emotional condition that will not allow her to disrobe in front of others.

I got to thinking; shy and reserved, no friends, exempt from gym classes, always wears long sleeves and slacks; it all adds up to a situation I have seen before. I decided to check into what was going on, personally. I got Mary-Lou's address from the counselor and drove by the house. There were a couple of cars parked at the house and as I watched, a man came out of the door handing an envelope to, presumably, the girl's uncle. I stayed back and watched the house for a while as the man got into his car and left. Shortly after that another car pulled up and a man got out. He knocked on the door and was let in by the uncle. About thirty minutes later the man left as he also handed the uncle an envelope. I stayed there for a couple of hours as the scene was repeated several times. I pulled away from the area and went down to the police station where I met with detective Springer.

I shook his hand saying, "Mark, how're things going?"

"Over loaded, as usual, Art. What brings you down here?"

"I'm concerned about one of the girls at the local school."

"What's her name?"

"Mary-Lou Carpenter."

"That name sounds familiar. Let's see ... oh yeah. I got a truancy case on her but we haven't had time to look into it yet."

I related my observations to Mark and I could see his concern on his face. I gave him a list of the six license numbers I had seen visit the house while I was there. He handed the list to his partner to run the numbers. We discussed my fears and he agreed we had probable cause to get a warrant.

"Art, you still have the badge and ID we gave you?"

"Right here in my pocket."

"Okay, let's pop over to the courthouse and see the judge about a warrant."

The judge asked me what I had seen. I gave him a rundown of everything. The judge was familiar with what I had done in the past and issued the warrant right away. Back at the police department I asked, "Mark, how are we going to do this?"

"We had pretty good luck with the gas leak routine before so we can do the same thing again."

Mark called the gas company and had one of their trucks meet us near the house. Mark and I put on the orange vests and pulled up to the house. We got out and knocked on the door. The uncle answered the door and mark hollered, "Police ... warrant," and pushed his way into the house. Just then a patrol car pulled up and the uncle was cuffed and shoved into the back seat of the car. I followed detective Springer into the house and searched the house for Mary-Lou. We opened one of the bedroom doors and found a naked man raping her on the bed. Mark grabbed the guy and threw him to the floor. The rapist was so shocked that he offered no resistance as Mark cuffed him.

I immediately went over to the bed where Mary-Lou lay in a dazed state. Her eyes were glassy and rolled back as if she was drugged. I covered her naked body with the sheet on the bed and told her that it was all over and she would be safe then. She didn't comprehend what I had said and just laid there basically in a trance. I scooped her up and carried her out to my car. One of the female officers accompanied me and we laid Mary-Lou in the back seat as I sped off to the hospital.

The officer called dispatch and had them tell the hospital we were on our way. We arrived at the emergency entrance and Mary-Lou was loaded on a gurney and wheeled directly into the emergency room. She was still pretty much out of it while the doctor and nurses worked on her. The female officer went in with them to witness the taking and sealing of the rape kit. The doctor came out to the waiting area and met with me. He told me that Mary-Lou was drugged with a powerful version of the 'date-rape' drug. He went on the say that the patient showed signs of having been brutally raped several times. She had scarring and bruises all over her pelvic area. She also had bruises and rope marks on her arms and legs. The doctor went on to say that she would not be able to talk with us for a few hours while they flushed the drug out of her system.

Mark and I went back to the PD and started filling out offense reports. We got a call some time later that the girl was conscious and we could interview her. We went to the hospital where Mary-Lou had been moved to a private room. I called our school psychologist and had her meet us there. Mary-Lou was sobbing as we talked with her. It took a while to convince her that her nightmare was over and that she was then safe. Our psychologist sat with her for an hour calming her down and comforting her. A female officer and I went in to see her. I asked her if she felt that she could give us a statement. The following is basically what she told us: