Chapter 11

1 hour earlier

Interrogation room n°1 / 10:30 PM

BENSON: Mr. Jones, please tell me what happened on the night of June 2nd between 11 PM and 2 AM.

JONES: I spent the evening with my friend Michael at the Black Shelter. We went out for a drink together. Then I noticed this beautiful young woman who was sitting at the back of the bar. I realized she must have come to drown her sorrows because she looked sad. Then I noticed some guys at the next table started bothering her. One of them even tried to rape her. So I intervened and took care of them.

BENSON: What do you mean by that?

JONES: Well, I dragged them outside and made it clear that they should never come back.

BENSON: Continue.

JONES: Then I made sure the young woman was okay. Then I offered to take her home. And we ended up at my place. We liked each other, so it was natural that we made love.

BENSON: The young woman in question, Sophie Pavard, can confirm your version of events?

JONES: Of course.

BENSON: Regarding the rape accusations... It seems that Miss Pavard told her boyfriend what you allegedly did to her.

JONES: It's all lies. Sophie and I are lovers. There was never any violence.

BENSON: You affirm it?

PAVARD: Yes.

BENSON: Very well, that's all for now.

We will contact her. I will come back to you later.

Jim hoped with all his heart that Sophie would be on his side.

Interrogation room n°1 / 11:00 PM

BENSON: Miss Pavard, please tell me what happened on the night of June 2nd between 11 PM and 2 AM.

PAVARD: Well, I went out to the Black Shelter that night. I had never been there before, so I didn't know what to expect. I had heard rumors.

BENSON: What kind of rumors?

PAVARD: Well, that it was a rough place.

BENSON: So why did you go there? And alone, at that?

PAVARD: My boyfriend had just dumped me and I had just found out he had been cheating on me for months. The whole campus laughed at me, so I went out to prove to myself that I could be attractive, that I didn't need him. But it was really stupid...

BENSON: Yes, one could say that.

PAVARD: And then I saw him. He was so handsome, I liked him immediately. And then, there were those men... They started attacking me. One of them even tried to... to rape me.

Sophie fell silent for a moment. Her tears threatened to fall as she recalled what had happened. Then she pulled herself together. She had to get Jim out of there. And for that, she had to tell the whole truth, well almost.

BENSON: Are you alright?

PAVARD: Yes, I'm fine... So as I was saying, those men were attacking me and Jim defended me. He saved me from those men, he chased them out of the bar. Then we talked, I thanked him and we went to his place.

BENSON: So you were just assaulted and you went straight to a man you didn't know?

PAVARD: What are you insinuating, exactly?

BENSON: I find it strange, that's all.

PAVARD: There's nothing strange about it. We liked each other. We talked and it just happened.

The detective didn't seem convinced. She hoped everything went well and that Jim would come out of this unscathed.

Interrogation room n°2 / 11:15 PM

BENSON: Mr. Jenkins, please tell me what happened on the night of June 2nd between 11 PM and 2 AM.

JENKINS: I stayed at home all evening, didn't move. I needed some rest. It had been a trying day for me. My girlfriend and I broke up, it was not easy to handle.

BENSON: Sophie, right?

JENKINS: Uh, yes. How did you know?

BENSON: I just interrogated her and she told me you left her for someone else. And that it had the consequence of humiliating her in front of the entire campus. Are you sure this breakup affected you so much that you didn't go out that night?

Henry was really angry. Why did that bitch need to tell all that? The detective was already doubting his version. She was going to screw everything up.

JENKINS: It's true that Sophie suffered a lot from our break-up and I'm sorry about that. But as I told you, I stayed at home all evening. I went to bed around 1 AM. Then around 1:30 AM, someone rang the doorbell. I went downstairs to see who could bother me at that time and when I opened the door, I found a man I didn't know. And then, I recognized the man who accompanied him, it was Jim Jones. I managed to identify him because everyone knows him in town. There are plenty of rumors about him.

BENSON: And then?

JENKINS: Well, he threatened to have his henchman take me down if I didn't give him $50,000.

BENSON: What happened then?

JENKINS: Well, I gave it to him.

BENSON: In cash? That's what you declared.

JENKINS: Yes, yes.

BENSON: So, you have $50,000 in cash at home?

JENKINS: My father does, yes. Well, you know who he is.

BENSON: Yes, I know perfectly well who he is. So why didn't you ask for more? And why did you wait so long to file a complaint?

JENKINS: I was scared. This guy is sick. And then, my girlfriend told me what he had done to her, and that's when I realized I had to warn the police.

BENSON: Are you talking about Sophie Pavard?

Henry nodded briefly.

BENSON: You're back together, then? You didn't break up?

JENKINS: We did, but she came back.

BENSON: Ah! Miss Pavard and Mr. Jones seem to be having an affair, though. And both of them are denying the rape. So either your girlfriend lied to you, or you're lying.

JENKINS: How dare you, I...

Suddenly, someone entered the room.

- Excuse me, Inspector Benson, I need to talk to you.

- I'll be right there.

Alone at last, Henry had to quickly think of a strategy to get out of this mess.

- So, what happened? pressed the inspector.

- It seems that you can release the two young people. Jenkins' son is a born liar. He made everything up. Except for the money.

- What do you mean?

- For the rape accusation, both of them are denying it, so we can't start a prosecution. Secondly, witnesses say they did see the young woman get into Jones' car on the evening of June 2nd. So they did spend the evening together. As for the $50,000, it's true. Jenkins did owe that amount to Jones. He had borrowed money from him last month. So, we most likely have an ex-boyfriend who wanted to make Jones pay for dating his ex and who wanted to make the repayment of a loan look like theft.

- That scum... He's a Jenkins, doesn't even surprise me.

- Should we arrest him?

- Yes. Take care of releasing the others. We'll deal with the little piece of shit later.

- Alright.