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Ben & Nancy Ch. 15

Passion in James County XV: Ben and Nancy

"Mr. Barrett, could you tell me again exactly what the young woman said before she passed out?" a handsome, well-built young man wearing a dark blue sweatshirt with SHERIFF in white letters across the front asked the Jamestown High School janitor. He was Lt. Tim Jackman, head of the James County Sheriff's Department's detective division. He was heading up the investigation into the assault on Trish Wilkins because the school was located just outside Jamestown's city limits, in an area protected by the Sheriff's department.

"I asked her who did this to her, like I told you," the janitor, who was still pale and quaking, replied. "She...she said, "'Morris...Mr. Morris, he...' Them were her exact words. I...I ain't never, ever gonna forget them." He shook his head.

Trish had been treated by paramedics and was on her way to the Jamestown Trauma Center. Before they left the medics told Tim chances of the girl recovering didn't look good. They also indicated that, from the way her clothes were torn and her legs were bruised, she had probably been raped.

"And Mr. Morris is?" Tim asked the janitor.

"He...he's one of the teachers, a young one," the man replied. "He...he went to school here. He just came back this year after he graduated from teacher's college upstate. He...he's a really nice man. The kids like him. I...I can't believe he did something like this."

An older, bulkier man, wearing a tan sweatshirt and faded jeans, walked down the hall. "What have we got, Tim?" Sheriff Alex Martin asked. Unlike the previous sheriff of James County, Alex wasn't office-bound. He tried to get out in the field as often as he could, even though he had total faith in his deputies, and especially Tim Jackman who, despite his relative youth, was one of the best investigators he'd ever worked with.

"Looks like rape and attempted murder," Tim told his boss. "Victim's name is Trish Wilkins. She's in the eighth grade. Guy who did it beat her bad, really bad. I've never seen anything like it. Mike Loomis was the first officer here and he still looked sick after I got here."

Alex knew the beating had to be horrible if Sergeant Mike Loomis, a twenty-year veteran of the department, who had seen just about every bad thing one human could do to another, was upset. "How's the victim doing?" he asked.

Tim frowned and shook his head. "Paramedics said it didn't look good," he replied. "She was still alive when they left with her, but she had severe head injuries and probably internal injuries, too. Lost a lot of blood, too, judging from the mess in there." He jerked his head in the direction of the door into the school newspaper office.

"You have any idea who might be the doer?" Alex asked.

Tim nodded. "Maybe we got lucky," he said. "The janitor, that pale guy down the hall there, he found the victim. He said she was still conscious when he did. He claims he asked her who did it and she told him it was Mr. Morris."

"Any idea who this Mr. Morris is?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, I do," Tim replied. "He's a teacher here in school. New guy, just got out of college."

"There any physical evidence to tie this Morris guy to the victim?" Alex asked.

"The forensic guys are going over the office right now," Tim replied. "If there's anything there, they'll find it. We have a ton of blood in there. Maybe we'll get lucky and our doer got cut up, too."

"What about the rape kit?" Alex asked.

"Paramedics said they'd be sure the hospital does one as soon as they can," Tim replied. "They were pretty sure she'd been raped. I sent Marilyn Dewars over to the hospital. "Maybe the victim will come around again and she'll be able to confirm the ID the janitor got."

Sergeant Marilyn Dewars, the sheriff's department's sex crimes specialist, would make sure the statement was obtained, if that was possible.

Alex shook his head. "This sounds good," he said, "but it doesn't feel right. This Morris guy has to be pretty damn stupid if he thought he could rape one of his students here in the school, then beat her to death and get away with it."

"Come on, boss," Tim said, "You know as well as I do that one of the prerequisites for being a criminal is being stupid. And I don't remember seeing a whole lot of rape cases where the doer used his head."

"Maybe," Alex said. "What else do you know about this Morris guy?"

"He grew up here in Jamestown," Tim replied. "And he went to school here at Jamestown High. Went off to teacher's college someplace upstate, came back and got a job here after he graduated college."

"If he's a local boy," Alex said, "We should be able to get some background on him."

"I have a couple of my men working on that," Tim said. "They should have something for us before the day's over."

"Good," Alex said.

A tall, slim, balding man wearing glasses, a sport coat, T-shirt, and slacks, appeared in the hallway. He spoke to one of the uniformed deputies, then started down the hallway toward Tim and Alex. "Sheriff, I'm Amos Eagleton, the principal," he said, his voice deep and sonorous. "What happened here?"

Tim briefed the man on what had happened. "How...how is Latricia...Trish, doing?" the principal asked. "Will...will she be all right?"

"We're not sure yet," Tim replied. "She was alive when she left here, but the paramedics told me it didn't look promising."

"Oh, God!" the principal whispered.

"Mr. Eagleton," Tim said, "What can you tell me about Mr. Morris?"

A stunned look appeared on the principal's face. "Ben? Why...why are you asking me about him?" he stammered. "He's one of our new teachers, a fine young man, one of the most gifted educators I've seen in a while. He...he seems to have developed excellent rapport with the kids. Why do you want to know about him?"

"The victim told your janitor Morris was the one who did this to her," Tim replied.

"Oh, God, no!" the principal gasped. "That...that can't be true!"

"It is true, I'm afraid, Mr. Eagleton," Alex said. "What can you tell us about Mr. Morris?"

The principal shrugged. "I...I don't know much about his personal life," he replied. "I...I think, at least for a while, he was dating a couple of other teachers. I did hear that he was seeing both Evelyn Thomas and Tosha Brown."

"So he's not married?" Tim Jackman asked.

The principal shook his head. "Goodness, no," he replied. "He...he's just out of college."

"Where do these women live, Mr. Eagleton?" Alex asked.

"Why here in Jamestown," the principal replied. "I...I can get you their addresses from our personnel files, if you want them."

"That would be great, Mr. Eagleton," the sheriff said. "Tim, why don't you go with him and get the addresses?"

"OK, Alex," Tim said.

"After you get them, see if Jamestown P.D. can send a couple of detectives to interview the women," Alex said. "You come back up here. You and I are taking a little ride."

"Where to?" Tim asked.

"I think we should pick up Mr. Morris and see what he can tell us," the sheriff replied.
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