Chapter 151 Vanessa Arrested
DETECTIVE ROURKE'S POV
I was sitting in the interrogation room waiting for Vanessa Cory to be brought in. After the anonymous package of evidence arrived and we verified everything we had enough to arrest her on multiple charges. The DA had signed off on it. The warrant had been issued. And now she was about to face the consequences of her lies.
The door opened and two officers brought Vanessa in. She was in handcuffs. Her hair was messy. Her makeup smeared. She looked like she had been crying.
"Sit down," I said.
Vanessa sat across from me. "I want a lawyer."
"You can have a lawyer," I said. "But first I want you to understand what you are being charged with."
"I do not have to listen to you," Vanessa said. "I know my rights. I want my lawyer now."
"Fine," I said. "But you are going to hear this eventually so you might as well hear it from me."
I opened the file in front of me. "You are being charged with perjury. Making false statements. Conspiracy to obstruct justice. Fraud. And harassment."
"Those charges are ridiculous," Vanessa said. "I did not do any of that."
"Yes you did," I said. "And we have proof. Lots of proof."
I pulled out the documents from the anonymous package. The photos. The bank statements. The emails. I laid them out on the table in front of her.
"These show you meeting with Richard Brennan," I said. "A lawyer who works for the defendants in the trials Caitlyn Cross is testifying in. These show payments to you from shell companies connected to those defendants. And these emails show you planning the whole thing. Planning to lie about Caitlyn. Planning to destroy her credibility."
Vanessa's face went pale. "Where did you get those?"
"Does not matter where I got them," I said. "What matters is they are real. They are admissible. And they prove you lied."
"I did not lie," Vanessa said. But her voice was shaking now. "Everything I said about Caitlyn was true."
"No it was not," I said. "We proved every single one of your claims was false. You were never Collin Hayes's girlfriend. Caitlyn was not at any meetings with drug suppliers. She did not sign any documents. She did not make any bank deposits. You made it all up."
"I did not make it up," Vanessa said. "Collin told me things. He told me about Caitlyn. About what she knew."
"Collin is dead," I said. "Convenient that the only person who can corroborate your story is dead."
"That is not my fault," Vanessa said.
"But it is your fault that you lied," I said. "That you took money to lie. That you conspired with criminals to obstruct justice."
"I want my lawyer," Vanessa said again. "I am not saying anything else."
"That is fine," I said. "You do not have to say anything. The evidence speaks for itself."
I gathered up the documents and put them back in the file. Stood up to leave.
"Wait," Vanessa said. "How much time am I looking at? If I am convicted?"
"A lot," I said. "Perjury alone can get you five years. Add in the conspiracy charges and the fraud charges? You could be looking at ten to fifteen years."
"Ten to fifteen years?" Vanessa said. She started crying. "I cannot go to prison for that long. I did not mean for it to go this far."
"But it did go that far," I said. "You destroyed an innocent woman's reputation. You put her life in danger. You tried to help criminals avoid justice. Those are serious crimes with serious consequences."
"I was angry," Vanessa said. "I was angry at Caitlyn. Angry at Viktor. Angry at everyone. And then these people offered me money. Offered me a way to hurt her. I did not think about the consequences."
"Well now you have to live with them," I said. "You made your choices. Now you face the punishment."
"What if I cooperate?" Vanessa asked. "What if I tell you everything? About Brennan. About the defendants. About the whole conspiracy?"
"That would help," I said. "But it would not make the charges go away. It might reduce your sentence. But you are still going to prison."
"How much would it reduce it?" Vanessa asked.
"Depends on how much you help," I said. "If you testify against Brennan and the defendants. If you admit publicly that you lied. If you apologize to Caitlyn. The DA might offer you a deal. Maybe five years instead of fifteen."
"Five years is still a long time," Vanessa said.
"It is," I said. "But it is better than fifteen. And it is what you deserve for what you did."
Vanessa put her head in her hands. "I was so stupid. So angry and stupid."
"Yes you were," I said. "But you can still do the right thing. You can still tell the truth. Help us get the real criminals."
"I need to think about it," Vanessa said. "I need to talk to my lawyer."
"Fine," I said. "But do not take too long. The offer will not be on the table forever."
I left the interrogation room and went to find DA Walsh. She was in her office reviewing the case files.
"How did it go?" she asked.
"She is scared," I said. "Realized how much trouble she is in. She asked about cooperating."
"Did you tell her about the deal?" Walsh asked.
"I told her we might offer something if she cooperates fully," I said. "But I did not make any promises."
"Good," Walsh said. "Let her sweat. Let her think about spending fifteen years in prison. Then when she is desperate we offer the deal."
"You think she will take it?" I asked.
"I do," Walsh said. "She is not a hardened criminal. She made a stupid decision because she was angry and greedy. But she is not going to want to spend fifteen years behind bars. She will cooperate."
"And if she does not?" I asked.
"Then we go to trial," Walsh said. "And we win. The evidence is overwhelming. We have documents. Photos. Emails. Bank records. We have everything we need to convict her."
"What about Brennan and the defendants?" I asked. "Are we charging them too?"
"Working on it," Walsh said. "Brennan is lawyering up. Denying everything. But we have proof of the conspiracy. We will get him. And the defendants are already facing criminal charges. This just adds to their problems."
"Good," I said. "They all deserve to go down."
Later that day I went to Tommy's house where Jason and Caitlyn were staying. I wanted to tell them about Vanessa's arrest in person. They deserved to hear it from me.
Tommy let me in and I found Jason and Caitlyn in the living room. Emma was asleep in her bassinet.
"Detective Rourke," Caitlyn said when she saw me. "Is everything okay?"
"Everything is fine," I said. "Better than fine actually. I have good news. Vanessa Cory has been arrested."
"Really?" Jason asked. "On what charges?"
"Multiple charges," I said. "Perjury. Fraud. Conspiracy to obstruct justice. Harassment. She is looking at ten to fifteen years if convicted."
"Ten to fifteen years," Caitlyn repeated. "That is a long time."
"It is," I said. "And it is what she deserves. She tried to destroy you. Tried to help criminals avoid justice. She has to pay for that."
"Did she say anything?" Jason asked. "Did she admit she lied?"
"Not yet," I said. "But she is thinking about cooperating. About testifying against Brennan and the defendants. If she does that we might offer her a reduced sentence."