Perfect Match (25 page)

“Madison Winston, CEO, Fallington Enterprises.”

“Beth Malcomb, Attorney, Fisher, Helberg, and Malcomb.”

Alan jumped to his first question. “Your statement says the
three males initially attacked and threatened you, while you were window
shopping. I’m not clear about that.”

Madison stood. “Mind if I show you?”

“Sure, that’d be helpful.”

She walked around the table to Alan, and motioned with her
hand. “Turn around, face the wall, and imagine you’re window shopping for a new
suit of clothes, looking through glass.”

He glanced over his shoulder.

“Don’t worry; I’m not going to hurt you.”

After turning around, she gave him a good 15 seconds of
waiting, and then she brushed hard against him with her hips, pushing him into
the wall, grabbing at his coat, pulling his shirt out of his pants on his right
side. She felt him tense as a reaction, but for good measure she clutched his
right butt, and stepped away quickly, saying, “Hey bitch, ready for some
action?” Madison noticed that the detective’s hands had fisted tightly.

“That kind of demonstration could get you killed.” He
fumbled trying to get his shirt tucked back in.

Madison walked within a foot of him, holding his eyes. “Good
conclusion, Detective Korbit. You might want to pass that advice along to the
three males who attacked me.” She held his glare. “That little demo was mild,
but I can tell it tensed you, a hardened professional. This was just play
acting, but it disoriented you, made you feel violated, invaded, and
embarrassed. And you’re blushing like hell with a little anger mixed in,
right?”

He blinked first, looking away.

“That’s the kind of stuff that women put up with all the
time. Now, if you’re not clear about the attack, then line up your police force
and I’ll give each one a demonstration.”

She paused, while he still tried to compose himself.

She took her seat, and said, “If you have some questions of
substance for me, I’ll answer them, but don’t come in here with some bullshit
approach to chip away at my statement. Otherwise, I’m out of here. I’m pressing
full charges against the attackers, and I’m not bashful about a public trial.
I’ve done nothing wrong. Being in the public eye doesn’t bother me at all.
It’ll be good to get this kind of stuff out in the open.”

“Understood.” Korbit glanced at his pager, feigning a page.
He hadn’t been caught off guard in twenty years, but he had to get out of this
room and regroup. “You’ll have to excuse me for a few minutes.”

He turned for the door, and Madison said, “Turn off your
recorder, Detective Korbit.”

He turned back to the table, clicking the recorder off.
“Sorry.”

Beth said, “We’ll be outside in my vehicle. Come get us when
you’re ready again.”

Once in Beth’s car, she said, “Madison, what is going on?
You came across as really, really angry.”

Madison thought a moment. “I am. I guess I detected a bit of
swagger from Korbit. I’d had enough of that from the three criminals on the
street, and minutes before had walked out on that lousy date, with Wilson
Seymour.”

Beth gave a short chuckle, raising her eyebrows. “Oh, you
didn’t tell me about the date earlier. How long have you dated him?”

“About three hours…too damn long.” Madison blew a strand of
hair from her face.

Beth laughed. “Well, you have a better record than I do. My
date with him lasted five hours, until he tried to get me in bed on the first
date. He insisted on going to his fancy house. I called a cab and got out of
there.”

“Well, there you have it. That alone triggered my anger this
evening.”

“I understand…really I do, Madison. Just don’t lose it in
there. The information you give them will be helpful to the prosecutor.”

“I know, don’t worry.”

A female dressed in blue jeans, dull blouse, and dark jacket
approached Beth’s SUV. She rolled the window down.

“Hi, I’m Detective Leawanna Bryson. Detective Korbit and I
are ready for you.”

Back in the interview room, the two detectives were seated
across from Madison and her attorney. Both recorders were activated. Detective
Bryson said, “I was involved with another case or I would have been with you
earlier.” She looked at her copy of Madison’s statement. “We’ve got a couple
more questions and then you can be on your way.” Looking up at Madison,
Detective Bryson asked, “How well do you know the alleged assailants?”

“I don’t know them.”

“Have you ever met them or associated with them in any way,
before tonight?”

“No.”

Bryson thought a moment. “You gave a very detailed
description of each of them.”

“Yes, I did. Would you have preferred fewer details?”

“Most people remember few details about a random encounter.”

“You’re not interviewing most people. You’re interviewing
just one person, me, Madison Winston.” She sensed both detectives were becoming
frustrated.

“How close did you get to the three?”

“I didn’t. They got close to me…close enough to rub up
against my ass, and touch me.” Madison cut her eyes at Korbit. He looked down
at the table.

“Look, let me demonstrate something—”

Korbit interrupted, as he pushed his chair back from the
table, he said, “No more demonstrations. Inappropriate.” His palms were facing
Madison.

Madison smiled. “Detective Korbit, I promise not to squeeze
your tush in this demonstration.”

Korbit’s face was flushing red.

Leawanna slowly faced him. “Well, now, I’m definitely
interested in this demonstration. Go ahead, Ms. Winston, I’ll protect Detective
Korbit.”

“I’m just going to tell you a few things and you can check
me out. After I called 911 the police arrived in about six minutes. The EMS
vehicles arrived about three minutes after the police. That’s pretty fast.
Cruisers number 7, 12, 14, and 17 arrived.

Of the eight officers getting out of cars, three were black
females; two were black males, two white males, and one white female. The
chunkier black male was limping as if he had a fresh injury. Officer Wales,
white male had just finished drinking coffee and eating a strawberry
crème-filled donut. Some of the filling was on his upper lip. I could smell the
coffee on his breath. Officer Delmonte, the black female attending to me was
very professional. She has a dime-size darker spot on left hand.”

Madison continued to list small details of the evening. “I
didn’t know any of the personnel involved. To my knowledge none of them know
me. I’ve always been a very observant individual. I don’t know why. I just am.
Like, while the two of you have been interviewing me I’ve noticed something
about each of you.”

She looked at Detective Bryson. “After each question you ask
me, you start bouncing your right knee. I can feel the whooshing air movement
on my bare legs.” She looked at Detective Korbit, saying, “And you’ve been
fisting your left hand all through the interview. Each time you do it your
shoulder and coat sleeve give a little motion. Watch.” Madison clinched her
left hand under the table, and demonstrated the shoulder movement. “Also the
muscle in your left jaw twitches. “Look.” She demonstrated.

Both detectives became motionless.

“After the interview is over, be sure and check the details
from the 911 dispatch to see if my observations were on target. Being observant
of details doesn’t mean a person knows a person intimately. It might just mean
they’re simply observant. If you’ll read the flyer posted on the bulletin board
in the waiting area you’ll find that the first suggestion is to be observant.
The title of that flyer is Citizen Tips to Stop Crime. It’s printed on police
letterhead. I was trying to follow your tip.

“Every detail I gave you about the attackers was visible. I
remembered the sweaty body of the middle one grinding up against my ass, the
missing teeth of the shortest one, the gapped teeth of the tall one, their
vulgar T-shirts, condition of their tennis shoes, all that stuff. I’m sure I
missed a thing or two.”

Detective Bryson nodded. “We’re both glad you were
observant.”

Detective Korbit sat stiff as a board.

Madison reached her right hand across the table in front of
him, patting the table lightly. “Detective, relax. You’ve got a good case here
against those thugs. Relax. I’m not going to touch you again.” She grinned. His
face flushed.

Bryson said, “I do have two or three more questions that I
must ask. Nothing personal intended. We’re just following protocol here.”

“I understand.”

Bryson gathered her thoughts. “Umm…we have some preliminary
feedback on the two men injured. Their injuries seem to be rather well…well
placed…umm—”

Madison interrupted. “Mind if I help you out with the word
you’re looking for?”

“Be my guest.”

Beth spoke up. “My client does not have to answer that
question.” She placed her hand on Madison’s arm.

Madison said, “It’s okay. I want to answer.” She looked back
at Bryson. “Try these words: precise, on target, intentional…those work?”

“Probably.”

“Okay, you stick with probably and I’ll go with definitely,
because after the life-threatening behaviors of the three men, I definitely
made my behaviors as precise and targeted as I could to protect myself. But I
think I failed. I tried to hit the big guy’s little finger, but instead the
bottle smacked him right across the mouth. And the middle guy, well, I aimed
for his toe, and missed that completely, hitting him in the neck. So you can
see I was way off my intended target. Not a very good hit.”

She looked directly at Bryson. “Let’s check something before
we go any further. Alan, would you be so kind as to pull the Citizens Tips To
Stop Crime sheet from the bulletin board, so we can verify an important point?”

Everyone in the room was aware that Madison had broken
protocol. She addressed Korbit by his first name. No one said a word. He
glanced, with raised eyebrows, at Bryson.

She said, “Why not?”

When he returned to his seat, Madison said, “Would you read
tip number two and three for us?”

Korbit cleared his throat. “‘Tip number two. ‘Call 911 or
law enforcement to report a crime underway or if you suspect a crime is about
to be committed.’ Rule number three. ‘If possible, safely get to a secure location.
Protect yourself until help arrives.’”

“That’s exactly what I did. I was halfway down the block.
The three were between me and the open deli and coffee shop, and they were
closing on me quickly. I had heels and these clothes on. Running with my back
to them on a sidewalk with glass and debris did not seem to be a winning
option, so I stepped in the shadows and stood my ground, looking for something
to protect myself.”

Korbit couldn’t resist. “But did you see them with an actual
weapon? The police didn’t find any.”

“Yes, their grimy hands. All six hands had groped me when I
was shoved against the store window earlier. I’ll probably have a bruise on my left
buttocks where the big guy grabbed me with his left hand, while jerking my
blouse out of my skirt. I can identify their filthy hands.”

Leawanna was shaking her head in sympathy.

Madison reached for her recorder in her pocket book. “Listen
to this.” She played the crime scene recording. As it played, she mouthed ‘big
guy, middle guy, little guy’ as their voices changed. When finished, the room
was quiet for a moment. “I think you can determine their intent was very clear.
As for my intent… in a split second, fear can make you an expert with deadly
precision with actions to protect yourself.”

Her last statement hung in the air.

Beth said, “Although there’s controversy over what’s
admissible as evidence, we’ll give you a copy.”

Bryson and Korbit nodded.

Korbit asked, “Did it occur to you that window shopping on
that street at that time of night might not be safe?”

Madison gave him a penetrating look. “Actually Detective
Korbit that didn’t occur to me. After a lousy date, I thought it would be
relaxing to saunter down that particular street and look in the windows. A week
ago there was a feature in the newspaper with plenty of photos of the new shops
on that street. And there were several quotes by the mayor encouraging citizens
to ‘come on downtown and see revitalization at work.’

“If you’re suggesting that street or area is unsafe, then
why were police not patrolling? Why weren’t there signs posted stating that
this street belongs to the criminals…good citizens stay out?”

Her hard look continued. “Maybe next time I feel like window
shopping, I’ll request that you be my bodyguard. Is that what it has come to
for taxpaying citizens?” She paused a moment. “Maybe you should tell those
three criminals that the streets are not safe for them.” Each word snapping
like lightning.

Madison stood and carefully removed her light linen jacket.
She held it up for the detectives. “The blood on the left elbow came from the
short guy, when I popped him in the mouth, while I was being held against the
store front glass. The dark stain on the right elbow came off the sweaty chest
of the middle guy. The big guy moved before I could kick him. I don’t fully
understand forensic evidence, but maybe you can glean something helpful from my
clothes. All three were rubbing their pelvic areas against my ass. There are
probably some fibers on the back of my skirt.”

Bryson shot Korbit a hard look. “I thought victim evidence
had already been collected.”

“I guess not. I was assigned late. No one told me.”

Bryson said, “Ms. Winston, don’t remove anything else. We’re
going to have to collect your clothes and put them in an evidence bag.” She thought
briefly. “May as well do that at the hospital. We want you to be checked,
especially since you mentioned the rough handling. According to your written
statement, you are not claiming rape. Have you examined your skin under your
clothes?”