Never Walk Alone

An hour later, Lizzie finally agreed to come down to the police station. They were just leaving when Matt came home from school and his parents told him to stay home while they were gone. Matt refused to stay home as he wanted to be with Lizzie and see for himself who had hurt his sister. His parents gave in and let him tag along. When the whole family arrived at the police station, they approached a big desk.
A policewoman looked up at Jo and Sam. “Can I help you two?” she asked.
“Yes, we’re here to identify the rapist. Detective Carlson called and asked my daughter, Lizzie McGuire to identify the man who raped her late last night.”
“Oh, okay, yeah, hold on a second.” She turned towards a black man in a suit. “Hey, Bob! The McGuire family is here about the rape case you’re handling.”
The black police officer walked over to the family. “Hi, Mr. and Mrs. McGuire, thank you for coming so soon. I wasn’t so sure if Lizzie was going to come down here quick but I guess she wanted to get it over with.”
Jo looked over at Lizzie then back at the detective. “Well, Lizzie was afraid to come, of course, but we all want to know who he is and we want him caught.”
“Well, we think we got him but let’s find out.” Detective Carlson walked closer to Lizzie. “Hi, Lizzie. I don’t know if you remember me from the hospital but I’ve been investigating in your case. We asked around the neighbors to see if they knew anything. Everybody was asleep and we looked around and thought that we would lose some hope. I guess we got lucky because we found this man laying out on a sidewalk near the alley, drunk and his pants were almost open. I guess that was from Lizzie’s attack or he was just rubbing.”
“I thought he said he was going home.”
“Well, he’s homeless. The street is his home. He did what he did then went off to get some drinks. His blood alcohol was three times the legal limit. He was almost passed out but we’re lucky that we arrested someone and I hope that we caught the right guy.”
Sam touched the detective’s shoulder. “Say, Detective, our daughter is pretty scared of identifying him because he might see her.”
Chills crawled up Lizzie’s arms. “She doesn’t need to be scared and I’ll explain why. What we’re going to do is this guy is in the interrogation room and he’s being questioned by my partner. Next to that room is what we would call it, an “identification” room. You go in there and you will be able to see the guy but the idea is that the guy can’t see you. All he can see is the mirror so he has no idea there’s a room next to it and behind the mirror is just the glass so you’ll see him but he won’t see anyone behind that mirror.”
Jo sighed in relief as Sam put an arm around her. “Oh, that sounds great. That’s a relief, too. See, Lizzie’s also worried about that you might’ve caught the wrong guy. What if that is the case?”
“Then I’ll find the bastard myself and kill him!” Matt snapped out of nowhere.
“Matthew!” both of his parents yelled at him. Matt stood without remorse of what he said.
The detective sighed. “Look, I understand what you all are going through and what you’re feeling. There is a good chance that this is the guy but if it’s not…” he continued. Lizzie’s eyes lit up. “We are going to keep looking. We’re going to keep going until the guy is caught. Whether we found him, I suggest that Lizzie never walks alone after dark no matter what. Doesn’t Lizzie have a car?”
“It’s in the shop,” Jo explained.
“Never walk alone after dark and be aware of your surroundings. You could think about getting an alarm system or maybe a mace.”
Jo looked over at her husband who was nodding then over at Lizzie. “Well, we’ll definitely talk about security measures at home and we’ll be a lot more careful from now on when she goes out after dark.”
Detective Carlson smiled. “That’s what I want to hear. We need to go ahead and get started. Lizzie… are you ready?” he asked.
Lizzie swallowed and nodded. She knew she wasn’t ready but wanted to get it over with. “Yeah… I’m ready.”
Lizzie’s parents gave her a little push then the family followed Detective Carlson to the identification room. Right next to the door that leads to the room was another door that was closed. The sign on the door said, “Interrogation.” Lizzie took a deep breath in as she read the word, knowing she was very close to her attacker. She looked at Matt quickly, who walked behind her and looked ready to break down the door that was shut.
The family and detective walked into the identification room then the detective carefully studied Lizzie’s behavior as she walked in. She had her arms folded across her chest and looked down then when she reached further into the room, she looked up and looked through a glass that allowed her to see the next room. Only she wasn’t able to see the next room. All she can see was a green blind. Her parents looked at their daughter then over at the blind, waiting to see what comes next.
The detective sighed as he looked at the family again then at last, saw Matt glaring right at the blind. “You all wait here. I will get my partner and we’ll be with you when we’re ready.”
Lizzie’s voice shook. “Can he hear us?” she asked.
“No. He can’t hear or see you. All he can see is a mirror. There’s no microphone, camera of this room, speaker or anything. He doesn’t even know about this room at all. It’s completely safe in here. It’s a green blind, blocking the next room so what we’ll do is just open the blind whenever you’re ready and you’ll see a man in there and all you have to do is tell us if that’s him. I’ll go get my partner right now and we’ll get started.”
As the detective left the room, the family remained very quiet in the room without a sound. Lizzie took a full deep breath as her heart raced. Matt stopped staring at the blind and looked at his feet, waiting a little impatiently. Their parents stood by one another quietly. Sam had one hand in his pocket and the other on his wife’s shoulder. His wife had her arms folded across her chest. Not a sound of foot tapping was in the room until Detective Carlson came back with a white detective.
“This is my partner, James Whitfield. He was just in the other room with the suspect. We were in the room with the suspect for almost three hours. Some evidences came back and all we need is Lizzie’s identification of this man then this man is in custody.”
Detective James Whitfield cleared his throat and started to reach for the string to open the blind. “Lizzie… are you ready for this?” he asked her.
The detectives waited for Lizzie’s response then Lizzie took another deep breath and looked at Detective Whitfield for a minute. Her family looked on to Lizzie except for Matt who was staring at the green blind. Lizzie bit her lower lip at last. “Yeah… I’m ready,” she finally said.
Detective Whitfield pulled open the blind and the whole family was able to get a view of the next room through the glass. There was a big man who was familiar to Lizzie. He wore the exact same clothes he wore the night she was attacked. The suspect was seated at a table patiently as if he was waiting for someone to come see him again. He was all alone in the room. Lizzie’s heart raced again as terrible feelings and visions came across her again. She could remember hearing her own screams, the smell of this man’s sweat, his weight on her body and the worst part is how she remembered his face. She looked carefully at his face. The man in the next room was not facing the glass but Lizzie didn’t need to ask if he can face the glass.
Her parents braced themselves after looking at the evil man but Matt was the least nervous or scared. He was angry at this man for hurting his sister. Lizzie could begin to feel tears burning in her eyes and biting her lower lips again. She never thought that she would be able to see this man again. “That’s him…” she finally spoke.
Detective Carlson looked at Lizzie. “You sure?”
Lizzie tried to choke back her tears and nodded. “Yeah… it’s him. That’s the guy who raped me last night in the alley.”
The two detectives looked at each other. “What is his name, anyways?” Sam asked. “I can’t believe a big man like that would do something like that.”
Detective Carlson shrugged. “He isn’t very responsive to questions,” he explained. “He isn’t confessing to anything or saying his name.”
“Clarence.” Lizzie responded.
“What?” Detective Carlson asked.
“His name is Clarence. I don’t know his last name though.”
“Clarence….” Matt whispered.
Sam walked over closer to Lizzie and Matt. “Okay, I think that’s enough. Can we go now?” He was beginning to get impatient after seeing Lizzie’s attacker but Lizzie quickly ran out of the room and sat in a bench in the hall in tears.
Matt watched his sister run out then he suddenly felt more relaxed after seeing his emotional sister. He looked over at the man in the next room and at last, he let his guard down. He wasn’t ready to do anything with the man now that the suspect was in custody. The two detectives thanked the parents then went back into the interrogation room and placed the suspect in arrest.
Sam and Jo received a card from the detectives and on it was the best counselor in town who specialized in sexual assault against young women. They also encouraged Lizzie to go to a support group if Lizzie chose to do so. Sam glanced at his watch and told everyone that it was time to go home.