Gotta Pay The Piper Ch 39

couldn't wait to get started the next morning. Lou had called to tell me Lt Dickerson asked her to go along when he executed the warrant on Lana's safety deposit box. He wanted Lou present as Lana's advocate to witness he did not remove any evidence without proper documentation. Of course she'd take me along.

ADA Connell would be ready to file official charges against all parties by mid morning and hoped to have them respond back that afternoon. He had provided Laura's statement to each attorney to give them a proper notification of the complaints against their clients.. Otherwise, it being Friday, nothing would be done until next week.

"Isn't that revealing your case prematurely?" I asked.

"No, he is just giving them enough to begin to see what they are dealing with. He's hoping they begin to fold, but is not optimistic. He's holding back the video you found and processed. It is a game. Eventually, he will lay his cards out and make them an offer," Lou said. "I'm technically in that defense mode, but with you part of the investigation and telling me, I know he has a slam dunk case. Justice will move fast."

On the drive over my phone pinged. I examined it. I had set an alert to tell me if Lana had changed locations. "I wonder why she is no longer in the jail?" I said. "According to this, she's in another wing."

Lou called Lt Dickerson to ask. He called back and said Lana's attorney had requested a conference with his client. Lou said, "That is interesting, because I am her attorney and her owner is sitting right here beside me unaware of any of this. Get that attorney's name and see if he is talking to any of the others." Dickerson said he'd have somebody check it out.

Lt Dickerson was not particularly pleased to let me go inside with him and Lou, but conceded the issue in the interests of time. "Stand and observe," he said as a bank manager escorted us back and unlocked the box. I saw a couple manilla envelopes. One said, Laura Dupont with Dupont scratched out and Hebert written behind. Dickerson opened the envelope to find three flash drives. "I'm guessing these are what Perkins wanted from the box. I can't give them to you, even if you are her defense lawyer. You will have to get her signature and come back for them. I would like to examine them, though," he added with a grin, looking at me.

I told him I could copy and examine each one to see if they were exculpatory or if there was something incriminating, and Lana wanted them found and destroyed. It took me about thirty seconds to open and copy each drive onto my own. I handed each one back to him to return to the envelope. A quick scan showed they were copies of recordings we already had. One was the edited rape that made it look consensual, a second had the first encounter of Laura submitting to Lana in a motel room but without the tattooing scene. The third was a compilation of Laura's periodic submissions offering herself to 'her superior and promising to be a good submissive slut'. Each was marked in turn, "GB, 1st sub, and slut".

While I was doing my checks, Lt Dickerson was examining the papers. "These are financial records for Bowers and Carnaby. But the first names are masculine. I'm going to enter them into evidence per the warrant. I'll get somebody to examine them later."

A second envelope had the name "Orville." Lt Dickerson asked me to copy the two drives inside as well. I did as he asked and returned them. A quick examination showed a naked previously unknown woman kneeling offering her breasts to be flogged. I flipped to another scene to see the same woman holding her buttocks apart and asking 'to be fucked hard and taught her true station'. Alecia Carnaby appeared in frame naked but for a large strap on dildo.

"It seems to be file of Alecia dominating a woman like Lana did to Laura," I said. Neither Lou nor Dickerson seemed interested in examining the videos since it did not pertain to our case. Dickerson returned the original drives to the deposit box after documenting the remaining contents. I told him I would have copies of all the recordings on flash drives for him by the time we got back to the courthouse.

Accompanied by Lt Dickerson, we made our way to the jailhouse. He asked to see the log. A Lawrence Orville had come to confer with his three clients, Alecia Carnaby, Candace Bowers, and Lana Perkins.

Lou grinned. "I know the man. He does mainly estate law, but takes on the occasional family or criminal law cases too. I know his wife as well. She is a member of the Krewe and is on a couple committees if I remember correctly. I wonder if she is the Orville on those drives we found. You didn't show them to me."

She confirmed that was indeed Larry Orville's wife, Anita. She wondered if Larry was aware the women were dominating his wife when he took their case.

I grinned and suggested calling and asking. Lou shook her head. "Not yet. Let's just confront him about talking to Lana. I'll bet he is very aware. I wonder how it will affect his case presentation."

His cell phone number was on file with the jail. "Mr. Orville," I said when he answered, "my name is Bas Landry. Tell me, do you have a good explanation for why you represented yourself as Lana Perkins' attorney?" I could hear the hesitation in his voice as he said she'd requested him and two of his clients were paying him. "I see. And did you not notice the big metallic collar around her neck that says she is a slave. I happen to be her owner and I was unaware the attorney I had hired as her advocate had been changed. Would you care to enlighten me?" He repeated what he said before.

"Alright, I suppose I will have to file a complaint with the Bar association, the slavery board, and whoever else my attorney suggests for your violation of MY civil rights by your circumventing me and my ownership rights, " I said.

I could almost hear his panic. "Please. Let's not get hasty. We can work this out. I was just trying to present the best case for my clients and needed to confer with her. Can we discuss this later today?" I asked where he was now, since he had been talking to Lana a mere twenty minutes ago at the courthouse. I knew that because it was logged on the sign out roster. He tried to tell me he had to run an errand. I suspected that errand was to run to the bank we had just left and recover a couple envelopes.

After being coached by Lou, I confronted Mr. Orville outside the conference room where a preliminary meeting between ADA Connell and all the defense attorneys was scheduled to take place. I made sure to appear not happy at all, which was easy as I was more than a bit disgruntled. "Please, Mr. Landry, my clients, MS Carnaby and MS Bowers insisted I talk to MS Perkins. They wanted to meet and talk. I have to help my clients." I could hear the desperation in his voice.

His face got surprisingly pale when Lou asked if it was worth a sanction by the local bar, not to mention a possible civil rights lawsuit. Then she relented a bit. "It appears you have some kind of defense in mind, Larry. We will allow you to speak for now. But if Bas or I wave to stop you, you had better stop and confer, understand? My primary goal is to protect Mr. Landry and his interests." Orville swallowed and nodded his agreement. I could tell he was not happy but I did not care in the least. He should have at least shown me the courtesy of getting my permission to talk to Lana first. He asked if I wanted to confer with the other defendants and their attorneys. At a glance from Lou, I shook my head.

"Actually, that works for us," Lou said after he'd left us alone. "He, and probably the others have no idea of your role in all this. Right now, they assume you are merely watching to see how your slave fares. Let's see where he takes it."

The meeting with ADA Connell was not due to start for another couple hours so Lou and I went to nearby restaurant to eat. I wanted to pull up the files from the envelope marked, 'Orville'. Lou stopped me. "Concentrate on the task at hand. We want to see justice done for Laura Hebert. The rest is a distraction. We can always address it later or leave it to Larry to pursue. It's not your duty to slay all the dragons and save all the damsels." I accepted her rebuke. The woman knew me well.

When we got back to the courthouse, we waited outside until ADA Richard Connell arrived accompanied by Lt Charles Dickerson, Helen Leblanc and Kathy Bishop. The latter two smiled at me. "Let's do this, Bas. I'm guessing Lou already told you to let Connell and the lawyers talk," Helen said.

"He may call on you at some point though. Follow his questioning, just like you've done in court. This is not even a hearing. This is simply where both sides present their case. Or rather the state, Connell, will begin and the others will respond and argue for dismissal or possible reduction of charges. They have no idea what we are bringing to the table, yet! But at the end of the day, they will have decisions to make. It'll be fun."

Laura Hebert and her husband Marc appeared. "They will be listening to the proceedings from another room where their cursing and shouting at the defendants will not be heard," Helen added with a smile. Laura giggled nervously.

Lana sat up a little straighter when Lou and I entered the room. She nudged Alecia who sat beside her and nodded in my direction. Alecia leaned over and whispered to Candace. Lou and I sat to one side of the room behind and to the side of Orville and his three clients. Helen and the others sat in front. The defendants sat in groups with their respective attorneys.

I made a quick count. For the ten accused rapists, there were four attorneys. The tattoo artist sat between two of the men with their lawyer. The other woman who I knew from my identity search as Pauline Abbott, sat with her own lawyer.

"Let's get started, shall we?" ADA Connell said. "I'll admit, this is an unusual case. The events we are most concerned about took place two decades ago, almost to the week. BUT as you know, the statute of limitations do not apply here. We had DNA evidence on file and a complaint, but no names to put to the case. That new information has changed the ballgame. I have not given you all the evidence. We are still awaiting DNA confirmation but we are sure that will merely confirm the allegations. That is MS Laura Hebert nee Dupont, was forcibly detained, raped and tortured by ten of the individuals in this room. The other three individuals, orchestrated and directed that attack. This is not a court room. None of you are sworn in. At the end of today, I expect your clients will be electing to accept a plea deal rather than risk the matter in open court where the consequences may be far more severe. Let's get started."

Larry Orville raised his hand. "Mr. Connell, I have conferred with my fellow attorneys. In the interests of time, we have decided for me to address the group on their behalf. We are looking for a quick resolution as this is Friday afternoon." The other lawyers nodded their agreement.

He stood and took the floor. "We have all seen the original case file and read MS Dupont's or rather I should say Mrs. Hebert's statement of events. We all agree she underwent a terrible ordeal. It was particularly traumatic for one so young to endure. She was not quite nineteen years of age at the time."

"But this begs the question, that apart from her immediate reporting of the rape, if that was what it was, why wait twenty years to pursue it? Perhaps she had no idea of the identities of any of the participants apart from suspecting Lana Elliot now Perkins. We are wondering how the names of these other persons were even identified and guess somebody had to come forward and provide them to MS Hebert."

"All our clients will freely admit their involvement in the events. They were there as your DNA is sure to prove. However, what MS Hebert says happened DID NOT. She did endure a mind-boggling and traumatic sexual ordeal, but it was completely consensual. Let me take you through the scenario as we see it happened twenty years ago."

"We have a young coed away from home for the first time. She was an athlete on a scholarship so much of her time other than studying was take up by those activities. Like any young healthy person she had a high sex drive. Unlike some, she also had masochistic fantasies. She was physically strong and aggressive but sexually submissive. That is our take on her personality. She wanted to let loose her inner demons and be sexually dominated and what could be more intense than to endure a gang bang. A staged event where she is sexually used by a group of men and women."

"We know from her own accounting she and her first roommate had issues. Her roommate was older, sexier, and more dominate and Ms Dupont was infatuated with her. But she could not bring herself to give herself up to her love interest and fulfill her need to submit to her dominate roommate. That came to a head just before finals when she admittedly started a physical altercation that led to her demanding oral sex from the older woman. Both women stated that turned into a bit more than mere play, the details of which are not important. What is important is neither woman reported the event to any authority."

"What I propose is Laura Dupont felt guilty for that altercation or even borderline assault. Combined with her developing masochistic fantasies, she felt the need to be punished. And who better to administer that punishment than her old roommate, Lana Elliot, the dominant of her dreams."

"She asked Lana to do the unfathomable. To recruit a group of men and women to not rape, but use her sexually in a forceful manner. The classic rape fantasy of being used orally, vaginally and even anally. Laura may or may not have been a virgin but she was certainly not experienced. She not only asked, but begged Lana Elliot to oversee and record the event."

"We have all seen the video. Laura Dupont was indeed taken in about every way imaginable. At times she would yell in discomfort but would come right back and beg for them to pound her harder. She used very descriptive language to make her desires known like stretch her holes, fuck me senseless and the like. The video showed her undergoing a long session of consensual sex."

"As often happens, MS Dupont found reality is not as much fun as a fantasy. It hurt. She wanted to be dominated, and I'll say screwed silly in all her orifices, but was unprepared for the aftermath: the discomfort, and more importantly, the shame and guilt. What happened next was a MASSIVE case of buyer's remorse. She hated herself and what she'd asked for. She then reported her totally consensual ordeal as rape to the police."

"Given the state of her body, there was little doubt sexual assault had indeed occurred. Laura Dupont was in no fit state to report to her softball training for a few days so her coaches had to have been aware of the so-called rape which leads to my next analysis."

"In her deposition, MS Dupont says Lana visited and gave her a video showing her ordeal. I will call it what it was, a gangbang. Now Dupont had already been feeling guilty and now she could see how depraved her actions looked. Her submissive and masochistic feelings overwhelmed her. She begged Lana Elliot to take her over, to dominate her."

"She even proposed they use the college's policy concerning depraved behavior as a stick to 'keep her in line'. That policy was real and was supposed to keep students from bringing disgrace to themselves or the college. It was the perfect leash for MS Dupont to hand her selected keeper. She not only emotionally offered herself sexually but had her buttock tattooed proclaiming she was Ms Elliot's property."

"Now consider this. If MS Dupont was not happy with her new lifestyle, why did she not report it? Surely, the coaching staff knew of the reported rape. That would have let Dupont off the hook with the college regardless of how damning any video might appear. She even got a second tatoo on her other buttock and told her teammates she'd lost a bet. The only thing she did not do was openly admit was she was a submissive, masochistic lesbian who had given herself to another woman in sexual roleplay. "

"That relationship lasted for several years. One or the other would initiate periodic physical contact but for the most part it was long distance. Dupont would make videos proclaiming her obedience to a superior woman. And, as is usually the case, they both finally went their separate ways getting married and raising families."

"Now, some thirteen years after the affair ended, we have a guilt-ridden woman trying to rewrite the past and claim she was sexually dominated against her will, starting with a horrendous rape."

"Now, let's be done with this farce, drop the charges and we get on with our weekends and our lives," Larry Orville concluded.

The room was silent for a few minutes. I could almost imagine Laura pacing and shouting insults at how Orville had painted the scene.

"A very interesting portrayal of MS Laura Hebert or Dupont as she was known back then," ADA Connell admitted. "As you pointed out, the video that you saw showed Laura as a willing participant. However, that video is obviously an edited version of events. A highlight reel if you use sports vernacular."

"The unedited version shows a very different course of events. It shows a young woman screaming and begging to be released as she is stripped of her clothing and restrained. She proclaims herself a virgin and begs to not be raped. Others laugh at her, ridicule her and say they will turn her into a slut by the time they are finished and admit they have drugged the woman. All the participants were fully aware she was not there of her own free will, yet they proceeded to ravish her," Richard Connell stated.

I looked around the room. There was not a face among the accused that was not shocked. Their lawyers had a look of utter astonishment. Larry Orville spoke up. "What unedited video? We are unaware that one exists!"

Alecia suddenly blurted, "That is impossible. You are making that up. There is no such recording."

Connell raised his hand for silence. "Oh, but there is. It shows the events taken by three cameras. Time stamps show which camera filmed which segment. This video is a compilation of what we assume was on the SD cards of each camera. It shows the first part of the rape by each camera in sequence, then the next part of the rape by each camera all the way until the end. It provides all the scenes found in the edited version plus many more that shows the real story."

"It shows a clearly distressed, terrified girl being raped and tortured, then coached to say something like 'yes pound me harder' and those other statements Mr. Orville mentioned. It shows her being pinched to elicit a scream and told to 'do it right next time or I will really hurt you'. The record clearly showed a full-blown rape and the torture committed by the thirteen accused."

"At the beginning there is a discussion about the drugs particularly ecstasy or X being used. Oh by the way, Mr Orville, the tattoo that you surmised was not only consensual but solicited by the victim was completely forced and done to her while she was drugged and unaware." Tamala Edwards' loud moan was audible. She glared at Lana.

"That is complete bullshit." Alecia Carnaby's voice came across the room. "You are trying to snow us into admitting something we did not do. There is no such video. I was there to help Lana record her submissive bitch's fun. It was all done at the bitch's request. We even talked about it beforehand. I warned her it was going to be overwhelming. That she was going to hurt for days. We even joked about how she'd walk bowlegged for a while. She was totally on board. I call her a bitch now because after all this time, she is claiming something else and that pisses me off.'