Babs’ New Year’s Resolution 74 © Beverly Taff 2021.

List of Characters.

Lola Smith Bab’s adopted trans daughter.
Callista Denton (Callie). Transgendered Duchess of Denton.
Margaret Denton (Maggie). Callie’s wife.
Molly Denton Callie’s grandmother
Ellie Denton Callie’s mother.
Bab’s Barbara Smith. Lola’s adoptive ‘Nana’
Olivia Smith Bab’s adopted daughter. (Excellent Artist.)
Angela Smith Bab’s newly adopted daughter
Erica Bab’s foster daughter.
Sergeant Bridie Davies Lady Police detective protecting the girls.
Sergeant Brian Davies. Bridie’s twin brother.
Inspector John, Heading up the anti-rape-gang operation.
Gareth Jenkins, Police office trained in firearms and protection.
Belinda Harrington Lola’s university girlfriend.
Aaron Talbot Surgical registrar – married to –
Shirley Talbot Lecturer at Local university.
Mickey Talbot Aaron and Shirley’s oldest son.
Jessica Talbot Aaron & Shirley’s middle daughter.
Bianca Talbot Aaron & Shirley’s youngest daughter.
Henry Denton Callie’s only son.
Charlotte Denton Callie’s only daughter.
Beverly Callie’s maternal great aunt (Ellie’s paternal aunt)
Wendy Smith Beverly’s Operations Manager for Hull
Louisa Wendy’s Daughter
Griselda & Mia Wendy’s younger twin daughters.
Susan Harvey Prosecution counsel advocating for Erica in court.
Han’s The German policeman’s son whom Erica really fancies .

Chapter 74.

Having realised that Erica’s revelation would invoke a subpoena for Lola to attend as a witness, the judges decided to stop for lunch while giving the defence counsel an opportunity to file the subpoena. As the court adjourned, Susan met Erica in the well of the court and motioned to Lola to join them.

“You see the strategy here Lola?”

“Yes. Erica reinforces her image as a co-operative witness. But I genuinely cannot help the police because they more or less ordered me not to check out the source so I didn’t. I can see why now.”

“Exactly, the defence counsel cannot accuse you of withholding evidence.”

“They might ask you if you have any thoughts as to who the source might be.”

Lola simply shrugged and gave an enigmatic smile. Susan got the hint,
(‘ask me no questions and I’ll tell you no lies.)

Whilst accepting Lola’s answer, Susan frowned suspiciously as she noticed the feintest shadow of a smile exchanged between Lola and Erica. Gratefully, Susan acknowledged to herself that the girls were adopting the US army adage, ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’.

Before the court reconvened, Lola duly received the subpoena and Susan duly agreed to represent her. However, the defence counsel were not finished with Erica yet and there was to be a whole afternoon of excruciatingly cruel and invasive questions put to Erica in the defence’s endeavours to break down the witness. Had she been promiscuous while in care, when was she confirmed as infected with HIV, could she have been infected before she travelled to Amsterdam or even Nottingham; - or even earlier when she was in care in London.

To each and every question or charge, Erica patiently answered as openly and truthfully as she could; often with reruns of the prosecution videos to confirm location, dates and circumstances. Sometimes she referred to other video transcripts which were not a part of her initial evidence but had become pertinent during Erica’s studies of the other girl’s traumas. On a score of occasions she was able to re-iterate other girl’s evidence and prove them demonstrably true when the girls had previously been pilloried and accused of lying. Time and again she was able to request that a piece of video be re-run and somehow show that some seemingly insignificant detail was in fact clear proof of locations and events when she cross referenced that detail to her own abuses.

As the case dragged into the late afternoon, Susan simply shook her head in admiration when Erica was cross examined time and again. Many times she was able to substantiate her claims with detailed descriptions and explanations that added such a degree of credence to her testimony that it left the defence counsels floundering.
Answers such as, -

“I was there, that’s my blood from the beating that you heard in such and such video, but I was in the other room on that occasion.”

“So how come your blood is on that rack instead of the other rack.?”

“It’s the same rack but with different blood stains. There’s more blood in the second video. That’s because they moved the rack into the other room because of the blood stains. See there on the bed sheets and the floor. That’s my blood on the rack and the bed, while that’s Miss X’s blood mostly on the floor you can see through the doorway next door. See the different splashes. I was on the rack in one room and she was on the floor next door.
When they moved the rack she was beaten unconscious by blows on the head! That’s when she got that hellish cut and the blood splashed onto the floor.”

“We have only your word for that. Why were there no other witnesses?”

“Oh yes there was! The other girl, Shula the Dutch girl. She saw it all and she later told me about it when we were being taken to Turkey. She told me how Miss X was beaten unconscious and left lying on the floor where I could only see her feet.. I was tied to the rack and couldn’t see everything. Sadly, Shula’s dead now. They strangled her in front of me. Probably because she must have seen too much.

After that incident, I didn’t see Miss X again until after they moved us from Amsterdam to Turkey. Most of that Journey I was handcuffed to Shula until the executions. Miss X seemed to have disappeared. I thought she was already dead; the same as they killed Shula.

If you look at video number seven, you will see someone’s foot stretched out on the floor. That was Miss X and I thought she had been killed in that room before we left Amsterdam.

At this juncture there was a demented squeal from Miss X as she screamed affirmation of Erica’s testimony.

“She’s right” She’s right. I told you and you wouldn’t believe me!”

At this hysterical outburst, the judges suspended proceedings until Miss X had calmed down. This was achieved by allowing her to hug Erica by way of gratitude for confirming her own debunked testimony. Once the tearful girl was able to hang frantically onto Eric and reconfirm her story to the court, she settled down.

For the remainder of that afternoon she kept smiling tearfully in Erica’s direction even though Erica had her back to her while she testified to the court to confirm another girl; Miss Tee’s evidence.

And so all that afternoon and the following Thursday, Erica’s testimony reinforced or confirmed the debunked testimonies of most of the girls sitting in the witness galleries. So much so that Bab’s could almost feel the delight and relief from the girls, pouring down from the galleries of the courtroom into her private box. At last, the judges would have to believe them as Erica’s damming evidence smashed defence after defence.

The only girls that Erica could not help much were the girls from the Americas, - Mexicans, Puerto-Ricans, Guatemalans even two USA girls. All she could do in those circumstances was occasionally confirm one or perhaps two of the abusers by tattoos or a body scar that would not ordinarily be visible. In this instance the Defence counsel even tried to foolishly declare that Erica had been promiscuously co-operative in a manner that had enabled her to see and recognise such intimate scars.
She shot the man down simply by stating the obvious; namely that Erica had, until her crack addiction, been an extremely attractive girl and all the members of all the gangs had vied for their share of her body. This was evidenced by the earlier videos. It also meant she had been made forcibly intimate with just about every gang-member arraigned in the dock.

To prove her claim she challenged the defence council to try and fault her observations as she displayed each photograph of a gang member then matched other photos of any private and personal marks or scars shared by the abusers in the dock.

After five members had been identified by Erica simply by referring to the scar and tattoo pictures her case was proven. Even the American videos could identify the abusers.

That Thursday evening the forty or so victims of the trafficking gang desperately wanted to organise a ‘thank-you’ party for Erica but she was too exhausted to agree. Instead, she scurried away with Susan, Babs. Then once in the hotel lobby, Lola had slipped up to her own room before sneaking into Babs’s room and slumping onto Babs’s hotel bed. Later that evening while Babs’ Lola and Susan were still dining in the hotel restaurant, a visitor joined them.

Hans’s mother had finally separated from the victory festivities after phoning Babs’ and confirming they were at the hotel.

“I just wanted to congratulate the heroine that so impressed my son.”

“Well she’s still sleeping, I think,” Babs’ explained.

“Can you check for me, I’d really like to see her.”

“I’ll take you up.” Babs’ offered.

The four of them retired to Babs’s room only to be surprised to find Erica sleeping in Babs’s bed.

“Does she always do that?” Hans’s mother asked.

“No only if she’s stressed or distressed; though she’s been doing it a lot lately.” Babs’ revealed.

“I’m not surprised, the poor girl must be just about at the end of her rope.”

Babs’ let out a chuckle as she amusedly corrected Hans’s mother.

“End of her tether darling. The end of her tether. In English, if she’s at the end of her rope, it usually means she’s been hanged.”

Han’s mother looked blank so Susan explained.
“Hanged from the gallows dear, as in executed, put to death! Erica’s at the end of her tether not at the end of her rope.

On realising the mistake she let out a laugh that woke Erica up. Fortunately, it was a woman’s laugh and when Erica realised it was not a male threat, she quickly calmed down. Even so, her initial fearful response told the German mother, that her anticipated daughter in law still had serious issues.

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