The Alibi

Once upon a time, there was a small city nestled in the rolling mountains outside of Philadelphia. Like its bigger sister, crime, and passion sometime ruled the lives of its inhabitants. This is the story of a couple of those inhabitants.

 ****

He protested loudly as once again he found himself behind bars and this time, he had done nothing to deserve it.  The guard just laughed and walked away.  He gazed out the bars wondering if he would ever get a break. Had it only been an hour since he had actually had a decent conversation with Blair?  When they had parted ways, he had felt like maybe, just maybe, something could grow between them.  She was the first woman in a long time who hadn't run the other way.  He sat down on his cot and tugged at the bandages covering his knuckles.  She had been something else.  Instead of being alarmed that his hand was all bloody, she had been concerned.  "I guess your streak of bad luck is still ongoing, Manning. She'll never give you another look when she finds out you've been arrested again.”

Uptown from the station, Blair answered her door. She frowned as she saw her visitor was one of Llanview's finest.  "To what do I owe the honor?" She slipped her dressing gown up onto her shoulders to provide a little more cover on top of her nightgown.

The officer cleared his throat. "Um Sorry Mam, but the Police Commissioner sent me. Can you tell me where you were this evening between 11:00 pm. and Midnight?"

 "I can, but why should I?"

"We're trying to verify the whereabouts of Todd Manning during that time. He insists that he was with you?”

 Blair responded, "Well not that it's any of your business, but he was."  Blair narrowed her gaze at the young officer.  "Why do you need to know where Todd was this night?”

The policeman dropped his eyes then stammered. "He was brought in for attempted rape."

Without even thinking, Blair said. "You've got the wrong guy. Like I said, he was with me.  He only left me a short while ago.  If you don't believe me, I have the bandages he was wearing when we left the hospital.  That's where I ran into him and it was just a couple of minutes after 11:00.  He had an altercation with that girl Rebecca and put his hand through the wall.  I ran into him coming out of the nurses lounge, grumbling to himself, as he finished wrapping his hand.  I noticed Marty Saybrooke in the room when he walked out and figured they had probably had words.  I offered to keep him company when he mumbled something about waiting for a call back from his therapist.  When the guy didn't call, we decided to take a walk through the park. We sat on a bench and talked and I bought a couple of sodas.  His hand was still bleeding and I suggested he come here so I could clean and wrap his hand better."

The officer stared at her. "Um, I need to call the Commissioner. He might want to see those bandages you say you have."

Blair bristled.  "Look, I'm not lying.  You go ahead and call Big Ole Commissioner Bo.  But you tell him if he wants those bandages, he’ll have to come get them himself."

The young policeman looked around nervously then stepped inside the penthouse doorway. “Mam, I’m going to have to ask you to sit down where I can keep an eye on you while I make this call.”

“If you keep calling me Mam, you won’t have any eyes left to watch me with,” Blair went to the bar and helped herself to a drink. Then she went and sat down on her couch.  She pulled out a magazine and pretended to read, all the while listening in on the officer’s phone call.  As she sat there, she was reminded of the feelings she had felt earlier that night.  Poor Todd, he was so much like her.   No matter what, all the good people in Llanview thought the worst of them and they couldn’t seem to shake their pasts.  The officer put his phone away and faced her.  “Well, what’s the verdict?” she asked.

Clearing his throat and looking even more uncomfortable he said. “The Commissioner is coming, but he said you were to stay put.  I’ve been instructed to make sure you don’t do anything until he gets here.”

Blair looked at her watch and then glanced down at her dressing gown and negligee.  “I guess that means I can’t even get dressed.”

 At her words, the officer blushed.  He had been having a hard time keeping his eyes off of certain parts of her anatomy and now he had been ordered by his boss to keep watch so she couldn’t try anything to get Manning free.   “Um, perhaps I could get you a blanket or something.”

“You’ve  got to be kidding me.  Do I look like I’m cold?” She reached for her drink and proceeded to tease the officer further by running the cool glass down her neck and stopping it right between her breasts.  She smiled as he turned even redder than before and watched as he turned away slightly and studiously began checking his notes on her earlier remarks.   Several minutes later, Blair started to get another drink when the doorbell rang again.  The officer jumped and then hurried to open the door.

Bo and Detective Manzo looked in and saw Blair standing in her negligee.  Bo quickly assessed the situation, noting how nervous his officer was.  “Blair, you might want to go get dressed.”

“I can’t Bo. Your officer said I was to be watched at all times.  I mean I can’t be trusted not to magically produce some bloody bandages while I dress.” She couldn’t help jerking Bo around.  After all, he was the one treating her like she had or was going to do something wrong.

“Blair, that’s enough.  Just tell me where the bandages are and then you can get dressed.”

Getting tired of the game, she pointed towards her bedroom.  “You’ll find them in the hall bathroom in the trash.”

Bo nodded to Manzo, who headed to the bathroom.

“I found them Commissioner,” yelled Manzo from the hallway.

“Bag them and anything else pertaining to them.”  He looked around the living room and spotted a second glass sitting on the coffee table.  “Bag the glass too,” he ordered Manzo and then turned to Blair.  “We’ll check those items for Manning’s blood and fingerprints.  Now go dress, I want you to come down to the station and give us an official statement.  If the lab work comes back agreeing with your story, Manning will owe you.”

****

Todd paced in his cell.  It had been a shock to find out he was being accused of raping Rebecca.  He had seen her filling out paperwork when they brought him in and he had seen Marty with her.  He leaned against the bars.  “Why Rebecca?  Why me?”  After he had smashed his hand, Dr. Ben Price had stopped him from talking anymore to Rebecca.  He’d only wanted to get more answers out of her about the accusation of his stalking her in the park.  Seeing her cowering behind the Doctor, he had chosen to walk away and headed for a phone to try and talk to Ray.  He had been forced to leave Ray a message.  In frustration, he had gone to the lounge to cool off and had a small run-in with Marty.  “I know Marty put you up to this Rebecca, I just don’t understand how you could believe I would hurt you,” he said aloud.

“Oh poor Todd, so misunderstood.  You’ve hurt others, why wouldn’t she believe you attacked her?  You’re not fooling anyone with this innocent act,” Andy Harrison sneered from her side of the bars.  “I need you to sign off on your belongings.”

  “Leave me alone. I didn’t do anything. You have no proof,” snarled Todd.

“That’s where you’re wrong.  You made a mistake.  Dylan saw what you tried to do to Rebecca.  You’re not getting off this time.”

“I’m telling you it wasn’t me,” Todd growled and tightened his grip on the bars.  He wanted so much to wipe that sneer off Harrison’s face.

“Yeah, I heard you had an alibi.  Blair Daimler right?  Forget it. The commissioner knows she’s not to be trusted.  If she’s smart, she better not try anything.  It will only land her in here too.” she said sharply.

Todd was surprised at the vehemence in Harrison’s voice.  “What’s got you so riled up about Blair?   I mean, I know she’s got a reputation here in town, but what did she do to you?”

Andy paused, a little flustered that she had dropped her guard on her emotions.  “Max Holden is my brother and she tried to ruin his life.  She’s trouble and I wouldn’t trust her as far as I could throw her.  Remember that.  She only thinks about herself.  She’s not going to back you up, Manning.”  With that parting shot, Andy Harrison left Todd alone.

Upstairs in the squad room, Marty was anxiously watching Rebecca complete her statement.  “So, it’s finished.  Are you okay, Rebecca?”

Rebecca nodded and looked at the clock on the wall. It was a little after 2:00 in the morning. “I’m just tired.  I can’t believe it was just 11:00 when this all happened.”

Marty was taken aback. “I’m sorry. Did you say 11:00?  You mean more like 11:30 right?”

“No, it was 11:00.  I remember because I looked at my watch and the church bells chimed.  Look, I better turn this in.   All I want to do is get out of here.” Rebecca walked over to turn in her statement.

Marty stood there and realized Todd couldn’t have assaulted Rebecca.  He had been with her at 11:00. Don’t dwell on it, Marty.  He’s where he belongs.  No one else can back his story.   He’ll be going back to Pentonville and you’ll finally be rid of him.

Blair sat a couple of desks over, putting her own finishing touches on her statement.  She had overheard the conversation between Marty and Rebecca.   She watched Marty and wondered if she was going to stop Rebecca and tell her about Todd and the hospital.  Marty did nothing.  Blair then saw Bo call Andy Harrison over.  Andy looked upset by what Bo was telling her.  Blair gave a soft chuckle. If she was right, Bo had just gotten back the results of the tests.  She watched as Andy seemed to deflate and then head towards lockup.  Blair got up and wandered over to Bo.  “Do you believe me now?”

Bo frowned.  It stuck in his craw that Manning had dodged the bullet again.  “The blood matches Todd’s and so do the fingerprints on your glass.  Evidence seems to indicate he was with you tonight.  Hank and I agreed that Manning couldn’t be in two places at the same time. He’s being released.”  Bo looked around the room and spotted Marty.  She now had some explaining of her own to do.  “If you’ll  excuse me, I need to talk to Marty and Rebecca.”

As he moved to join Marty, Andy brought Todd into the squad room and handed him his belongings.

Todd had been totally surprised when Andy had come back down so suddenly and even more surprised when she had unlocked his cell door.  “What happened?”

“You’re free.  Blair backed your story.  Whatever she did, Bo says I have to release you.”

 Todd smiled.  Maybe he wasn’t wrong.  It looked like Blair had felt something too.  When he walked into the squad room he saw her standing there.  Her eyes met his and she smiled at him.  He took his belongings from Andy and started to walk to Blair.

“What’s going on?” Marty shrieked suddenly.  “You can’t let him go.  He tried to rape Rebecca!”

Bo looked at her.  “Did he, Marty?  I have proof that says otherwise.  But I think you already know that, don’t you?”

Rebecca looked at Todd who had joined Blair and back to Bo and Marty.  “I don’t understand?”

Bo kept his gaze on Marty.  “Do you tell her, Marty, or do I?  You were so hellbent on putting Todd behind bars you would have said nothing.  Am I right?”

Marty gulped.  “I didn’t know.  I really thought he had hurt her.  I only found out a few minutes ago.”

“Okay, say I believe you.  Once you found out, you should have told Rebecca and me.  You didn’t.   That tells me you were going to let an innocent man go to jail for something he didn’t do.”

Marty collapsed into the nearest chair.  “He raped me.  Rebecca thought he attacked her.  He needs to be in prison.”

Blair had had enough.  She marched over to Marty.  “I heard everything.  You knew what time the attack happened and you knew you were with Todd but you hate him so much you were determined to just ignore that.  Poor Martyr Saybrooke, if you couldn’t keep him in prison the first time, you figured, this time, would work.  You’ve been trying to beat him down ever since he was released from prison.”  Blair started to slap Marty but a hand caught her and stopped her.  She turned to find Todd.

“Don’t, Bo will just slap you behind bars for assault.  Let’s get out of here.” Blair took his arm. Todd looked down at Marty who had begun to sob.  He knew she had a long way to go to get past what he had done to her and in a way he understood why she hadn’t spoken up.  But deliberately encouraging Rebecca to accuse him, killed any sympathy for her.  As he walked past Rebecca, he heard her whisper, “I’m sorry.”  He straightened his shoulders leaving them both behind him.  Something new had happened and he was looking forward to exploring it.  Blair pulled in closer and they left the police station.

Outside the police station, Blair looked at Todd.  “Well, can I give you a ride back to your hotel?”

Before Todd could answer a guy ran by and snatched Blair purse and took off running.  Todd followed immediately.  The guy was good, but Todd was gaining on him.  The bandit slipped into an alley thinking he had lost Todd, instead he saw a dead end and knew he was cornered.  Todd smiled as he confronted the culprit, “Not too smart, are you?  Snatching her purse when she wasn’t alone.  Strictly amateur.”  He moved closer to the man.  “You shouldn’t have done it.  I’ve been wanting to let off steam for awhile tonight.”

The guy swung the purse with one hand and pulled a knife with the other.  “Stay back.  You come any closer and you’ll be sorry.”

Todd observed the sweat on the thief’s brow and the way his eyes darted around.  The idiot was going to make his move soon.  Keeping a close eye, Todd stayed back and instead crouched down and acted like he was going to tie his shoe, then he lunged forward and drove the guy into the wall.  With a few hard whacks of his hand against the bricks, the thief dropped the knife and purse, then began fighting back.  Todd laughed; it was just what he needed. They were pretty evenly matched, but Todd finally got one good blow and the guy dropped to his feet.  Todd got down and tapped the guy who was groaning at his feet.  “You should’ve just given me the purse, man. I’ve fought guys bigger than you in Pentonville.”  He pointed out his ankle bracelet and then the guy passed out.  He reached over and picked up Blair’s purse  and was about to go find her when he found himself facing another cop.

“Hands up Mister,  Keep them where I can see them.” the cop moved slowly into the alley.  His flashlight and gun still aimed at Todd.

“You’ve got the wrong guy, there’s the one who took the purse.” Todd nodded to the thief lying on the ground.

“Yeah, right.  You’re the one holding it.  It wasn’t very smart stealing a purse in front of the police station.  I saw you running around the corner when the lady cried out.”  The officer started to check on the guy on the ground.  He saw Todd’s ankle bracelet and smirked.  “What happened?  Did this guy try to stop you?  Put your hands behind your back.”  The officer set the flashlight down and pulled some cuffs from his pocket.

Todd sighed and started to cooperate when Blair came around the corner.

“Oh, thank God you’re alright.  Wait a  minute.  What’s going on?” Blair looked from Todd to the officer.  “What are you doing?  That’s my friend.”  She pointed to the man lying on the ground.   “There’s the guy who took my purse.  My friend ran after him to catch him.”

The officer looked skeptical. “You’re kidding, right?  This guy’s an ex-con.”

Blair stared down the cop.  “That’s the operative word:  ex.  Now let my friend go and take the real guy in and you better hurry.  I suggest you cuff him before he runs away.”

The officer looked around quickly.  Sure enough, the thief had been slowly getting to his feet and had been about to make a hasty retreat  while the officer was busy with Todd.  The officer speedily put the cuffs on the thief.  Then he looked at Blair. “You’re going to need to come back to the station and file charges.”

The thief protested, “I want to file charges too.  That guy could have killed me”

Todd raised his hands. “Hey, it was self-defense.  He pulled a knife on me.  It’s over there on the ground.  The only prints you’ll find are his.”

Pointing his flashlight where Todd said, the officer saw the knife.  He carefully picked it up.  “I guess you’ll need to come along and tell your story too.”

A short while later Todd and Blair left the station once again.  Blair began to giggle.  “I thought Bo was going to have a heart attack when he saw us walk in with that officer.”

Todd grinned at her. “He positively turned green when he found out I was there to file charges, not being charged.”

Under the streetlight,  Blair looked him up and down.  “I’m not surprised,  From the looks of you, he probably thought we had gotten involved in a bar fight.  That thief got in some pretty good licks and your hand is all messed up again.  Come on, it’s back to my place.  You can clean up and I’ll fix the hand again.”

It was nearing dawn when Blair pulled into Todd’s hotel parking lot.  He turned in his car seat.  “By the way, I forgot to thank you for having my back tonight.”

Blair shrugged, “What are friends for?”

“Friends huh, I’d like that.  Just one question?  Why were you at the hospital last night?”  With all of his drama, it just occurred to him that if she hadn’t been there, he’d still be in lockup.

Blair got very quiet trying to think of the best answer to give him.  Then she spoke.  “I was feeling down.  I had run into Tina Roberts earlier and she had rubbed it in my face that Max had gone back to Luna.  I don’t know.  I suddenly found myself close to the hospital and thought I’d see if the pharmacy had any sleeping pills.  I just wanted to go home and try to put Max out of my mind.”  She chewed on her lower lip and waited to see what Todd would say.

It wasn’t too hard to put two and two together.  “Did you get what you went there for?”   He had to know.  She called him a friend and strangely, he didn’t want to lose that friendship.

“No, I got something much better.  I got a chance to get to know you better and it felt good to be able to help you.  We’re a lot alike.  I feel more comfortable with you than I have with anyone else in a long time.”

“I feel the same way.  Look, you know I’m not off the hook with the other rapes.  I’ve got to find out who’s doing it so Bo and his play cops will get off my back.  But, I’m here if you just want to talk or have a drink.”

Blair smiled. “With the way my life’s been going, I just might take you up on that offer.”

“You do that.” Todd climbed out of the car. “I guess I’ll see you later. Goodnight Blair.”

She laughed. “I think you better make that Good Morning.”

Todd laughed with her as the sun peaked over the horizon.

Yes, a new day had dawned over Llanview and two lost souls had come away stronger because of their new found friendship.  Would it continue to grow?  Well, that’s another story.



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