“Of course.”
“Sir, may I ask what your rank was when you were a police officer?”
“I was the sergeant in charge of assault cases for the University of Virginia campus police.”
“And you dealt with a number of rape cases?”
Colin rasped out a cynical laugh. “Yeah,” he affirmed, his voice heavy with irony. “Way more than a few.”
“What’s this about?” Joshua asked. He handed Colin a mug filled with coffee, then offered a second mug to Officer Sinclair.
“Where’d you getthis?” Colin asked, holding up the steaming mug.
“Coffee maker. I programmed it to brew at seven a.m.” He turned to Sinclair. “Why are you asking him these questions?”
“Sergeant, we’ve had a rape on board,” Sinclair told him. “I’m here to ask for your help.”
Colin’s coffee mug stopped halfway to his lips. “What? Why would you needmyhelp?” He sipped his coffee and then met Officer Sinclair’s eyes. “And I’mnota sergeant any longer. I’m a prosecuting attorney for the Commonwealth of Virginia.”
Sinclair’s head dropped. “You may not be aware of this…” He spat a disgusted breath. “No reason why you should be, but...” He paused momentarily, then continued, his words spilling out in a rush. “Guys in my position on most cruise ships aren’t well trained in certain areas. My partner and I were both military police. We’ve hadnoformal training in the kind of evidence gathering and witness interrogation needed in a case like this.”
Colin collapsed onto the bed and waved the security officer into a nearby chair. He glanced up at Joshua, who stood beside the dresser, wanting to gauge his response, then turned back to Sinclair. “What is it you want from me, Officer Sinclair?”
“Your guidance!” The officer blurted out. “A list of what we should do! What should we say? Who should be there? How do we secure the crime scene and protect vital evidence?”
“And the cruise line didn’tprovideyou with this information?” Joshua asked, clearly stunned. “Or any proper training?”
“No cruise line does,” Sinclair told him.
Colin stared down at the floor. “Doesn’t the FBI have jurisdiction in these cases?” He asked finally. “The last thing I need is to step on any federal toes. That kind of explosion would rattle desks all the way to Charlottesville.”
“The FBI doesn’t have an office here in Skagway. Once we get to Ketchikan, they’ll question the victim and potential suspects, if any.” He quirked his mouth and shrugged. “But often it doesn’t come to anything.” When Colin hissed out a disgusted curse, Sinclair nodded. “But think about it, Sergeant. They’re hip-deep in a huge drug bust they’ve been investigating for months, and they’re asked to pull two agents from their three-person team to investigate an onboard rape case which could just as easily turn out to be a he-said-she-said waste of time.”
“But we won’t be in Ketchikan ’til the day after tomorrow!” Joshua blurted out.
“Best guess?” Sinclair told him. “Probably only about twenty percent of on-board sexual assault cases are even investigated.”
“Could last night’s victim identify her attacker?”
“No,” Sinclair said. “She was at one of the casino bars last night, drinking pretty heavily with a large crowd. She thinks she may have been attacked by one of the crew. She saw a logo on the guy’s shirt. We’ve got everyone who works there lined up to be interviewed.”
“Don’t just interview them; get a DNA swab as well. Did she see the ship’s physician?”
“Not yet. She just now woke up. We’ve got her in our office.”
“Dammit!” Colin spat out. “Do you have a rape kit on board?”
“We do.” He shot Colin an embarrassed look.
“What?”
“It’s been opened, and we think there are missing components.”
“Motherfu…” Colin surged to his feet and slammed his fist against the dresser.
“Colin!” Joshua cried and grabbed his husband’s arm. “Honey,easy.”
Colin spun back to face the officer. “Did it happen in her cabin?”
