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The private investigator who Mr. Melbourne hired came through with gold. He dug up three assault arrests in domestic disputes -- one with Hammerschmidt's former girlfriend and two with his ex-wife. Moreover, the P.I. learned that Hammerschmidt, a former IRS auditor, had tried to pay off some officials to get these assaults removed from his record. Miss Annabelle's lawyer, a professional poker strategist, said to not use this to control Hammerschmidt until after the meeting later that month. "The train is too much in motion to stop," her lawyer said. "So we'll control it later, when we see everything they have to use."
Another good thing happened for Miss Annabelle. The yearly aptitude tests had come back, and Miss Annabelle's students scored phenomenally beyond their years, even beyond nearly all of the sixth graders! Natasha had the highest score in the school -- the first time a third grader held that honor at Duncan Elementary School. Moreover, the local media picked up the story. Mr. Melbourne knew the national media would be interested, too. But Miss Annabelle and Mr. Melbourne decided not to submit the story when one editor in the local paper opened his article with, "Miss Annabelle: a Miracle or a Monster?"
National media attention on the molestation charges would disintegrate her class. Nevertheless, the local coverage on the tests was mostly positive, which put pressure against the school board from dismissing the teacher responsible for those record-shattering grades.
Politically savvy, Hammerschmidt postponed the school board meeting to the end of the month. By then, the wave of positive coverage would have washed over. The delay, however, actually played into Miss Annabelle's hands, allowing her team to pick up strength.
Angie, very privately, went to each child's house and asked each child to write an essay describing their teacher. They could say anything they wanted to -- anything at all.
By the third week in March, Angie had collected all twelve essays. Reading the essays would move even the most hardened and worldly man. They were by far the most powerful evidence in existence of Miss Annabelle's innocence. When Mr. Melbourne read the essays, he said they sent him into a whole new emotional realm he never knew existed. Miss Annabelle, well, she now saw, reflected back to her, what she meant to these children. It was the greatest gift she ever encountered.
John Melbourne developed an affidavit describing Miss Annabelle as a normal, healthy heterosexual with absolutely no such neurotic yearnings for child sex.
Upon advice from Mr. Melbourne's lawyer, Jessie secretly took pictures of other teachers touching students, too, holding hands, putting their arms around the children, and football coaches patting a boy's butt for a good play.
By the time the end of March arrived, Miss Annabelle had some solid ammunition going into the private school board meeting.
*
Ostensibly for Miss Annabelle's sake, Mr. Hammerschmidt closed the meeting to the press. He maintained its private status. In reality, always the politician, he was worried about what this unpredictable little lady might spring on him. He did not want anything to surprise him that could hurt his forthcoming political run.
Before this past month, Miss Annabelle did not know much about Hammerschmidt. She was not surprised to learn he was once an IRS accountant and agent for the Criminal Investigation Division. He liked to go along on raids "for the sport of it". And although a senior accountant, he loved carrying a gun and had been known to use his fists during a CID raid. He was a heartless yet intelligent man, a prime combination for politics. Void of principles and a skilled, automatic liar for whatever pragmatic advantage he could gain, this man represented the epitome of a political animal. His serious political career was just beginning with his run for lieutenant governor of New York. He was 41 years old.
Now, the night of the school board meeting, the press waited outside the school, which was perfect for Hammerschmidt who was becoming an effective spin doctor. He arrived early and stopped to talk to the press and pose for pictures.
"Crimes on children will not be tolerated under my jurisdiction in the great state of New York," he proclaimed. "Having served as superintendent of the school board, the children will always come first and foremost in my heart. I'll remain their guardian angel as your lieutenant governor."
Someone from the press murmured, "Oh, he's good."
Miss Annabelle and her small team arrived. She commented to John how surreal it all seems -- like a Hollywood event, walking past reporters and TV cameras. John kept Miss Annabelle moving through the small crowd. Miss Annabelle heard a few people in the back jeering her, while a few others were clapping. I wonder who is clapping, she wondered.
Inside, she did not feel so nervous this time. Instead, she felt well prepared. She reminded herself that Hammerschmidt and his sidekick Minner were her enemies, not the entire school board. The others will be objective, she said to herself; they're the ones I'm addressing with my evidence of innocence.
The meeting started. Mr. Hammerschmidt started the proceedings, then Ms. Minner said, "Today, Miss Annabelle, we are here to see your side of the situation. This meeting is merely a continuation of the last meeting. You know what our concerns and suspicions are. What do you offer in response to all those photographs of you being overly intimate with your students?"
Miss Annabelle looked at Ms. Minner. This all seemed too fair: they're giving me a chance to show my side? These people don't do that, she thought. They have something up their sleeves.
"Let's start with a few pictures of my own," Miss Annabelle finally said. "John, would you dim the lights please?"
Hammerschmidt did not look too happy to see the first slide illuminated on the screen: the football coach with his hand on one of his player's behind.
"If those photos were supposed to incriminate me for child molestation, then the next few photos will incriminate Coach Norton for molesting boys," she said bluntly. The next slide showed the coach hugging a boy, and the next showed him picking up a boy in an elated bear hug. Of course, those photos were nothing more than the coach celebrating with a player who made a big play or put points on the board, but Miss Annabelle's point was: by taking the photos out of context, unjust conclusions could be construed. She hugged Alan at a birthday party; Coach hugged a player after a touchdown...same thing.
Miss Annabelle went through a whole slide show of teachers on the playground, coaches on the field, faculty in the classrooms touching the students.
She noticed Hammerschmidt was not happy. But he did not look at all defeated, which concerned her. ...She knew she and her team were in a prize fight with Hammerschmidt and Minner. The rest of the school board were the judges. Her photos hit him hard, but not hard enough. She wondered, what kind of rabbit punch is he waiting to deliver?
Next, Miss Annabelle read John Melbourne's affidavit. It was well done and left little doubt that she was no manless, child pervert. It hit Hammerschmidt hard, but he was not down and out. He had concocted something big, a big knockout blow, and Miss Annabelle decided she had better save the children's essays for a counter punch if she was going to stand a chance.
"That's it," she said, surprising everyone on her team. "I'm a normal woman who has been misjudged and misrepresented to the media, putting me under a lot of unnecessary pain. You should stop now this investigation that is so unjust. No one should have to live through this."
Miss Annabelle sat down. Angie leaned forward to ask her about the essays, but Miss Annabelle nodded that she knew she had not revealed them. Her instincts proved right on.
"Thank you, Miss Annabelle," her stocky foe said. "We'll deeply consider everything you presented here today. Before we adjourn, however, I feel we must hear from your very own students. Their words outweigh anything else we can bring to this meeting. Those children are the innocent. They pay the price. This afternoon, during your students' last period -- at art class -- Ms. Minner called them all to the office and asked each one the same two questions: `Does your teacher, Miss Annabelle, hug or kiss you?' `Does she like it?' We recorded their answers, and here is what they said. Please, run the tape!"
Miss Annabelle had a sinking feeling in her stomach as she heard her students' innocent answers paraded before the school board. Miss Annabelle and most of the parents had chosen not to get into explaining "child molestation" to the children, so most of them did not really know what it was. So, when they answered Ms. Minner, they thought they were helping their teacher by emphasizing how sweet and loving and affectionate she was with them and how she was so much more affectionate than any other teacher.
"Oh yes, she loves hugs and kisses," Debbie said.
"One time, she even got all mushy and wet!" Johnny said, referring to her teary eyed moment when he defended her honor.
"She holds me tight, sometimes for a long time. I think she really likes it!" Sally said proudly.
"Once when I came to school early, I sat in her lap and talked to her. She's so loving to me."
"I was crying one day when I fell at recess. I didn't want anyone to see me crying, so we went into the classroom, and she hugged me until I was all better."
"She loves to hug us. Sometimes, I think she doesn't want to let go!"
This dishonest display went on and on. Miss Annabelle thought, however, that she could break the spell Hammerschmidt was putting on the school board using a similar technique that she used for the photos. She would explain that Hammerschmidt took facts out of context, and she could do the same for any other teacher as she did with the photos.
But she did not count on what was to come next.
Hammerschmidt introduced a psychologist who specialized in sexual child abuse and who worked for the state as one of its top social psychologists. Hammerschmidt went to work:
"Please introduce yourself, doctor," he said.
"My name is Dr. Michael Masterson. I have a Ph.D. in Psychology. I work for the state of New York specializing in sexual child abuse."
"How long have you been practicing, sir?"
"Fifteen years. I've written three books on the subject," the doctor said.
"Can you give us your thoughts on what you just heard from these children?"
"From what I heard, in my professional opinion, something is going on here."
"But why do none of the children seem upset?" Hammerschmidt asked, feigning objectivity.
"Often I see cases where the child is not even aware that he or she is a victim of sexual molestation. The predator is sometimes gentle and quite subtle."
"In such a case, does the child have little to worry about?" Hammerschmidt continued.
"Actually, there's always reason for concern," the doctor responded. "A subtle molester usually escalates his or her habit over time, just as a drug addict or alcoholic does. The subtle inflictions become a little more aggressive with time."
"What eventually happens?" Hammerschmidt asked. He was a master at creating illusions.
"You never know for sure. I've seen cases begin innocently but end with rape or uncontrollable groping and fondling. Now, may I ask you a question, sir?"
"Certainly," Hammerschmidt said.
"Has anyone noticed this teacher hug her students in any increased frequency since, say, the beginning of school?"
"Why, yes," Ms. Minner said eagerly. "These past six weeks, it seems she is always hugging her kids."
"OK, that's a classic signal that the neurosis is taking over. Next, she'll become more bold with her contact with those children."
"Sir, what do you recommend our action to be?" Hammerschmidt tried to sound diplomatic.
"Once a child becomes aware that he or she has been molested, a trauma could occur at a deep level that's never fully reversed. That child will carry that with him for the rest of his or her life. Because the consequences are so severe, I suggest you remove a teacher if you have good reason to suspect a pattern indicative of sexual molestation."
"Does good reason to suspect sexual molestation exist in this case?" Hammerschmidt asked, concluding his masterful illusion.
"In my professional opinion: YES."
Watching Hammerschmidt play this doctor like a movie script seemed unreal to Miss Annabelle, like she was watching a movie. She did not know how to jump into this motion picture to save herself. She just sat there and watched. She wondered, how can someone so absolutely innocent be made to look so convincingly guilty? It's like a nightmare that I can't get out of. As she sat there, not knowing what to do, she was startled by a full, deep voice behind her.
"Excuse me, my name is Bruce Salinski. I'm Miss Annabelle's attorney."
She turned around to see a well-dressed, slim man coming down the aisle, coming to her rescue. He sat down behind her, next to Angie.
"This is a private school board hearing, not a legal hearing," Hammerschmidt interrupted. "We're not open to lawyers."
"OK, what I have to say here is --
"We're not open to lawyers, Mr. Salinski," Hammerschmidt interrupted again.
"Mr. Hammerschmidt, you ambushed her with your expert doctor, which in legal terms is called a hostile expert witness. I think Miss Annabelle is entitled to a little representation here. Of course, I could give my personal opinion of this talented, agenda-driven orchestration to the media, but I think you'd prefer if I addressed the school board.
Mr. Hammerschmidt stayed quiet. Miss Annabelle realized by that exchange that she had a slick lawyer.
"Ladies and gentlemen," her lawyer began, "in the justice system, the prosecution and the defense are not permitted to spring surprises on each other as we witnessed here today. All evidence, which is called discovery, is presented to both sides. That is the only fair thing to do so the other side can give its side, too. Bringing in this esteemed doctor as a surprise was totally unfair."
"We're not in your justice system here," Hammerschmidt growled.
"Not technically," Salinski, unaffected, replied, "but ethically you are. You are dealing with someone's LIVELIHOOD and ENTIRE FUTURE. Ethically, you are in the justice system, and the way you did this today was insidiously unfair. If you want to include witnesses, we could go out and find our own expert witness who would show Miss Annabelle is completely normal with absolutely no threat to her students. I officially insist, for the sake of honesty, that the school board members strike that hostile expert witness from your consideration. ...Shame on you, Hammerschmidt."
Hammerschmidt was livid. "What did you say your name was?"
"Bruce Salinski," the lawyer said, knowing full well he would soon be hit with an IRS audit.
Miss Annabelle, John Melbourne, Jessie and Angie felt a fondness for Bruce Salinski. He demonstrated solid legal competence and charisma, yet he had a moderate practice. Mr. Melbourne believed he was one of the rare lawyers who did not thrive on creating problems where none existed.
After Salinski talked, Miss Annabelle had new hope. She stood up and said she had something she wanted each school board member to read. She handed out her photocopied collection of essays. When she got to Hammerschmidt and Minner, she stopped.
"You two do not need these," she said. "No, you already have your agenda. These are very loving reflections my students wrote about me, without my knowledge, on the request of Angie Attison. You two are agenda driven and do not deserve to see my students' private thoughts. We already know you two are voting me out."
Hammerschmidt wanted to use his fists on her. But he just said, "Ah, do whatever you want." The board members looked surprised by his surly reaction, obviously full of hatred and temper.
The board members were left with the essays, and the meeting was adjourned. No one noticed Hammerschmidt gritting his teeth while staring at Miss Annabelle as she was leaving.
*
Angie and Jessie, Bruce Salinski, John, and Miss Annabelle decided to meet at her house to review the meeting.
The gathering was very different than last time. Miss Annabelle was shaken, but not destroyed. Now, accepting Hammerschmidt for who he was -- a liar with an agenda -- nothing came as a surprise, no matter how low. Instead of defeated, she was very much on her feet and still fighting. And the team felt new strength with Bruce Salinski.
"I guess the strategy now amounts to: how and when do we use Hammerschmidt's skeletons," she said looking straight at Salinski.
Miss Annabelle and John Melbourne sat together on the couch. Angie and Jessie sat across on the love seat, and Bruce Salinski sat on the chair next to the fireplace.
"You're right," he said. "He's the leader all right. And he's out to make a name for himself at your expense. We need to get to him by the weekend. He'll control the outcome of the school board's decision. We'll control him."
"Who should confront him?" John asked, ready to do the deed.
"I will," Salinski said confidently. "I'm experienced at dealing with scum."
The atmosphere was relaxed, and everyone felt justice in the plan. Miss Annabelle felt the children were still mostly unscathed by the whole thing. In fact, she rather looked forward to making Hammerschmidt squirm, and she felt confident in Salinski. They talked for another forty minutes, then got up to leave. The team looked forward to the next play, and they had a pro carrying the ball.
John had to run home to get some school papers to grade and left with the others. He also knew Miss Annabelle needed and wanted a little time to herself. He'd be back in about an hour, he told her, and he kissed her.
"I'm proud of you, darling," he said as he was leaving.
Exhausted, she lay down on the couch after everyone left.
*
Miss Annabelle was asleep on her living room couch when she was awakened by knocking on her front door. Disoriented on seeing it was night time, she looked at the grandfather clock. It was 9:50 p.m. It must be John, she thought. Sometimes he knocked when he felt she needed some warning, respecting her privacy.
She missed him and eagerly opened the door. Staring back at her was Hammerschmidt! She gasped; her little body noticeably jumped, which pleased her nemesis.
"I have to give you these papers," he said, sounding official as he walked past her into the house without asking. "It's policy that you fill these out and return them. We'll hold another meeting soon."
As the large man walked past her, she smelled alcohol on his breath. She got cold and clammy all over, for that odor brought back memories of her ex-husband coming home after drinking, sometimes turning those difficult nights into violent physical abuse.
Miss Annabelle was trembling terribly. "Thank you," she said. She managed to keep her tone steady, for she knew she must not show fear to this sadistic drunk before her who was quite aroused after the evening's dramatic event earlier.
Unbeknownst to everyone in the meeting, Hammerschmidt had gotten quite aroused watching her facial reactions to the audio footage of her students. To see agony in her face brought ecstasy to this man. He got easily turned on by seeing this brave little lady break down and appear vulnerable. In fact, that arousing thought would not leave his head. After the school board meeting, he went to a bar. Building more and more desire with each drink to see her broken down, he decided to look in her school file for her address and head to her home. Now he stood in her house, alone with her, and the desire to further break her made his pulse race and his mouth salivate.
When he didn't leave after placing the papers on the coffee table, Miss Annabelle felt something bad was about to happen.
"Thank you, Mr. Hammerschmidt," she said as evenly as she could, while walking to the front door. I'll review them tonight and return them tomorrow."
She opened the door for him to leave. He followed her and, calming down inside when confronted by her in-control voice that showed no fear, he appeared to be leaving.
In the doorway, however, he saw her hand trembling as she let go of the door knob.
"Wait!" he said, putting his hand up to stop the door from being pushed closed.
Instinctively, Miss Annabelle put both hands on the back of the door and tried to push it shut. But Hammerschmidt pushed it open with one hand, throwing Miss Annabelle back several steps.
The scuffle broke the ice for Hammerschmidt to act on his desire, which now overtook him.
"YOU'VE BEEN A BAD GIRL!" he bellowed loudly, breaking all boundaries between them. Then he lost his head, as a whirl of emotions swooshed through him. He started walking toward the helplessly petrified woman. With every step, the terror in her face intensified, causing greater and greater sensations in him. He was going to dominate her and put her through sheer horror.
"You little bitch!" he screamed while smacking her with a right cross and adjusting his groin with his left hand.
She screamed for help, but he took his left hand off his pants and wrapped it around her neck so hard that she couldn't make a sound. Then he pushed her to the ground. She coughed and tried to breath again.
"Who the FUCK do you think you are?" He leaned over and hit her hard twice on the side of her head. "Hummm? Answer me, bitch!"
He jumped on her and started shaking her violently. Each shake forced air out of her lungs, making an eerie repetitive sound of terror being squeezed out of her. He was extremely strong, much stronger than her ex-husband, and she could do nothing to fight back to save herself.
He stopped shaking her and pushed her hard, back against the floor. He rubbed his big hand up and down her torso then ripped her blouse back.
He leaned forward and started rapidly unbuckling his belt. "Oh...you're gonna pay now," he mumbled. But Miss Annabelle could only think of how she could not breathe. His entire body weight was resting on her ribs. She could not breathe, and she started to black out.
As she was fading, she suddenly started breathing again and realized the stocky German man had been knocked off her. He must have been hit hard, she thought, as she saw him staggering to his feet. She looked up and saw John with both hands clasped together. Like swinging a club, he swung his clasped fists again and battered Hammerschmidt so hard the thick man spun back to the floor. Blood was coming out of his left ear and dripping from his mouth.
But Hammerschmidt was like a machine. He got back up and yelled at John, "You gonna die, nigger lover!" Then he charged with his balding head down, like a bull, screaming the whole time, straight into John's stomach and drove him against the wall. Hammerschmidt was obviously heavier and stronger than John, but the Australian kept a cool head. He walked away from the wall, doubled over trying to catch his wind.
Hammerschmidt was catching his breath, too. For a moment, both men stood looking at each other, and everything seemed calm. For that one moment, Hammerschmidt could make a choice -- to stop or to continue his crime. After a pause, Hammerschmidt could not let the reality and consequences of what he was doing set in; so he went beserk.
His face turned deep red as he released a horrifying yell so hard that the skin in the back of his throat could be heard scraping off. He charged John again, head down. This time, John, who was leaning back against the fireplace, sidestepped Hammerschmidt at the last instance. The madman smashed into the stone mantle head first at full force. He staggered backward from the sheer impact, then collapsed face first onto the floor. John limped over to Miss Annabelle.
"Are you hurt badly anywhere?" he asked, looking at her closely for the first time. Seeing her swollen face made him so sad...and so angry he wanted to go beat Hammerschmidt to death. But he just hugged her, instead.
"I don't know," she was sobbing and desperately hugging back. "I think I'm hurt. I couldn't breathe."
"I'm getting you to a doctor," he said while picking her up like a baby.
"What about him?" she asked, still sobbing.
On the way out, Mr. Melbourne put Miss Annabelle on a chair and quickly phoned the police. He reported the crime and said they should send an ambulance to treat Hammerschmidt. Mr. Melbourne stopped their questions and said they would need to get the details later because he was taking the victim to the hospital.
*
At the emergency room, while waiting to be seen by a doctor, two plainclothes policemen came to talk to Mr. Melbourne and Miss Annabelle.
"Hello, are you Miss Jennifer Annabelle?" the taller man asked.
"Yes, I am," she said, holding an ice pack against the side of her head.
"And you, sir," the taller policeman said politely, "are you Mr. John Melbourne?"
"Yes, I'm John Melbourne," he answered.
"I'm Detective Steve McClennahan, and this is my partner, Detective Joe Sicolli, homicide," he said.
"Homicide?" John said, puzzled.
"Charles Hammerschmidt is dead," the shorter detective said.
Miss Annabelle and Mr. Melbourne looked at each other and held each other's hand.
"I explained what happened to the dispatcher," Mr. Melbourne said. "We had no idea he died from running into the wall."
"We just need to ask you some questions," the shorter Italian detective said.
"Here?" Miss Annabelle asked, in obvious pain.
"Just a few, for now," the taller detective said.
Then Detective Sicolli said, "Please move over there, Mr. Melbourne." He was pointing to the adjoining waiting room. "We need to talk to you separately, and let's get Miss Annabelle's statement out of the way first before the doctor calls her in."
"Honey, are you OK to talk right now?" Mr. Melbourne said. "I'd better ask the doctor."
"Sweetheart, I'm OK to answer questions," she said, stopping him from going to get a doctor. "I just want to get it over with."
"Okay, okay," he said, looking uneasy.
"I'm feeling much better now. I'll be fine," she said honestly.
They kissed, and Mr. Melbourne walked into the adjoining waiting room.
*
After an hour wait they called Miss Annabelle and Mr. Melbourne in to be seen by a doctor. Mr. Melbourne said he was not seriously hurt and did not need to be looked at. He wanted to be with her, but the detectives asked him to stay with them. Miss Annabelle followed the nurse, and the homicide detectives continued questioning Mr. Melbourne in the waiting room.
The examination went well. Besides some bruising and a one-inch surface cut on the left side of Miss Annabelle's face, she was OK. But when she came back out to the waiting area just after midnight, the detectives were still there, still talking with John.
When John saw her come out, he nearly jumped out of his chair and rushed over to her. She told him everything was fine, which removed the anxieties that had been growing in him for the past forty minutes. "But why are they still here?" she asked.
"Excuse me, ma'am," Detective McClennahan said. "I apologize for the inconvenience, but you both must come with us to the station."
"Why?" she asked bluntly.
"A man was found dead in your house tonight. Approximately four hours before he died, you sat in a tumultuous school board meeting over which he presided. In the previous meeting less than a month before, witnesses say he upset you so much you had to run out. We also have witnesses saying that after that meeting, Mr. Melbourne threatened Mr. Hammerschmidt."
Miss Annabelle looked at Mr. Melbourne. "I was angry," he said. "I told him he was going to pay for this. ...Of course, how was I to know all this would happen?"
"But he ATTACKED me," Miss Annabelle said, in shock at the implications. "He tried to rape me and might have killed me if John didn't show up! What is this? We're the victims here!"
"Ma'am, we're not arresting you," Detective Sicolli said reassuringly, then added firmly, "We just need to get more information."
*
Things did not go well at the station. Both a motive and what could be construed as a life threat gave the police too much probable cause not to consider Mr. Melbourne and Miss Annabelle suspects.
They were arrested and held overnight in separate holding cells. They appeared the next day before a magistrate. Bruce Salinski represented them. He did a good job derailing the theory that Mr. Melbourne and Miss Annabelle conspired to kill Hammerschmidt.
"If that were a plausible possibility, why was Mr. Hammerschmidt in Miss Annabelle's house? Why would he have come there? He wouldn't. He was there for a dark agenda. He'd been drinking at the town's pub before he showed up. My client was attacked by this man."
Of course, the District Attorney argued that Hammerschmidt had his way in the school board meeting earlier in the evening and had no reason to attack her.
Salinski countered that Hammerschmidt was attacking Miss Annabelle sexually, which could be set off by a major confrontation as occurred earlier that day.
In the end, the judge set bail at $100,000 each and ordered them to turn in their passports. Salinski began preparing for trial.
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