Watch me

1

"Your name?"
"Janet Louise Fletcher."
"I believe your friends call you Jay, is that right?"
"Yes."
"Jay your're a female special agent employed by the federal bureau of Investigation, is that correct?"
"Yes"
"You have a degree in psychology from the university of Ohio?"
"Yes."
"A master's degree in criminology from Columbia university in New York?"
"Yes."
"And a degree in computer science and statics from georg Washington university in Washington D.C.?"
"That's correct."

The defendants exquisitely dressed attorney rose to her feet.
She looked more like a fashion model  than a Hollywood /Beverly hill lawyer and had a reputation for getting her clientele out of impossible situation, ranging from patricide to date rapes of rich and famous.

her name was Samantha Rhodes, and the rumors circulating around the L.A. Criminal Courts building maintained that she occasionally took on stickers like this one just to keep her name in circulation.

according to Barney Silkwood, the Deputy District Attorney prosecuting the case, her client, Dennis Lloyd Shaw,
Had first tortured eleven flight attendants, raped them and finally decapitated them,(I was thinking of a more descriptive way :3)
Shaw had been staring at Janet Fletcher ever since she had been called to the stand. staring and smiling

"Your Honor." Samantha Rhodes spoke up
"Miss Rhodes." The judge name was rose Alexander a tiny wizened black woman.
"The defense has already stipulated as to special agent Fletcher qualification as an expert witness in this case. Do
We really have to go  through her entire resume?"
"Mr. silkwood?"
"Your Honor, I feel that it is important that the jury know something about special agent Fletcher background."
"IL go along with that." Judge Alexander nodded
"Just so long he doesn't bore the jury to death."

Muttered shaws lawyer as she sat down. the judge let the comment go with nothing more than a nasty look.
"How long have you been worked with the FBI, Jay?"
"Since 1985, i went through the academic after getting my masters from Columbia. I took summer semesters and night classes to get my degree in computers."
"Why computer science?"
"I saw it as fundamental tool for law enforcement.

I Wanted to keep up with technology."
"What exactly do you do in at the bureau?"
The jury looks interested. Jay frowned and tried to look like an expert witness.
"I work for CART. The Computer Analysis and Response Team, in the laboratory Dividion."
"What do you do there?"
"I analyze evidence that involves computers. Decryption,
Unlocking files, programming for various groups within the bureau.
The Identification Section in particular."

"You where asked to help the LAPD Task Force in there
Investigation of the flight attendant murders. Is that correct?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because of my familiarity with the C-Bix program."
"What exactly is C-Bix?"
"It stand for Criminal Behavior Index. It's a template of several hundred indices of criminal behavior, particularly as it relates to crimes of violence."
"You developed this program for the Bureau yourself?"
"Yes"
"How does it works, Jay"
"A database of suspects is filtered through C-Bix. On the
Basis of a scoring curve, the list of suspects is reduced."
"In this case how was the database of suspects formed."
"The victims all worked for domestic airlines flying into Los Angeles International Airport. They all flew regular
Routes.

We asked the airlines for access to their reservation
Records going back for a year."
Not exactly true. Getting into the SABRE Reservation computer
was as easy as picking the lock in a teenager's
Diary. After we got what we wanted, we went back and asked
For permission.
"What was the result of your investigations?"
"We had a total of eleven million passengers booked in
and out of LAX for the last twelve months. C-Bix was programmed
To delete any named that didn't appear on flight
Manifest for all the airlines concerned. That gave us 1,136
Names. We ran those names through the National Crime Information
Center computer in Washington to see how many
Showed a criminal record on the file. That reduced the list to
382.

We compared that lost to the VICAP database."
"VICAP?"
"Violent Criminal Apprehension Program."
"What was the result?"
"We came down to a list of thirty-two possible suspects."
"What happen then?"
"We used C-Bix to select the most likely suspect on the
Basis of scores against the baseline indices for multiple
Homocide."
"Did Mr. Shaw's name appear on this list?"
"Yes."

Samantha Rhodes was on her feet again. "Objection you
Honor. If the initial list prepared by Agent Fletcher contained
Eleven million names, the possibility of mistaken Identity or
Computer error is overwhelming. The defense has done its computer test here. There are two hundred and sixty one'D. Alone

This is presuming that the so called Fly Me killer lived
In Los Angeles, which hasn't been proven so far. By our count there are more than three thousand 'D shawns' living in the various cities
From what I ch the flights in question originated."
"Mr silkwood?"
"Perhaps Agent Fletcher would be so kind as to educate
My colleague as to her methods in this regards."
"We were aware of the possibility of mistaken identity.
Most of the names in the list used credit cards to place their reservations. Mr.Shaw was no excuse, he used a Citibank Visain the name of Dennis Lloyd Shaw."
"Objection overruled." Samantha Rhodes sat down.
"We were discussing Mr. Shaw appearance on your List."
"Yes"
"How did he score?"
"High."
"How high"
This was all part of the script. Time to uy the icing on
The cake.

"To some extent our scoring parameters are based on previous,
Well-documented crimes. Up until now Ted Bundy was on the high end of the curve followed by Jeffrey Dahmer and David Berkowitz."
"The so called son of sam?"
"Yes"
"And now?"
"Dennis Lloyd Shaw beat out Ted Bundy By almost
Twenty percent.

We've never had a higher score." Silkwood
Glanced in Samantha Rhode's direction smiled briefly, then
Turned his attention back to Jay.
"Was their anyone else on your shortlist?"
"Yes. We had seven possibles."
"What did you do at this point?
"The LAPD Task Force put them all down under surveillance
By that time Mr. Shaw was no longer living in Los Angeles."
"Where had he gone?"
"Florida. His company had transferred him there."
"He was arrested in miami?"
"Yes."
"This was shortly after the murder of the eleventh stewardess,
Miss Cynthia Goode?"
Samantha Rhodes was on her feet again. "Objection, your
Honor. Mr Silkwood is leading the witness.

There has been
No connection established between my client and the murder
Of Miss Goode."
"She was on the flight to Miami when he moved there."
"So were two hundred other people."
"Not with a score like this." Silkwood levered himself off
The edge of the table and returned to his sit. He began
Leafing through his notes. The session was over.
"Objection sustained"
"No Further question."

Samantha Rhodes declined to cross-examine and Jay was
Excused. Climbing down from the witness box, His eyes still locked
On her, Dennis Lloyd Shaw's hands moved together on the table,
The index finger oh his left hand sliding into the curled
Fist of his right. The gesture was obscene, unmistakable, and meant for her alone. She felt like a bug in a killing jar and
She shivered.

Barney Silkwood shuffled some papers on his desk. Samantha Rhodes looked up at the ceiling. Someone
Coughed and a chair creaked, the sounds echoing moodily,
Dennis Lloyd Shaw looked pleased with himself and continued
To smile at Jay, the stiffened index finger rotating slowly
In its tight enclosure. The son of a beach(:3) was mocking her.
Fk you
She went back to her seat and sat down.
-two days later-
The trial ended and the jury began its deliberations. All she
Could do was pray that justice wasn't deaf and dumb as well as blind