A hush falls across the courtroom as the Kinney's are led in. A few young girls in the loft whisper excitedly to one another. "Do you really think they did it?"

"Perhaps. They always have been a little strange."

A few girls related to some of the people that had been slaughtered, supposedly by the Kinney's burst into tears at the sight of their patriarch, Alex. His features were set in a grim line. His dark eyes betrayed none of his underlying emotions, although not that there were any to show. The initial shock and anger had faded into a cold apathy at what was to come. He was ruined either way. He'd rather die in infamy than have to live in shame. Even if that meant he had to take his family down with him.

A tall firm woman was seated behind and to the left of him. Unlike some of the other women she didn't resort to tears to make her case more solid. There was enough evidence stacked up against that horrid man and his family for them to to hung a dozen times over.

The judge looks up from beneath his wire-frame spectacles after skimming over the file in front of him one final time. Despite all the different testimonies involved, the case was open and shut. These people hadn't been the smartest, or the most discreet with what they had been doing. It was just strange at the sheer number of victims that had come from all different walks of life. When the Phantomhive's had been hit first, the detectives of Scotland Yard thought they would need to keep an eye on the rest of the nobles, but that hadn't been nearly the case. And despite that,t here was a startling lack of witnesses aside from the crying girls and Charlotte Phantomhive. He clears his throat and waits for silence. The whispers in the loft stop, and all eyes fall between the judge and Alex.

Rain pelts against the high windows as the Judge takes a moment to gather this thought. "In light of these recent, and disturbing events, I have thoroughly reviewed the evidence presented to me. After copious amounts of eyewitness testimony, and police reports, I have reached a final verdict. On the charge of kidnapping, we find them, guilty. On the charge of breaking and entering, we find them guilty. Larsony, guilty. Theft, guilty. Murder in several degrees, guilty. And all other charges, I find them, guilty." Several shouts pick up from the courtroom. A surge of life passes through the crowd mixed with various reactions from the by standers.

The judge waits for silence again to deliver his final verdict. "To ensure that such heinous acts can't be committed, with the power vested in me, I sentence you to death. May God have mercy on your souls." He stands and leave through the back room as the court erupts into chaos again. The girls in the front row talk quietly amongst themselves. "Maybe now I can finally rest easy knowing I won't have to look around every corner."

Charlotte glances at the girls as they stand to go. Her and the officers milling about after escorting Alex out were the only ones who remained. Rain continues to pelt against the windows. Charlotte sighs, a small tired sound in the still room. The officers leave. One tips his hat to her in passing. In the now empty courthouse, Charlotte exits through the door at the back of the courtroom to the judges chambers. She finds the graying man sitting at his desk. His wig sits on a stand nearby, and he taken off his robes.

"Come in, Mrs. Phantomhive." Charlotte closes the door behind her, and sits into the chair across from him without being invited to do so. She cross her legs and neatly arranges her black skirts about her. While she had only been married into the prestigious family, she might have been born for the role or it. She had kept her composure from the moment she learned of her husband's death. Although this trial had brought her little relief. Death wasn't what she wished to befall these animals. She wanted to make them suffer and be able to watch from the lap of luxury. She couldn't well do that when they were all hanging from the end of a rope. Which left one option that she could think of. And an option that could be easily bought. "What is it that I can do for you?"

"I have an offer to make you." The silver wedding band on her left hand shines faintly in the low light as she tugs at the veil partially hiding her face.

"And I would suppose that this offer involves the Kinneys."

"It does. Are you interested?"

"Perhaps. Would you care to enlighten me? I have some time before my next hearing."

Charlotte hums thoughtfully, more for his benefit than her own. She already knew she was walking out of there wit what she wanted. "If you insist." She sits up straighter in the chair, her dark blue eyes skimming across the papers the judge had been reading. Nothing too interesting, some prostitute killing her child. "I don't wish to see them hanging from a rope."

"You can't really expect me to pardon them all. I'll lose my title."

"Did I ever say that I wanted them pardoned? I would greatly appreciate it if you did not put words in my mouth." The judge remains silent and waves a hand to press Charlotte to continue. "Thank you. I wish to keep them in my services. Death is swift and instant, unlike what they did to all those poor people and my dearly departed husband. I would hate for them to get off so easily as that."

"Death, Mrs. Phantomhive, is also permanent."

"That's my point. I would prefer something less so. I find myself struggling to find good help these days. And well, it would be free labor after all. If you had the choice between death and eternal servitude, don't you think you would much rather work to cleanse your soul of it's sins rather than face god as you are?"

The judge sighs, not buying Charlotte's words for a moment, but if it meant another criminal out of his prisons, he couldn't care less. "Do what you want. Take them. Sell them, but be discreet about it. If I catch wind of one wrong doing you'll be hanging with them, Mrs. Phantomhive. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal." She stands and straightens her skirt with a practiced smile. "I do thank your for your time. You wont regret this."