Anna's funeral was in two days. Brett was the prime suspect, but it still had to be proven.
"Claim?" bellowed the judge. "Defendant, state your claim!"
Everyone groaned.
"Fella', everyone knows he's - "
" – Guilty; I am not guilty. Hear me now! I will not pledge guilty and lie!"
Jeb, Jubevelle's local judge, announced a three-hour recess to allow people to calm down a bit.
Kindness had left the court, and hatred towards any suspect in the case replaced it. Later they would learn this, after they realized the truth.
Many loved Anna and were furious with grief. No one had suspected her death, nor could anyone see the reason of it.
Once, so long ago it seemed, the town was cheerful – not one person after another, on a mission to find a killer. People once lived in harmony, not a soul suspected something wrong.
"Quickly now, let's go to Anna's home to collect any evidence that he might have left."
Rustling through her mail, and millions of other papers did nothing. Still, after about an hour and a half, nothing was there to be found. That is, until they saw the door. Uncertain as to what they might be seeing, they entered the area behind the door. Vivid paintings covered the walls.
"Whoever did this must have been either suicidal, or in a really bad mood." said one of the investigators. "EXcept, if they were Anna's killer…"
"You're onto something, aren't you?" inquired another.
"Zany, isn't it?" someone muttered.
"A bunch of outrageous pictures and odd characters – what is it all supposed to mean?"
"Bunch of nonsense, if you ask me."
"Care to take a look at the ceiling; there's a reflection from that mirror."
During all the commotion, no one noticed the mirror at all. Everything, reflected normally was cracked and twisted, but the odd pictures and characters all made sense now. For the rest of their lives, not one person that was present would ever forget that moment.
"Goodness…I…I guess it wasn't Brett after all…"
Half an hour had gone by, and the reflection was drawn and taken as evidence. It only took a few minutes to get an early finish to recess accomplished, and everyone back in the courtroom.
"Just a little while ago, we found something that could change how this case is going," and the case soon closed.
"Keeping a secret is hard for some of us, but for Brett, his secret must have been practically killing him. Losing Anna has kept us all torn with grief, unable to think," he continued. "Most of us thought she was the best person to go to for help, but none of us realized how much help she needed. No, nobody was after her, and no, she was not insane." On and on he went, intriguing everyone in the room about what Anna's secret was.
"Poor, poor Anna…"
"Quit it!" exclaimed Brett, so abruptly that he, himself, was startled. "Remember how Anna used to tell us all calming stories?"
Surprisingly, everyone did.
"Truthfully, someone needed to do the same for her; when no one was around, she would paint anything that bothered her, and nothing came out pretty when it was done. Unfortunately, all her paintings showed the anger and depressing feelings, she would go through. Well, I walked in on her once, she didn't do anything to stop me except paint on the wall another painting showing me walking in, and her in some distorted form. EXactly why, I am not sure. You cannot imagine how I felt seeing all those magnificent paintings, but all so full of hatred and disgust. Zipping in and out, she could not decide what to do except to tell me not to tell anyone about it and leave at once. As I was walking out, I heard her take a deep sigh of relief, and it was all over for her. But I didn't know what to do except keep the secret and leave…"
Case Closed
