Mia Fey stood in the Defense Lobby inside of the courtroom, clad in her favorite black, suit. She sat patiently on the plush sofa, looking around at her surroundings. The room was beautiful; it had tiled floors, wooden fixtures, and just reflected a powerful-yet-peaceful aura. She felt so at home sitting here in the courtroom. Whatever insecurities she felt yesterday seemed to vanish before her eyes.
She looked at her watch; it read 9:30. She rubbed her hands together in anticipation; it was only a half an hour until the case began.
"Exited, kitten?" She felt the weight shift on the plush couch and she turned around and saw Diego, sitting to her left. He looked as gorgeous as he normally did; his expressive eyes gleamed with a hint of playfulness as he addressed her. She felt a bit more at ease around him today, so she found it easier to sit next to him.
"Yeah, it is quite exiting; good luck today." She ran her fingers through her brown hair and shifted her posture to face him head on.
He let out a laugh. "Luck," he laughed again "I don't need luck."
Mia cocked her head to the side.
"You know you're really in trouble if you're relying on luck to win a case; that's my rule."
"But aren't Jasmine's finger prints on the murder weapon?" Mia asked. "Isn't that decisive enough evidence to put her in jail?"
"Don't worry, kitten, I've been in much worse situations before." He patted her arm affectionately. "Now, speaking of, we should probably meet with our client."
Diego leapt out of his chair first and extended his hand. Mia took it and he helped pull her off the couch. The two of them wandered over to Jasmine who was looking as jittery and pale as usual. She just stared at the approaching two attorneys without saying a word.
"Hey," Diego said to Jasmine. As soon as he spoke to her, her eyes immediately averted to the ground.
"It's going to be ok…" Mia gently patted her back.
The frail woman remained silent.
"You have to have a little bit of faith in us; we're your attorneys." After Mia said that, the young woman slightly nodded her head.
"Did you do it?" Diego asked her.
"No," She whispered back in a voice that Mia and Diego had to lean forward to hear.
"Then the truth will come out." Diego finished.
"Yeah, I suppose you're right." She said a little bit louder.
"Now let's go then; it's almost ten." Diego announced. After he said that, he just spun around on his heals and entered through the large, wooden doors. Mia looked behind her and gave Jasmine a curt nod before rushing behind Diego.
It took Mia's breath away to see the court room. She had scene it many times before back in law school, but never as a lawyer. Even though it wasn't her case, she felt like it was. The place felt almost surreal to her; the aroma of wood and books—the smell of knowledge, education, and justice—was intoxicating to her. She slowly made her way over to the defense table beside Diego. Her hand slowly brushed the cold wood of the defense table and it sent shivers down her spine. She looked over towards the judge, sitting on his bench with his glowing white beard and his black robes; just like in the movies.
"I know; it's a lot to take in." Diego said to her, as if he were reading her mind. "Some days, even I get the chills being here." He took a sip of his coffee.
"It just seems so…surreal." She breathed.
"I know," She turned around to look at him and his eyes dramatically softened. "There have been many things that have happened in this courthouse; I have made many memories of both joy and sorrow here and this place still takes my breath away."
"Mr. Armando…" Mia's voice trailed off. Something about the sincerity of his voice and the softness of his eyes made her trust him and believe in what he was saying. In that one sentence, she learnt more about the true Diego Armando, not the cocky façade that of an invincible lawyer that she thought that she knew.
"The trial should be starting shortly." Diego's posture straightened and he stared off at the judge's bench. His true self then vanished and his façade reappeared. Mia took this as a cue that this conversation was over. She stiffened up at herself and stared at the judge's bench and the two of them remained silent until the prosecution arrived.
After five or so minutes, prosecution finally entered the room and rushed over to the bench. The prosecutor was a balding man with a bundle of hair at the top of his head. He was dressed in a cheap, green suit with a red tie that clashed with it.
"This should be easy." Diego whispered to Mia in a voice so low only she could hear.
"Why?" She whispered back to him in a voice that was just as quiet.
"That's Winston Payne; he may be good at beating rookies, but he doesn't stand a chance against an experienced attorney."
"Is the defense ready?" The judge asked Diego, which cued the start of the trial.
"Yes, Your Honor." He replied in a firm, confident voice; even more so then his normal speaking voice. When he spoke like that, Mia had faith that they would win this case.
"And the prosecution?" He turned to Payne.
"Of course." He replied in a high, frantic voice as he played with the small bundle of hair on top of his head that looked like a cheap imitation of Elvis's hair.
"Your opening statement please?" The bald bearded man asked the prosecutor.
Payne cleared his throat. "The prosecution believes that the defendant, Miss Jasmine Green, murdered Doctor Earl Grey because her finger prints where found on the murder weapon and she has no alibi on the night of the murder. Ergo, it is logical to conclude that she was the one who killed him. Also, Mr. Oolong, a resident in the apartment, saw Miss Green leave the apartment a few minutes after the time of the murder. The prosecution wishes to summon the witness, Mr. Oolong, to the stand."
An older balding man in his sixties walked up to the stand. He was dressed in a cheap, dark blue suit, but it was obvious that he wasn't used to wearing suits because of the way he fidgeted with his tie. His entire head was covered in grey and he had a crooked, deceitful smile and wide, bloodshot eyes.
"Could you please state your name and occupation?" Payne asked the man.
"I'm Joe Oolong and I'm a forensic analysist for the police." He answered as he fidgeted with his tie.
"Could you please tell us what happened on the night of the murder?"
"Certainly," He replied in a nasal voice. "It was around seven o'clock at night when I heard a scream coming from Earl's apartment. So, I went into the hallway to check it out. I saw a woman with bloody cloths walk out of the apartment and flee towards the elevator. So, I went back inside and called the police and they arrived a few minutes later."
Mia tugged on Diego's red sleeve. "There aren't any contradictions…" She whispered to Diego.
"Relax; I'll just press the whiteness until he slips up." He whispered back to her.
"You're cross examination, Mr. Armando." The judge said.
Diego grabbed a cup of coffee and downed it in one drink. "You said that you heard a scream coming from the apartment? What did it sound like?"
"It sounded like a guy screaming, which is understandable, because he was getting stabbed."
Diego rubbed his chin and took a long pause. "How long did it take you to move over towards the hallway?"
"I wouldn't say more then a minute; I walked towards the door as soon as I heard the scream."
"What did the woman look like?" Diego asked him.
"Uhhh…" he rubbed his chin. "A woman?" Oolong's voice sounded very uncertain.
"Could you describe the woman?" Diego leaned on his elbow as he chugged another cup of coffee.
"She had brown hair and…uh…" His voice trailed off yet again. "Looked like her!" He pointed to Jasmine, who let out a gasp and put her delicate hands over her open mouth.
"You sounded uncertain about that." Diego smirked. "Why is that?"
"Objection!" Payne shouted in his high, panicked voice. "Your Honor, he's badgering the witness."
"Objection overruled."
"I have another question for you," Diego took a sip of his coffee before continuing. "Well, the police didn't arrive until seven thirty and if it only took them two minutes to arrive, what were you doing during that time? You did say earlier that you saw the woman run through the hallway at seven."
Oolong gulped and fidgeted with his tie again. "Something came up where I had to…do something before calling the police."
"Something that took precedence over a recent murder? I highly doubt that!" Diego shouted. "Perhaps you were tampering with the evidence…!"
"Objection! The defense is merely speculating!" Payne said in a rushed voice.
"Sustained; Mr. Armando, please revise that last statement."
Diego took a deep breath. "Well, why didn't you call the police right after the murder happened?"
The witness took a deep breath and quickly responded. "I was talking with Miss Medley!"
"Oh? I believe this calls for a new testimony." Diego took a sip of his coffee.
"The defense is right; the court is asking you to tell us, in detail, about why Miss Medley was there and what you two were discussing." The judge ordered as he slammed his gavel down on the bench causing a loud crack to fill up to courtroom.
"Miss Medley came over to visit earlier to discuss the upcoming baseball game and after she saw the bloodied woman leave, she passed out. So, I moved her to the couch and tended to her before calling the police."
"That's strange; Miss Medley is a nurse so she would deal with blood on a regular basis. I highly doubt she would pass out at the sight of blood like how you just described." Diego rubbed his black goatee.
"But…she did!" Oolong protested.
"Another thing I would like to add," Diego paused for a moment. "It seems very unlikely that a nurse and a forensic analysist would interact with each other in a regular basis."
Oolong gulped and continued to fiddle with his tie. Beads of sweat formed on his high forhead.
"The defense wishes to call Mint Medley to the stand!" Diego shouted as he slammed his coffee cup in the bench.
"No objections from the prosecution." Payne fiddled with his patch of hair at the top of his hair.
"Let's take a fifteen minute recess first." The judge offered. Mia and Diego then filtered out into the defense lobby.
Diego walked over to the couch that they were sitting on before the trial and quickly sat down. Mia then followed suit.
"So what did you think of that?" Diego leaned back on the couch and took another gulp of his coffee.
Mia placed her hands on her chest and breathed. "That was amazing! I've never scene such a performance in my life!" She continued. "I thought that we were done for when her finger prints were found on the murder weapon…"
He let out a chuckle. "Don't worry; someday you'll get that good. All it takes is a little bit of experience."
"What do you have planned for later?" Mia asked Diego, her eyes were wide with admiration and anticipation.
He laughed once again. "Can't I surprise you, kitten?"
The two of them didn't even notice the presence that was hovering over them. Finally, when Mia looked away from Diego, she noticed their client was standing next to them.
"Oh, hey Jasmine." Mia smiled at her as she slid over right next to Diego. She patted the seat of the couch. "Here; sit down."
She slowly sat down next to Mia and ran her fingers through her dark brown hair.
"Thank you, Mr. Armando, and you too Mia." She quietly said.
"That's why I became an attorney in the first place; to defend the defenseless." Diego cheerfully said. Those words seemed to ring in Mia's ears. To defend the defenseless; that's the same reason why she became a lawyer as well.
She felt a rush of admiration flow through her and only then did she realize how close they were sitting together. She instinctively pushed herself away from him so their arms were no longer brushing up against each other.
"It's not over yet, Jasmine. But don't worry; we'll win this for you so you can go back to school and become a doctor." Mia smiled at Jasmine, who seemed a bit more cheerful.
Diego linked his arms with Mia and the two of them leapt up from the couch. The two of them each grabbed one of Jasmine's hands and pulled her up off of the couch.
"Thank you," She whispered to the two of them.
"Let's go back into the court." Diego placed his hand on Mia's lower back and she felt blood rise to her face. She hoped that no one notice, but she saw Jasmine give her a knowing look.
Diego guided her through the large wooden doors and over to the defense bench. The entire court rose up from their seats as the judge walked over towards his bench. After he seated, the entire court followed suit except for the prosecution and the defense that remained standing.
"Well I hoped you all enjoyed your rest." The judge said before clearing his throat. "The court summons Mint Medley to the stand."
A young woman briskly walked up to the stand. Unlike yesterday, Mint Medley wasn't dressed in her scrubs but instead, she wore a black pencil skirt and a matching shirt with the first few buttons left undone to show off her curvy figure. She glared at the defense, then the prosecution. There was something unnerving about her glare how it was combined with her cold eyes and sneer.
"Your testimony, Miss Medley."
She inhaled deeply and placed her hands on her hips. "I came to visit Mr. Oolong to discuss the upcoming hockey game and the two of us heard a noise. We rushed over to the hallway and I saw a bloody woman." She took her hand off of her hip and brushed away one of her long curls. "Well, I was in such shock I simply passed out. I'm afraid I don't remember a thing afterwards."
"Oh, that must have been frightful for you, Miss Medley." The judge's eyes widened.
"Yes; even though I've scene a lot of blood in my medical carrier, the idea of blood being spilt with the intent to kill just made me pass out." She said. Her voice lacked sincerity.
"You're cross-examination, Mr. Armando." The judge turned to Diego. "Now go easy on her; she's had a rough experience."
"This is bad; the judge is on her side." Mia whispered to Diego. He smirked and drank some more of his coffee.
"That's funny; you said that you went to talk about the hockey game? Mr. Oolong said that it was baseball the two of you were discussing!" He slammed his coffee down on the bench, causing some of it to spill out of the cup.
"Well, I passed a few minutes later, so my memory was foggy." Mint Medley smugly said.
"Well, how come the police didn't see you when they came to the crime scene?" Diego asked.
"Mr. Oolong and I both agreed that I should go home to spare myself from more trauma."
He remained silent. Mia gave him a worried look. The expression that he was wearing was unlike any that she had scene before. He actually looked confused and worried.
"Mr. Armando?" The judge asked.
"Yes, Your Honor?" He looked at the judge. Mia could tell that the façade of confidence that he put up was starting to vanish.
"Does the defense have any further questions?"
Diego remained silent. Prosecutor Payne, Miss Medley, and Mr. Oolong all had smug expressions planted on their face. However, Jasmine looked very nervous.
He let out a depressed sigh. "N--"
"Objection!"
All eyes turned on Mia. She blushed and scratched the back of her head. "Y-yes, the defense does have further questions for the witness."
"I sure hope you know what you're doing." Diego whispered in Mia's ear.
"What is your shoe size?"
"Pardon?" Miss Medley raised an eyebrow.
"Objection!" Payne screeched. He was sweating bullets. "I don't see where this is relevant…"
"Well, I'm curious to see where the defense is going with this." The judge commented. "Well, go ahead. Miss Fey, was it?"
"Yes, Your Honor." Mia's palms started to sweat and her mouth started to become very dry. She took a sip of Diego's coffee so she could get some moisture in her mouth. Her face then scrunched up and she remembered why she wasn't a coffee drinker; it was far too bitter for her.
"Size eight; why?"
"That's the same exact size as I wear."
As soon as Mia blurted that out, she saw Diego bury his head in his hands. "What…are you doing?" He muttered to Mia along with a stream of muffled curse words.
"When I was at the crime scene yesterday, I noticed that the footprints are of a size eight shoe. Coincidence? I think not!" Mia explained. She let out a laugh of triumph and placed her hands on her hips.
"Well, Miss Green could have had a size eight shoe." Medley pushed her hair behind her.
"I wear a size six though…" Jasmine whined.
"You heard the lady; she wears a size six!" Mia shouted.
"She could have worn a size eight on that particular day." She countered.
"It was a stiletto heal; there would be no way that she could stab someone twenty times in a shoe that would be falling off of her." Mia said; her voice oozed with triumph.
"I don't see how this is relevant; she still killed him. Her fingerprints are on the murder weapon!" Medley retaliated. She gritted her teeth and slammed her hands on the stand.
"Oh, so her fingerprints are on the weapon but her footprints weren't at the scene of the crime? Well, your footprints were found at the scene of the crime. Were you tampering with the evidence or did you kill Earl Grey?" Mia slapped her hand against the bench.
"Objection; the defense is out of line!" Payne shouted.
"Sustained. Mr. Armando, get your apprentice in line." The judge glared at the two attorneys.
"Relax; I'll take over from here. Thanks." He whispered to Mia. She nodded her head and quietly stood next to her co-worker. Mia was still shaking from fright so she grasped onto the bench to prevent herself from falling.
Diego cleared his throat. "Kit--, I mean, Miss Fey does bring up a valid point. To add onto what she just said, it wouldn't be too unreasonable to for Mr. Oolong to tamper with the evidence and say that Miss Green's finger prints were found on the murder weapon. After all, he does work in forensics."
"What are you suggesting?" Medley asked; glaring at Diego who seemed completely unaffected.
"I'm suggesting that you killed Doctor Earl Grey and on the way out you ran into Mr. Oolong and convinced him to tamper with the evidence and cover for you!" Diego shouted.
Medley gave Diego the most vicious glare and her hair became all tangled and out of place. She then took a deep breath to steady herself and smoothed out her hair. Her facial expression quickly changed from being nervous to smug in a matter of seconds. "Ok, let's say that you're right about your crazy theory. Now where is your motive?"
"I was hoping that you would ask that." Diego smiled and dragged out Doctor Earl Grey's old bank records. "I noticed that a large sum of money has been taken out of his bank account at a similar time where a large sum of money has been added to yours. Coincidence?" He asked in a mocking tone.
Medley scowled at Diego once again; an even fiercer scowl then she gave before. "Well, if that were the case, wouldn't he be the one to want to kill me?"
"Perhaps that was the case." Diego's voice wandered off. He shook his head to the side then drank some more of his coffee. "Perhaps he asked you to come over to his apartment to kill you but you killed him first."
Instead of retaliating with a scowl, she remained silent and looked at the ground. "You're right; I'd like to testify of what really happened."
"Yes, you may testify." The judge nodded his head.
"A short while ago, patients began to die randomly; one of them was Jasmine Green's mother. So, I decided to investigate. When I walked into a room one day, I found Doctor Earl Grey hovered over a hospital bed, injecting the patient with some sort of liquid. After a minute, the patient died. So, I pulled him aside and asked him to resign. I…also admit to asking for a large sum of money for my silence."
"So you blackmailed him." Diego said in a matter-a-fact tone.
"Yes. Then, one day he called me over to his apartment. So, I went over. When I came, he seemed very angry; violently angry. So, I grabbed the knife and stabbed him."
"Twenty times? Isn't that a bit excessive?" Diego asked.
"I was very angry with him about killing all of those patents. Anyways, I ran outside of the door and I ran into Mr. Oolong. Being panicked, I bribed him with money to keep quiet and say that Miss Green's fingerprints were on the murder weapon. I also fled before the police arrived."
"So you confess to the murder of Earl Grey?" Diego asked her.
"Yes, I do." She breathed out a heavy sigh. "I would have done it again too; he murdered many innocent people."
"Well, that didn't stop you from blackmailing him and squeezing money from him." He then turned his attention over to the judge. "Your Honor, the verdict please?"
"Oh, yes. I would like to declare the defendant, Miss Jasmine Green, not guilty." The judge announced. "The trial of Mint Medley will be held on a later date."
Mia Fey breathed out a huge sigh of relief after the verdict of innocence was handed down on her client. She wandered out to the defense lobby and plopped down on the couch. She brushed her hair backwards and closed her eyes, letting the victory absorb her.
"Stressful case, huh kitten?" She opened up one eye and saw Diego taking his seat next to her.
"I thought that we would loose there for a minute." She opened her eyes and sat up straighter in the couch.
"We almost did until you saved the case." Diego patted her arm. "Thank you; you thought of something when I couldn't and we were able to get our client acquitted because of it."
Mia let out a light laugh. "All I did was panic, to be completely honest with you."
"Well, it paid off in the end." He smiled at her. She looked into his deep eyes and was filled with a foreign emotion that she had never felt before; it was like her heart skipped a beat and her stomach leapt out of her chest.
"Should we head back to the office?" Mia asked, changing the subject.
Diego looked at his watch. "It's almost four-thirty, so I think we can just go home now."
"Ok," She let out a slight yawn. "I could use a nap after that stressful day." She flashed Diego a weak smile.
"Come on, let me drive you home." He helped her off the couch. Just when the two of them were near the door, they heard a voice from behind them.
"Thank you,"
The two of them turned around and saw Jasmine. "Thank you," She repeated.
"Hey, no problem." Mia scratched the back of her head and grinned sheepishly.
"I told you that we would get you acquitted; the truth has an odd way of coming out." Diego said.
"Thanks to you two, now I can go back to school and be a doctor."
"Good luck in school." Mia smiled at her.
"Hey, I told you that you're in trouble if you're relying on luck." Diego countered in a playful tone.
"Oh, we were defiantly relying on luck today." Mia shot back, grinning at him.
"Well, we were in trouble today." Diego held open the door for Mia and she stepped through it.
"See you later, Jasmine." She waved at the young girl as she walked out the door. "I still think that we owe it to luck today." Mia turned to Diego.
The two of them descended down the courthouse stairs, chattering and laughing away without a care in the world.
A/N: So, here ends chapter two. The next chapter will be the Terry Fawles case. This chapter was a bit shorter then the last one and it was a bit too dialogue-heavy for me. Ah, you win some, you loose some. Just to let you guys know the characters that I created were all named after various teas. I hope you all enjoyed it!