Like everybody, Felice had read the Edelstein murder case files. But she worked on it intermittently, prioritising the work Atty Bondevik, her official supervising lawyer, had her do. So it was not much of a surprise to learn that Ludwig, Atty's Vainamoinen's official intern, had a deeper understanding and far more professional notes on the subject. As she sat at his desk in the empty office, devouring the notes she'd dug up after class, she began to wonder if she could replace Ludwig in a mere two days' time. Ludwig kept detailed notes on the prosecution's evidence, theory, and anticipated counter-arguments. Beside each piece of evidence, he'd noted irregularities and when they could be used. He was extremely thorough.

At the final page, Ludwig had dated Alfred Jones' scheduled testimony, with bullets of probable statements. One, in bold red ink said: "Draw out details of arrest. Illegal seizure of knife? Object. Demurrer?"

Startled, Felice skimmed the records, flipping towards the Information, to which was attached Alfred Jones' sworn statement regarding the arrest.

"Guiliani answered the door. He was arrested. The officers conducted a search of his apartment."

Excitement and anxiety building, Felice flipped to the find the order of Pre-Trial. Prosecutor Honda had listed the knife found at the apartment as an evidence to be presented. And judging by his list, all of the good Prosecutor's most incriminating evidence flowed naturally from the knife.

Ludwig was right. Jones' cross-examination was all Atty Vainamoinen needed to win the case.

Felice grinned to herself as she gathered Ludwig's notes and locked his desk drawer again. She was beginning to grow eager to discuss this with Atty Vainamoinen in the morning when a voice interrupted her thoughts,

"Did something good happen?"

She started, surprised to hear Atty Bondevik. He stood at the door to Atty Vainamoinen and Ludwig's shared office, leaning against the frame and smiling a small, disarming smile at her.

"I, uh, found something useful in Ludwig's notes and imagined Atty Vainamoinen would be pleased to learn of it," Felice replied, smiling back uncertainly.

All comeliness dropped away from Lukas' face, but his tone remained light. "It's very thoughtful of you to offer to pick up Ludwig's things for him while he's kept away by...family matters." Why are you going through his desk?

"Not...Not really," Felice stammered. When serious, Atty Bondevik's icy blue stare was positively unnerving. She told herself that she followed Ludwig's instructions and was not doing anything wrong, but the intensity of Lukas' gaze nevertheless made her feel very, very guilty. She cleared her throat.

"Ludwig asked me to find his notes on the Edelstein murder case, but he...but I'm not...expected to give them to him."

"Not at this time of night, surely."

"Not ever." She took a deep breath and looked Atty Bondevik right in the eyes. "Not ever until the case is over."

His pale brows finally rose.

"I'm innocent."

He did not look persuaded, but the suspicion mellowed, and his shoulders relaxed a little. Pushing off the door frame, Lukas let himself in and came to stand on the other side of Ludwig's desk, across her. "So why are you filching Ludwig's notes?"

"I am not!" Felice protested hotly. "Please don't misunderstand. I met him earlier, and he gave me the keys to his desk drawer. He asked me to read his notes. Said they might help."

"Help what?"

"Help..." Felice averted her eyes from him and murmured, "Help craft a cross-examination."

When Lukas did not reply, Felice peeked up at him. He studied her silently, as if waiting for her to continue. At last Felice ventured, "Off the record?"

Those eyebrows went up again.

"I need to tell Lukas, not my boss, Atty Bondevik!" she insisted. Lukas figured that if he'd replied with said raised brows one more time, she would start stomping her feet in frustration. The idea made him chuckle.

"All right," he agreed, "off the record."

She hesitated only a minute more before murmuring, "Ludwig asked me to do the cross-examination in his stead."

"Jones' cross-examination?"

"Yes. Ludwig met Mr. Jones last night. He and Gilbert are squad mates." She hoped he understood what she wasn't saying. She willed him to understand.

But Lukas did not appear interested in Ludwig's motivations. He gestured instead to the notebook in Felice's hands, "What did he find that was so interesting?"

Relief flooded Felice. Eagerly, "His theory is that the knife recovered from Guiliani's apartment was the product of an invalid search and seizure."

"Tino never mentioned that during our meetings."

Felice nodded. "Ludwig only recently realized it, too, I think, and did not yet have the chance to run it by Atty Vainamoinen."

"And you will raise the same concern during the cross-examination?"

"Of course!"

If Lukas was surprised by her outburst, he did not react past a nod. But the smile he gave Felice's response was almost indulgent. "Good," he said, "That's my girl."

Good. I can trust you.

~oOo~

It was a weary Tino who looked up from his desk when Felice knocked at his office. The young lawyer's hair was tousled and he looked sleepless. For a moment he stared blankly at Felice as if trying to remember why she was there, before a small smile spread across his face.

"Come in! Have a seat."

Felice sat across him. "You called for me, sir?"

"Yes, yes," he shook his head as if to clear it, pottered with the flood of papers on his desk, gave up, and folded his hands over them instead. He laughed sheepishly.

"I'm sorry you have to see me in such a state. You see, I told Berwald at the start of this case that I was going to slug it out until the very end. I swore not to plea-bargain, and I definitely promised myself that the law would be enough. But..." here he sighed, gesturing widely at his desk, "this case seems impossible to win. And Ludwig just phoned in..."

Felice could no longer stand to see his downtrodden expression. "Ludwig is confident you can win," she put in.

Tino looked interested at once.

She brought out Ludwig's notebook and placed it on top of Tino's sea of papers. "It seems there is one thing the prosecution may have overlooked: the knife recovered from Guiliani's apartment was the product of an unconstitutional search and seizure. That, as well as prosecution's inferences and evidence flowing from it - the coroner's report and the DNA test results - are objectionable for being the products of the fruit of the poisonous tree."

Tino at once scrambled through his notes. He retrieved the pre-trial order where, true enough, the knife, the coroner's report interpreting the bloodstains on the knife, and the DNA report matching the blood on the knife to that of Ulrich Edelstein, were enumerated as amongst the prosecution's evidence.

"Oh, my goodness."

Felice couldn't help chuckling a little. "Yes. Ludwig sure worked hard on this."

Tino finally looked up, his amazement turning into determination. "He begged off from having to do the cross-examination. Said he needed to take care of his brother, Officer Beilschmidt. He also asked that I let you take his place. Are you willing, Felice?"

Her answer was already obvious, but she had to be sure, anyway. "What about Ludwig?"

"Atty Bondevik has agreed to switch with me. Ludwig will work on tax matters, instead, in exchange for you being my intern." Tino looked immensely pleased about having arranged all this himself. "What do you say?"

Despite her misgivings on Ludwig's withdrawal, Felice couldn't deny the excitement that bubbled up when she thought of appearing in a real court, defending a real case.

She nodded. "I'll get right to work on the cross-examination questions."

~oOo~

AN: Short chapter to make room for the coming long one. Happy new year!