Chapter Twelve

Monday morning, bright and early, at about 08:30 hrs, Gypsy was awake, fully dressed, and standing anxiously outside of her editor's door. She paused and spent about half a minute deliberating whether or not she should go ahead with her plan.

The previous day had been spent in deep thought, and she had finally come to a decision. One which she was about to act on now.

She rapped on the door.

"Come in." called out Ed.

Gypsy stepped in through the door way and went to stand in front of the man's desk.

"Ah Ineudo, have a seat."

"I'll be ok standing Ed, I just came here to give you this," she said, handing him an envelope.

"What's this?" he asked, looking at her with a puzzled expression.

"It's a formal letter of resignation. I have exactly 3 months, paid vacation time stored up, which, if I'm not mistaken, is the required notice period."

He stared at her blankly. "What? Resign? Why? You're currently our top reporter!"

Gypsy sighed. "5 years ago, when I took this job, I never expected to make it this far in such a short time, and I think I should quit now while I'm ahead. The events of the past few days have made me look at my priorities and I would really like to stop putting off my novel writing desires and give my ideas a go."

Ed was silent for a moment before he replied in somewhat of a grave tone: "Well, I'll be one of your first buyers. And if and when you ever wish to return, just know that there will always be a place for you here at the Domino Daily."

"Thank you Ed. And I'll try to vacate the apartment as soon as possible."

He shook his head and waved a hand across his face. "Ah, there's no need for that, Miss Ineudo. There more than enough apartments available for future employees, so you need not move until your three months are up."

"Thank you Ed."

She left Ed's office and went down to the building and whipped out her c-phone. The next thing on the agenda was to call Joey.

"Hey Joey, its Gyp. What's up?"

"Hi, I was about to call."

"Yeah right, are you free for lunch?"

"No, but I am free for a brunch say around 10:30. I need to talk with you in person," replied Joey.

"That's funny. I have some big news myself."

"Meet me at the diner opposite my office building; we can both grab a bite to eat."

"Fine, see you then."

Gypsy spent the rest of the morning going around the office and saying her farewells, being sure to get a head start on clearing out her desk.

The Domino Court house and Sam's Diner, at a normal pace, was about a 15 minutes walk from The Domino Daily. Gypsy covered the distance in 12. Both she and Joey dined here often. It was decorated in a festive nautical theme, and the food was good and greasy.

She sat in a corner booth and waited for Joey. At this time, the breakfast rush was over and the lunch rush wouldn't start until around 11:30, so they weren't many people in the diner. She didn't have to wait long. Joey came in dressed in a dark business suit. Gypsy noticed that he had a peculiar look on his face. Spotting her wave, he came over and slid into the seat opposite her, so they were sitting facing each other.

The waitress came over; they were both regulars and knew the menu by heart. Joey ordered a coffee, a hamburger, and fries. Gypsy ordered a jelly donut, a scone and a glass of juice.

While they were waiting, Joey spoke first. "I can't believe that it has been a week already."

Gypsy nodded in agreement. "Me neither. So tell me, what's the big news that couldn't wait till midday?"

"Oh, uh, I got assigned to be prosecutor at Kaiba's Trail; they said I'd be perfect as I have ties to both the victim and the accused."

"Damm," whispered Gypsy.

"Yeah, I think its Kaiba and his lawyers doing, to keep a more experienced prosecutor from coming up against them."

"There is no way they can win. Tea walked in the room after she heard the shot, right?"

"Right."

"And I ran up shortly after. We both saw him standing over the body."

"They say they can't find any prints on the gun, and he hadn't any gun powder residue on his hands, so…" He left his sentence hanging.

The waitress placed their orders in front of them and queried if they wanted anything else. They both said no and she moved on to other tables.

"Double Damn," swore Gypsy softly.

"Uh-huh."

"But my article was in the paper the very next day; everyone on the Jury must have read it. Hmmm. Then I remember once there was a murder case that was called for acquittal because too many negative things had been leaking into the media and the defense said it had the potential to poison the juries' mind."

"Do you think Kaiba will try that move?"

Gypsy shrugged, pausing to take a sip from her juice. "I don't know. But even if he does, I can guarantee you that it won't work. The last guy who pulled that, his case was dismissed and got imprisonment for life."

Joey chuckled nervously. "I'm worried that I won't be able to pin anything on him."

"When is the hearing?"

"It got moved up to this Friday."

"Don't worry," Gypsy assured him, reaching out to pat him on the hand. "You'll do fine."

"I sure hope so. Not because this is my first bid case, but because I want to see that bastard behind bars."

"Yeah, well…he keeps saying that he didn't do it. And last Tuesday, he even went as far as calling me up to his mansion to request that I write him a retraction."

"He did? Why didn't you tell me?" the blonde hissed, brown eyes wide. "You don't believe him…do you Gypsy?"

"Wait a minute. Before you freak out, let me say this: it didn't matter what he said. I told him no. As for believing him…" Gypsy paused and let out a big sigh. "I don't know what to believe any more."

"Didn't you say you had some news as well?"

Gypsy stared at him for a moment before widening her brown eyes in recollection. "Oh yeah. I did."

"So…what is it?"

"I quit my job."

"YOU WHAT?!" exclaimed Joey, dropped the fry he had been holding up to his mouth.

Some people in the diner shot him weird looks.