Chapter 9: The Trial of The Century

Mid October 2007

Arendelle Ripper Caught At Last

That was splashed in all papers the next day. Jack couldn't go anywhere without seeing that headline or someone talking about that headline. He kept his head down. Murmurs and mutters would follow him wherever he went. It seemed everyone had an opinion about him in Arendelle. Whether it was that he was a poor person that was duped by his wife or how he could possibly not know what his wife was, he didn't care.

The truth was that he had no idea how he didn't know. For thirty years he had known Elsa and he had never once seen this kind of behaviour from her. The way she described killing those poor people sent shivers down his spine. The Elsa he had known was kind, generous and a fantastic woman, wife and mother. Now, he didn't know who he was married to.

He turned into the footpath that led to his mother's and grandfather's house. A sigh escaped him. They had taken care of the children when Jack and Elsa had to go to the police station for questioning. Neither one of them had asked any questions but they would have seen the front page of the paper by now. How was he going to explain this? What about his kids? Their mother was going to go to jail – there was zero doubt in his mind about that. How was he going to explain that they will never see their mum again?

He walked into the house, calling out. His mother responded and the second she saw him; she gave him a big hug. Jack could see the anxiety etched on her face.

"Jack, m'boy," his grandfather, a huge man by the name of Nicholas North, boomed out.

"Good morning Grandad," Jack said, as the man scooped him into a bear hug.

"You need to leave my great-grandkids with me more often," his grandfather said when he released him. "That Leif, man he has a lot of energy."

Jack accepted a cup of tea that his mother handed him and all three adults sat down around the fireplace. There was a long moment of silence as they sipped their hot beverage.

"Where are the kids?" Jack said, finally breaking the silence.

"Upstairs," his mother said, in a small voice, "they're just getting ready."

There was another silence, one only broken by the noises of them all drinking their tea.

"Did you see today's headline, dear?" his mother asked, sounding extremely nervous.

Jack set his cup down. "Did the children?"

"No," his grandfather said. "We made sure not to. We didn't know how you wanted to approach this."

"Honesty may work best," Jack sighed. "How does one approach this topic though? How does one say to his kids that their mother is going to jail for being a sadistic murderer?"

"And you really didn't know?" his mother asked sceptically.

"Why does everyone keep saying that? I didn't know, Anna didn't know, not even her parents knew. No one knew!"

"Okay, calm down," she said worriedly.

"Calm down?" Jack shrieked. All the anger of the past day was finally pouring out of him. "Calm down? How do you suppose I do that? Huh? The love of my life is a sadistic murderer and she is going to spend the rest of her life in jail. She had betrayed not only me but our two children. How can I calm down, Mom? How do you propose I do that?"

The two elders just looked at each other – unable to respond to his question. Of course they too had zero idea on how to do this. There hadn't been a chapter in the parenting book titled 'What To Do When Your Mother Becomes A Serial Killer'. There also wasn't a handbook titled 'What To Do When Your Wife Is Secretly A Killer'. Like what does one actually do?

The sounds of footsteps running down the stairs caught the attention of the three people in the room. Leif and Sigrid roared with delight when they caught sight of their father.

"Hey Dad!" Sigrid said as Jack picked her up. "Where's Mum? I thought she would be here with you?"

Jack sighed. The time had come for him to finally tell his children the truth – well a part of it anyway. It was hard, it was torture, but he had to be as honest with his kids as he could be. He sat the children down next to him on the couch and gave them a gentle expression.

"Leif, Sigrid, you know that your mother and I love you both so very much."

"Dad, what's wrong?" Leif asked, his voice sounding concerned. It broke Jack's heart to see his son like this. "Is something the matter with Mum?"

"Kids, your mum did a bad thing and she won't be around anymore," Jack said.

"What bad thing?" Sigrid asked.

"A very bad thing," Jack replied. "People will be talking about it all over the town, but I want you guys to remember the mum you know and not what people say about her. Okay?"

"Okay dad," the pair of them sang.

"Come on," Jack motioned for the kids to get up. "Let's go home. Maybe we can get ice cream on the way home."

The kids sang his praises all the way to the ice cream parlour.

Late October 2007

Bunnymund sat in the courtroom, ready for Elsa's preliminary trial to begin. Over the past couple of months, he didn't know what to expect today. Elsa may have confessed everything to him but it seemed as if she still kept some things up her sleeve. The courts and police had tried to bargain with her again and again, trying to get her to reveal where she had hidden the other victims. Bunnymund knew that there were quite a few left. She had been really cocky in those interviews.

The whole courtroom was packed – not only with reporters but also with members of the public and also victims' family members. Bunnymund recognised quite a few of them from the investigation. The room was buzzing with everyone trying to get the latest news in the case. Some of the reporters kept glancing over to the family members to see what their reactions would be, some were craning their necks to see when Elsa would be brought into the room. Everyone wanted to get the scoop first.

The fact that the heir to Arendelle's richest and most influential family was the dreaded Arendelle Ripper had caused quite a stir in the community. Some had automatically believed it and some didn't. Bunnymund felt confident in the work he had done to bring a killer to justice. He just had to keep thinking of Elsa as that – a cold blooded murderer – and not what she also happened to be – a good friend of his.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Nina Hansen; the secret girlfriend of the victim Monica Nilsen. He could see her sitting with Monica's mother. While Mrs Nilsen's eyes were fixed on the judge, Nina's was fixed squarely on her lap. Tears were coming down her eyes. Well, he had promised her to catch her lover's killer and he did that. However, it wasn't the outcome he wanted either. His best friend was going to jail for murder. Her girlfriend was dead. Not the best ending for 2007.

Two bailiffs brought Elsa in, who was wearing a very lovely blue blazer jacket mumble with a black pencil skirt. When she entered, the courtroom suddenly went into a chaotic uproar. The judge had to bang the grovel at least ten times for people to finally get the message.

Next to Bunnymund were Jack, Anna and Kristoff. None of them had shown any visible reaction when Elsa had entered the room. As Elsa sat down, Bunnymund saw that she had a small smirk playing around her lips. She was enjoying the attention.

"Elsa Iduna Frost," the judge said, giving Elsa a distasteful look. "You have been charged with the murder of Elizabeth Best. How do you plead?"

There was a silence as Elsa got to her feet, her lawyer standing next to her. The whole courtroom held their breath as they waited with bated breath to see what Elsa would say, what she would do.

"Guilty, your honour," she said, the smirk was now spread all over her face. It was very chilling to look at.

As the words reverberated around the courtroom, people seemed to realise what had happened. Then they all cheered at Elsa's answer. Everyone was pleased. Bunnymund, himself, was glad that Elsa hadn't made everyone go through the ordeal of a trial. Maybe she had somewhat of a heart after all.

However, that look in her eye said otherwise. It felt like he was seeing the true Elsa after all this time. As if the Elsa he knew had been performing and now they had gotten to the curtain call.

"You plead guilty, without pressure and knowingly?" the judge asked, clasping his hands together.

"I do," Elsa nodded.

There was something strange about the way Elsa was speaking. Bunnymund couldn't put his finger on it.

"Alright, it is time for you to allocute your crimes," the judge continued.

Elsa took a deep breath in and allowed a sadistic grin to encase her features. It made Bunnymund almost jump back in his seat.

"Your honour, I would just like to say that people think I am a monster for what I have done, I just want to set the record straight. I am not a monster." Elsa paused and turned to face everyone. "I am so much worse. You all think you know the extent of what I have done? You guys don't even know the worse of what I have done. I just want to give a shout out to the only idiot in the Arendelle Police Force who managed to get me," Elsa started to clap as she looked at Bunnymund. "Well done Bunny, you really made your colleagues look like idiots." Elsa gave an icy laugh that made everyone, including the judge, shiver with terror. "Ah, well guess the fun is over, which is sad. As they say, all good things must come to an end. Thank you, your honour. I think I am ready for my sentencing."

Everyone was in shock at the words that they had just heard. Bunnymund was so sure that maybe Elsa would have said something that showed a little remorse, something to say that she was sorry for the pain and suffering she had caused. However, she had just told everyone in Arendelle that she wasn't. Bunnymund gaped at Elsa. She was mad, truly and utterly mad. There was no other explanation.

The judge took a few seconds to recover from this speech. "No remorse? No regrets?"

"Zero remorse," Elsa said. "I enjoyed killing those pathetic people." Elsa shrugged. "In terms of regrets, maybe not getting more enjoyment out of it while I could."

The judge sat there in stunned silence. It was the first time in the entirety of Arendelle's history that someone of this sadistic level had been seen in a courtroom. No one knew how to respond to that. Having a serial killer on this level was something that no one had ever witnessed before. The best was some guy back in the 1880's who had murdered three people over the course of a year. He was eventually caught but died before he could get to trial – someone had shot him on the way there.

"Very well," the judge finally seemed to have recovered from the shocking speech. "Elsa Frost, before I sentence you, I open the floor for victim impact statements."

Many people got to their feet and waited in front of the microphone. Some had long well-prepared speeches, some had short ones that simply showed their hurt and sadness. At least thirty people had gotten to their feet to give a statement. However, there was one theme amongst all of them. They all called for the death penalty not to be imposed. It seemed that every one of them wanted to know what hurt Elsa had done for other family members. Finally, Nina Hansen was the last person called up. Tears were streaking down her face but she looked determined and strong.

"My name is Nina Hansen and I was a friend of the victim Monica Nilsen," Nina started, reading from the piece of paper in front of her before fixating her gaze on Elsa, "Elsa Winters, you were just the rich heiress to everyone in town, but now you are more than that. You are the woman who took away the love of my life. Many people don't know this, but Monica Nilsen wasn't just my best friend, she was the light of my life, my partner in life. We were in love, we had a life together but yet, you saw it fit to take that away from us. I was going to ask Monica to marry me. I knew she was the one for me, but you put an end to that. You didn't spare a thought for your actions that night. You saw her nothing but as a bit of fun for you. This act will scar me and her family for the rest of our lives."

Nina took a deep breath in. It looked like for a moment she might be unable to continue but she somehow managed it.

"I don't understand how you could do such an action. How you could hate instead of love? How you could destroy instead of nurture? You don't deserve forgiveness, but I will give it to you anyway. I just ask one thing in return, please. Let the other families know where their lost loved ones are. They need to find them to bring them home. Please, perform this one last act of kindness to show us that there is some good left in you."

Nina then turned to the judge.

"Your honour, I understand that this woman has been convicted of one of the most hateful acts another human can do. I beg you, please don't impose the death sentence. Firstly, she is a mother to two wonderful little children. No matter what she has done, do not punish the innocent children. They need their mother in their lives. Secondly, there are people here who haven't had a chance to find their lost loved ones. Give us a chance to help them find closure along the way. Thank you."

Nina sat down. There was a long silence as everyone reached for the tissues in their bag or their neighbour's bag. The judge looked visibly moved by the speeches and especially by Nina's. Bunnymund was very moved too. It had been a very brave thing for her to do. He caught her eye and gave her a gentle nod, which she smiled at.

"Elsa Winters, I will now impose sentencing on you," the judge said. "These kind people have advocated for you not to be sentenced to death. They have pleaded for you to be kept from the gallows. I commend their bravery to ask their loved one's killer to be allowed a last-ditch mercy in life. I will respect their choices." He took a deep breath in before continuing. "Elsa Winters, you have been found guilty of murder. I sentence you to life in prison. Do you have anything else to say?"

Elsa shrugged. "Nope, I don't. Thanks guys, this was fun."

Nobody moved, nobody dared to speak at Elsa was led away by the bailiffs.

A/N: Don't worry guys, this is not the end, only the beginning! More to come!

Reviews:

Forgotten Narrative: Oh you may enjoy my story Conviction then - basically it is a similar plot, Elsa is framed for the murder of her parents and Anna and Jack set out to prove her innocence. I do enjoy Dark Elsa a lot though. Glad you are liking it!

Collington: Yeah Elsa managed to worm her way pass Anna. Ooo yeah that would have been a great idea but alas, story went another way. I meant more like she has a smidgeon of a heart with that, not necessary a whole heart.