The courthouse was deathly silent, and so was Mary Masque. She stood at the witness stand in her mask and lab coat, an invisible spotlight enveloping her. She had been brought from the lobby straight to the courtroom after Mia's demand rang out. Franziska had gone to the gallery to wait by Phoenix's side. Mia was standing as tall and proud as ever, but watching her, Phoenix could not mistake the tremor in her body, nor the edge of her eyes as she walked closer to the stand.
Mr. Gray managed to speak up before Mia could. "M. Masque, do you understand the accusation that has been leveled at you?"
Mary crossed her arms, a barely audible scoff coming out from beneath the mask. "I cannot say I do, Prosecutor. I am not the one on trial. I was not brought here to be accused. And I do not believe this defense lawyer has any solid proof that I am what she says I am." She shifted her head to the side to look at Mia. "Isn't that right?"
"No…proof?" Mia smiled and flicked the hair from her eyes. "No problem. I can make proof. Ms. Masque, can you please remove your mask?"
Mary stiffened. Everybody-Mia, Iris, Mrs. Von Karma, Phoenix, Franziska, Old Raccoon, the gallery-saw it straight away. Mary put her hands on the stand and leaned forward, as if a sack of bricks had landed on her back. "You…have got to be kidding me," she hissed. "Who gave you the right to say such a thing!? You can't make me remove my clothes!"
"Your Honor!" Mia snapped her head back to look at Old Raccoon, who was pushing back his sunglasses. "I request that the court order the witness to remove her mask at once!"
"This is outrageous!" Ms. Von Karma yelled. "This is an invasion of privacy! This-"
The gavel slammed down.
"Order!" Old Raccoon sat back in his chair. "Witness, you will remove your mask!"
Mary did nothing at first except lower her head and heave. Then she gingerly stood back up and grabbed the underside of her mask with both hands, slowly pulling it up and off before letting it drop to the side.
The gallery gasped. There were some differences-the hair was red, there were bags under the eyes-but the face was that of Iris White, who was sitting in the defendant's chair wide-eyed and open-mouthed. Dahlia Hawthorne began to knish her teeth as the crowd began to shout and crow and boo.
"Order!" Old Raccoon slammed down the gavel once, twice, then three more times. "Order! Order!" His obscured eyes scanned Dahlia. "Witness….are you the same Dahlia Hawthorne Ms. Fey has just described?"
With a supreme effort of will, Dahlia made her face still and took a deep breath. "Yes, Your Honor. I am."
Mia walked forward until she was a few inches from the witness stand. "You were so close, Ms. Hawthorne," she said. She was still smiling, but even from a distance, Phoenix could tell that a touch of bitterness had been added to it. "First Mr. Fawles. Then Diego. A few months of freedom, and now Mr. Swallow, the last spanner in the works, seems to have ruined everything for you. That rock did not save you then, and it won't save you now. What do you have to say to that?"
Dahlia was silent but smirked abruptly. She began to chuckle. High-pitched and dark, it struck the heart of every person in the courtroom. Dahlia then leaned forward again, laughing so hard she was mute, her mouth fluttering open and shut. Then she looked back up at Mia, her face contorted into a snarl.
"This is something, Fey, this is definitely something. But I have just one more question, just one more question. How do you even know the rock was the weapon?"
"…Pardon?"
"How do you even know the rock was the weapon?" Dahlia flung a limp left hand at Iris. "How do you know she didn't do something else to Doug and try to make a fake weapon to throw people off the trail? Take a random rock and put his blood on it?"
"I know that the answer to that..." Mia spoke slowly and deliberately. "Is that it is completely nonsensical. It is highly unlikely that Ms. White would leave behind a counterfeit weapon with her fingerprints on it."
"But you can't deny it's possible," Dahlia sneered.
"Sorry to interject," Mr. Gray entered the conversation. "I am afraid that the witness has a point. Even if she is not innocent, even if she is guilty, as we can all see now, of perjury and identity theft, we cannot rule out the idea of a real murder weapon once the idea is introduced."
"Ms. Fey," Old Raccoon spoke up. "Do you have a retort? Is there anything else that could have been used for the attack on Doug Swallow?"
Mia closed her eyes. Think outside the box, think outside the box…
The image of the Pride of Ivy flashed into her mind. The flowerbeds, the red roses, the pink roses, the white roses, the rock, the shovel on the rack…
The…shovel? The…
Mia sprang into action.
"The shovel!"
It was impossible to tell if Old Raccoon winced or winked beneath his sunglasses. "The shovel?"
"The shovel?" Dahlia Hawthorne's face was the same, but it had turned pale. Mia noticed this right away and looked back up at the judge. "Your Honor! I request that the shovel at the Pride of Ivy be examined.
"What…do you mean?" Mr. Gray wiped the sweat off his brow.
Mia did not address him, but instead turned around to look at Dahlia once more, her eyes locked on her target.
"It is possible that the shovel is the true weapon of this crime. You used it, but had to leave it behind when you were close to being discovered by Old Man Dodder. So you put it on the rack and used the rock as a decoy. There's no blood on the shovel now, but that is nothing a bit of Lysol testing can't overcome. And we can check it for fingerprints, too." She paused.
"What do you say to that?"
Dahlia Hawthorne said nothing. She bolted from the stand, shoving aside a bailiff that was in the way.
As if by instinct, Franziska lept from the gallery. She took one, two, three long strides, and swung her arm down in an overhand arc, the crop almost hissing in the air. The thick end struck Dahlia squarely on the nose. She crumpled to her knees, wiping frantically at the blood that was pouring down her lips. A soundless scream flew out between them.
Old Raccoon closed his eyes, then opened them. He repeated the exercise twice more before clearing his throat. "What is the status of the witness?"
Mr. Gray crossed his arms with a solemn expression, seeming to not notice Mrs. von Karma standing beside him with her head lowered.
"She has been arrested and taken in for questioning, Your Honor."
"Very well." Old Raccoon nodded. "May the defendant come to the stand?"
Iris slowly made her way forward, Mia's hand on her shoulder. She had tears in her eyes, and her body trembled, but she managed to smile. "Yes, Your Honor?"
He nodded. 'I am prepared to announce my verdict." He was silent for a moment before slamming his gavel down.
"Not guilty!"
"I…I don't know what to say." Iris stood before Phoenix, Mia, and Franziska in the lobby. Her demeanor had not changed from when she had come to the stand. Phoenix stepped forward, taking her into a hug and smiling. "You don't have to say anything. It's all over now. It's all over…"
Franziska watched the two of them carefully. She felt the familiar jolt, but it somehow did not seem to sting quite so badly. She watched Iris disengage and turn her attention to Mia.
"Thank you…thank you so much…"
Mia chuckled and waved. "It's my job…."
"YOU!"
All eyes looked behind Iris, who turned around herself, to stare at Mrs. von Karma storming towards them, with Mr. Gray running a pace behind her with waving arms. The older woman's face seemed to almost be torn at the seams, her veins bulging and her green spectacles fogged. She pointed a quivering finger at Franziska, who as of now felt like a four-year-old again. Her fingers on the crop loosened.
"You ruined this! You have shamed me! If it wasn't for you, if it weren't for those notes, I would have…"
And then Phoenix stepped in front of Franziska.
He stepped right in front of her, looked straight up at Mrs. von Karma, and put as much steel as possible in his voice.
"The trial is over. You can go now."
Mrs. Von Karma did not say another word. She yanked off her spectacles, and for the first time Phoenix was able to see her eyes. Small, brown, and bloodshot. Even so, he stood his ground. After another moment, she stormed off with a huff. After another moment, Franziska looked down at herself. She had tightened her grip on the crop as soon as Phoenix had stepped in. It surprised her, but not as much as it would months before.
Mr. Gray took it upon himself to break the awkward silence, adjusting his ascot and nodded his head towards Mia.
"Thank you for the experience today."
"Think nothing of it."
With another nod, Mr. Gray turned and left. Phoenix looked back to Franziska, who was still standing silently, and put his hand on her shoulder. Mia walked up to the pair.
"You should get back to the university. It is close to the end of the year and I expect great things from you."
"Yeah," Phoenix scratched the back of his head. "If all goes well, I'll pass the bar exam and become a real defense attorney…"
Mia put her smile back on. "Just so you know, there's always a place for you at Fey & Co Law Offices."
-A multi-chapter story; Chapter 31; story idea by CRed1988 and writing by Jerviss.
