Chapter Eight: Friends and Rivals
Mia shook nervously. Her stress had almost caused her three accidents on the way to the school with her motorcycle, but she was still alive and well.
Nervous, but alive.
Guess today's the day… My first investigation… Even though it's only for a mock trial, I can't help but be worried about what it's gonna be for… Mia gulped. The possibility of coming across a dead body, as fake as it was, made her want to throw up. No, stop complaining and go to this thing, Mia! You can't expect to compete against Lana and Neil like this, can you?!
She gave herself two strong slaps as self-punishment. She pulled out a list of information she had received from the administration about the case and where to find some key individuals. Her "client" was being "detained" inside the main building of the school.
Lana had suggested she went to talk with them before anything, so Mia headed there. She had no idea who her client would be, and she wasn't sure if she was looking forward to finding out. The thought that he could possibly be guilty of what they had accused him worried her.
Well, I won't know before I try talking to them, whoever they are. Let's do this, Mia!
"I-I didn't do it, Miss! You gotta believe me!"
W-Wow, for an actor, he's pretty good… Mia thought, sweatdropping as she watched her client panic. But that's not what matters! "Hm, I… I don't doubt that, but… could I at least know your name and what you're being accused of…?"
"O-Oh, right! S-So sorry, Miss!" the young man said, stuttering. "M-My name is W-William Fine! I-I've been accused of m-m-murder!"
Mia sighed. This wouldn't help with her nerves, but she wasn't the most nervous one, at least. Ugh, for someone called Mr. Fine, you don't look so good… She thought, her shoulders slumping. "I see… That's not great news, isn't it…?" W-Why am I saying this…? He probably knows that… "I-I mean, if you're found guilty, it won't be good news, right…?"
"Y-Yes, so that's why y-you've gotta help m-me, Miss!" William begged, tearing up. "I-I didn't do it!"
"I-I'll help you, no need to cry!" Jeez… What will it be if he's really accused of murder one day…? Besides, I've signed up as the defense on this case, so it's not like I can refuse to help him… "Can you tell me what happened, Mr. Fine?"
"W-Well, yes, o-of course…" he nodded nervously. "I-I was coming out of my classroom t-to go get something the t-teacher had asked for when t-that prick showed up and t-tried to pull my pants d-down in the hallway!"
Mia's eyes widened, and she had to stop herself from laughing. What the hell? Who in the world came up with that…? "G-Go on…"
"S-So I pushed him s-slightly, and w-well… he k-kinda fell down the s-stairs…?" William stuttered hesitantly.
"Y-YOU DID WHAT?!" I-I can't defend him if he says that! W-Well, if the other guy tried to pull down his pants, that might be mitigating circumstances, but… She doubted this would work. Often, self-defense was used as a line of defense, but this hardly justified killing someone. "I… I see…" Great…
"I-I panicked, so I w-went to check on him… a-and he was unconscious, b-but… he w-was still breathing, I-I promise! S-Someone else must have come and k-killed him after I left the scene!"
"Someone else, you say…?" Hm, maybe he's right… I don't know if I'll be able to prove it, but… "I see…" she nodded. "And why were you arrested, in your opinion? They must have had a reason, don't you think?" Or at least, they probably gave one to Lana…
"I… I actually don't know…" William admitted, calming down just a little bit. Mia guessed he was getting tired of that fake stuttering. "They came to get me after my class… I don't think anyone saw me push him down the stairs, so I don't know…"
This was something Mia would have to figure out if she wanted to have a fighting chance. Her books about defending explained very clearly that understanding the police's reasoning was crucial to have a strong rebuttal once the trial began.
"Could you tell me where it happened so I can go investigate, Mr. Fine?" the young woman asked.
William went on to tell Mia where he had pushed the victim before begging her to save him some more. She assured him that she would do her best, though she was still extremely nervous. Upon remembering that Lana and Neil were her opponents, she realized that this was a promise she wasn't sure to keep.
Well, I guess this is the place, considering the tape around the stairwell…
"Hey, stop right there!"
"H-Huh?" Mia turned around as she was about to enter the crime scene. She noticed a young woman standing there with an angry expression.
"This is a crime scene! You can't just step in during the investigation!" the woman said and sighed. "The prosecutor will be done soon, so you'll be able to investigate yourself. Until then, you wait on the side, alright?"
"H-Hm, alright…" It's like she's a totally different person! Mia thought, nodding and doing as she was told for fear that she would get kicked out of something of the sort. She's so much stricter when she investigates than she usually is… Mia gulped, coming to terms with how serious this was, even for a mock trial. I have a bad feeling about this investigation…
Mia watched as her friend Lana walked back to the "crime scene" without even looking in her direction once. She didn't know if the detective-to-be always acted like that when she investigated, but it definitely had dissuaded Mia.
She waited for a few minutes, hearing some voices coming from the stairwell. Mia couldn't see a thing from where she was standing, but she didn't dare to move to see better.
"Ah, if it isn't the bambina! Why are you waiting here, looking like a sad puppy?"
"O-Oh, Ne- P-Prosecutor Marshall…" Seems like he's done with his investigation… "I… I was trying to get on the crime scene, but Detective Skye told me to wait until you were done, and so I did. Can I go now?"
"Ah, so the pretty lady told you to wait here, I see… Looks like she's going all out on you right off the bat," Neil noted, chuckling. "Well, that's how serious she can be, sometimes. Anyway, I'm done here, so you can go investigate. I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you, though, bambina."
"R-Really…?" That's not good news at all…
"Go see by yourself," the prosecutor-to-be told her with a shrug. "Well, I'll see you around town. Good luck. You'll need it."
Mia narrowed her eyes on him as he walked away carefreely. "T-Thanks… I guess?" I honestly don't know if I should be grateful or not… Well, let's get moving.
With Neil's authorization, Mia carefully stepped into the crime scene, noticing Lana discussing something with another young man. A few men and women were busy doing all kinds of stuff on the staircase, though the thing that jumped out to Mia the most was at the bottom of the stairs.
"E-Eeeek!" she screeched at the sight of a bloody corpse lying there. "B-Blood!"
"Could you please keep it down? People are trying to investigate here."
"A-Ah, La- um, Detective Skye…" I guess I kinda screamed, yeah… "S-Sorry… I guess I didn't expect the blood."
"I saw that…" Lana sighed. "Well, now that the prosecutor has finished his investigation, you're free to do investigate yourself. One rule, though: do not disturb anything, or I'm throwing you out of here, got it?"
Mia gulped (again). "G-Got it…" Definitely not joking around… She thought as Lana handed her a file. "Hm… What is this, Detective Skye?"
Lana gave her a look of genuine surprise. "You really don't know what this is…?" Upon seeing Mia clueless, she rolled her eyes. "The autopsy report, Ms. Fey. You might want to give it a thorough look."
"O-Okay… Thanks." Let's see… The victim's name was Bobby Sue, and he was a student here… She focused closely on the file, reading each word carefully. He died of blood loss due to a stab wound to the back… Wait a minute here… "Detective Skye?"
"What is it?"
"Are you sure this report is accurate?" Mia asked with an idea in mind. "About the cause of death, for example."
"Hmph. Look for yourself if you don't believe it," Lana told her, gesturing to the "dead body" (which was nothing more than a well-crafted mannequin). "I think this should make it clear."
"W-Wait…!" Mia's eyes widened as she saw one distinctive stab wound on the man's back surrounded by blood. D-Didn't Mr. Fine tell me that he pushed the victim down the stairs…? There shouldn't be any blood if that's what he did! "There's something I'm not getting here…"
"That your client is guilty? You might want to get used to the idea, Ms. Fey, because he most definitely is," the young woman told her with a mocking smirk. "You see, the knife that was used to kill him is in this bag," Lana pulled out a bloody plastic bag. "And the handle is covered in the defendant's fingerprints!"
"W-WHAAAT?! N-No way!" Shit! Does that mean that everything Mr. Fine told me was a lie?! Even the "pulling down my pants" thing?! "B-But… the defendant told me-"
"If you're going to say that the defendant told you otherwise, then you're naïve, Ms. Fey," Lana cut her. "He is guilty. You didn't expect him to tell you that, did you?"
"N-No, of course not, but…" Could Mr. Fine really be guilty…? I mean… this is pretty damning evidence Lana and Neil found… Jeez, couldn't they have given me an innocent client…? "I guess I'm not allowed to take the knife as evidence?"
"What? Of course not!" Detective Skye exclaimed, giving Mia a surprised look. "This is crucial evidence! How do I know that you won't 'inadvertently' lose it if I give it to you?"
"I… I guess you got me there…" Why did I even ask that…?
Lana put the evidence bag back inside another bag she was carrying. "There's a note about the murder weapon attached to the autopsy report. You'll find notes about where the knife entered the body, which organs it touched, etc."
"I see…" I better give this a good read later… Mia thought, committing it to memory right away. "Thanks, Detective Skye. I think I'll go investigate the body now… no matter how gross I find it to be…"
"Very well. But keep one thing in mind," Lana glared at her, almost scaring Mia. "No disturbing the crime scene."
"A-Alright, ma'am!" Mia saluted out of fear while Lana turned around and returned to her investigation. I'm starting to wonder if she's even the same person… Maybe she got mad at me for something, and she isn't even doing this because we're investigating…? I hope not… She sighed, feeling defeated already. Guess I go take a look at that body now…
Mia yawned and stretched her arms, drooling at the sight of her burger. If Maya had been there, she would have been really jealous, but she wasn't, and Mia had this little beauty all to herself. Investigating this morning had been exhausting, so the young woman thought she deserved a bit of rest.
The investigation was meant to last three days, but since the different actors couldn't skip too many classes, it was only possible to investigate in the morning. Mia didn't mind as it would allow her to review her evidence in the afternoon.
So far, her evidence was… lacking. She had the autopsy report and a couple of her own notes about the body. She had also noticed the presence of bloody handprints on the wall, left there by the victim. Other than that, Mia had her client's words as testimony, though she didn't know what to think of them.
His story about the victim pulling down his pants makes no sense! But still… that's almost too obvious to be a lie, right…? And if he's the culprit, he evidently didn't just push the victim slightly, that's for sure…
The threat of a headache came the more she thought about it, so Mia decided to focus on her juicy burger for now. She could come back to the investigation later.
"Oh, Mia. Quite a coincidence I'd see you here…"
"Hm? Oh, it's you," Mia looked up and noticed someone approaching her table. "Detective Skye. I didn't expect to see you here, either," she told her, keeping her expression serious.
Lana looked at her with a funny look. "Hey, we're not investigating now; you don't need to look at me like I'm about to kill you, Mia. I'm Lana right now, not Detective Skye, haha."
Mia was surprised to see such a genuine smile on Lana's lips. She looked so kind and friendly like that… It definitely changed from the cold person she had shared the crime scene with earlier in the morning. Mia had to admit Lana definitely had a pretty smile.
"O-Oh… S-Sorry…" Mia looked a little ashamed. "I thought you were genuinely mad at me, so… I didn't know whether it was because of the investigation or not, you see…?"
Lana giggled. "Did I scare you that much? Good to know…" she grinned at Mia. "Can I sit?"
"Yeah, sure," she told her friend, taking a sip of her coke. "Neil's not with you?"
"Ah, no. Cowboy told me he had to meet the Principal to discuss the case," said Lana. "I think he'll grab a bite directly on campus," seeing Mia nod in understanding, Lana carried on. "So, how did your first day of investigation go? Interesting case, right?"
"You say that because I'm sure you have lots and lots of evidence, don't you?" Mia asked though it was clear it was a rhetorical question.
"That… I can't say; sorry," Lana told her. "Detective Skye can't exchange information, and I'm afraid Lana can't, either."
Mia laughed. "It's okay, Lana, don't worry. Don't forget I'm just a first-year student, though. What you find interesting might not… be so interesting to me, you know?"
It was Lana's turn to laugh. "You're probably not wrong. Well, anyway, I'm glad you're our rival on this case, Mia. It's the first time we battle in court against a friend, so it should be interesting and educational for us."
"Well, it'll be interesting if you don't win in five minutes, honestly," the youngest of the two women said, biting into her burger. "Detective Skye doesn't seem the type to lose."
"Is that what you thought of her out there?" Lana asked before smirking. "Well, I guess that's who she is. But you know, in the end, we're the same person. If you fall down the stairs, I'm not going to ignore you just because we're investigating, and I'm supposed to be Detective Skye."
Fall down the stairs…? I'm not sure I want her to joke about that right now, all things considered…
"Anyway, what I mean to say is, you were not a stranger to me this morning. I'll admit it's kind of fun to boss you around like this, but I don't mean it in a bad way," she assured her, looking genuinely sorry. "I'm sorry you thought you had made me mad or anything. It wasn't my intention."
"It's fine, Lana, don't worry about it."
The two young women exchanged a smile that lasted for a few seconds. They found themselves staring at one another, and Mia could feel her cheeks reddening.
"H-Hm, I'll go order my food now if you don't mind…" Lana finally said, breaking the awkward silence. "C-Continue to eat without me, I'll be right back…"
Before Mia could even say a word, her friend was gone to order her meal, leaving her alone at the table, wondering what this meant.
To be continued…
A.N: And the first part of the investigation for this mock trial is in the books! I honestly don't know yet how many chapters this will take, but I guess I'll take as many chapters as it takes. Writing Lana with two different personalities was definitely fun! I hope you liked this chapter, and if you did, please leave a review! I hope you all have a nice day :)