Witness To The Truth
Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold, and I won't be buying him from Craig Bartlett because I don't think he would accept three pound fifty and a few fanfics.
Authors Note: Another chapter up, woohoo. Anyway. I have got to say the last chapter I wrote was the most difficult I have ever written. I don't do law at college so I had to rely on all the seventies cop shows I have watched for the legal stuff. Cagney and Lacey comes in very handy doesn't it? Hehehe. Okay I'm gonna explain a little joke about the dead collector, his name was Mortimer, for short Mort, which is Latin for death.
The defence lawyer is Mr Jefferson and when I was writing about him I had this image of the lawyer on The Simpson's the one with the funny voice who is the lawyer for Mr Burns and the creator of Itchy and Scratchy when that homeless guy tries to sue him. I don't know if you guys will have seen him but if so that's what my lawyer looks like.
Chapter Nine
It was midnight and Arnold sat up in bed reading, he couldn't sleep and he could tell from the sounds of moving in the living room that Helga couldn't either. After a minute of listening to her trying to muffle the sounds of the kettle he grinned and got out of bed, pulling a robe on he opened his bedroom door and said,
'Make mine tea with two sugars.' With a startled yell Helga spun around and the box of tea bags flew from her hands hitting Arnold on the forehead,
'Erm, okay. This'll do.' Laughing Helga caught the box as he threw them back to her,
'I'm sorry did I wake you?' Shaking his head Arnold pulled a bag of sugar down from a cupboard and passed it to her,
'No, I was awake, I am a bit nervous about tomorrow.' Helga nodded,
'Yeah, so am I.' She confessed with a sigh,
'I just know that the defence lawyer, Mr whatshisname?'
'Jefferson.' Arnold said with a smirk,
'Yeah Jefferson will try to turn it so I didn't see anything and the camera footage I have is all circumstantial evidence.' Helga said nervously as she filled the two cups with boiling water,
'Helga don't worry, he couldn't get away with that. Anyway you can see the jury all know he is guilty.' Helga nodded sourly,
'Yeah and how many of them has he had threatened or bribed, you know, vote not guilty and I won't break your legs.' Arnold shrugged,
'I don't know, but until the court case nobody will have known who they were and they are being guarded by high security guards who will just shoot somebody trying to get in who isn't a member of the court with a security pass.' Smiling Helga nodded sheepishly,
'I'm being daft aren't I?' Nodding Arnold hugged her,
'Yes, but you wouldn't be you if you weren't being paranoid and over reacting and I wouldn't care as much for you if you were blasé about it.' Helga raised her crystal blue eyes to meet his emerald green and said with a grin,
'I always knew you would like me eventually.' Kissing him on the lips she pulled away and fishing the tea bags out of the cups added milk and handed him his drink.
'Here drink this.' Arnold just looked at her startled until she pushed a hot cup into his hand,
'Don't spill it and don't let it go cold.' She said with a grin, sitting on the sofa she wrapped her duvet around her shoulders, and Arnold realised that she had been sitting for some time on the sofa. Sipping his tea he stared around aimlessly until she opened the duvet out and patted the seat next to her,
'Come and sit next to me, it's cold.' Nodding Arnold sat next to her and Helga attempted to pull the duvet around both their shoulders, after watching her struggle for a moment he pulled her cup from her hand and placed it on the coffee table next to his own. Then he pulled Helga onto his knee and wrapped the duvet round them both,
'This is much better.' He murmured into her ear, giggling Helga snuggled against him,
'After the trial would you go out with me sometime?' She asked turning slightly pink, Arnold grinned,
'I would love to.' After a moments pause he kissed her and felt Helga wrap her arms around his neck,
'Helga?' Helga pulled back slightly,
'Hmm?' She said with a grin,
'After the trial do you want to move in with me?' Helga smiled in delight,
'You really want me to?' Arnold grinned,
'Of course.' Grinning Helga wrapped her arms around him,
'I'd love to!'
'All rise for the honourable Judge Samuel Jenson.' The clerk called, Arnold stood and felt Helga's slim hand grip his nervously, Judge Jenson walked out and sat down, the defence lawyer stood up and began with addressing the jury,
'Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, my client has been charged with a heinous crime, one which I assure you he did not commit. I am going to prove to you without a shadow of a doubt that my client is not a member of a Mafia family, and is in fact a charitable member of this community.' Helga groaned and Arnold squeezed her hand,
'Never was there a more impossible task.' Reba murmured, Arnold and Helga nodded in agreement,
'For my first witness I call Detective Arnold.' Sighing Arnold stood up; he was wondering why the defence lawyer would possibly want to interview him,
'Detective Arnold, have you had any previous meeting with the so called Santoni crime family?' Arnold resisted the urge to grin,
'Yes I have.' Mr Jefferson did a double take,
'You have?' Arnold nodded,
'Yes his father Stuart Santoni was arrested last year for money laundering, he was let off as there wasn't enough evidence to make it stick.' Mr Jefferson gulped nervously and Arnold felt pity for him, he wondered which family member or body part had been threatened.
'But just because he was a criminal doesn't mean his son is. Isn't that right?' Arnold raised an eyebrow,
'In my experience the apple never falls far from the tree, if Louie Santoni has been influenced from an early age in the ways of a Mafia way of life he wouldn't have had a chance to lead a decent life.' Mr Jefferson sighed,
'But that is not the case with Louie Santoni. He has made many donations to charities all over the city.' Arnold smirked,
'I did a background check of all the charities he makes public donations to, they all lead back to one bank account, under the name Louie Santoni, he doesn't donate it he just moves it around. But in the end he doesn't lose anything.' Arnold smiled when he heard Mr Jefferson swear under his breath,
'No further questions.' Helga was grinning broadly when Arnold sat back down,
'You were fantastic.' She whispered, Reba patted him on the shoulder,
'You've made us proud hon.' She said warmly, for a moment Arnold knew what it was like to get motherly praise, the thought saddened him, instead of letting himself dwell on it he concentrated on the trial.
'For my next witness I call Helga Pataki.' Helga stood up grinning,
'This will be a breeze.' She whispered, Arnold grinned, he was glad she was feeling more confident, and after the pathetic attempt Jefferson had made of cross examining Arnold he knew she would stump his as much as he knew he had done.
'Miss Pataki, did you see with your own eyes Louie Santoni take the Sapphire?' Helga smiled sweetly,
'Yes I did, and so did my camera, and I have copies, and it is true what they say.'
'What is that?' Grinning Helga said,
'The camera really does put on ten pounds. Both Louie Santoni and the Spirit of the Nile looked really big on film.' Louie Santoni jumped up and yelled,
'I did not look big on the film.' Helga smirked,
'Is that a confession Mr Santoni, because to me it sounds very much like one.' The Judge leaned down towards Helga and said with a smile,
'Now Miss Pataki, leave it to the lawyers to cross examine him.' Helga smiled sweetly,
'Of course your honour.' Mr Jefferson groaned aloud and said,
'Is it at all possible to see the tape?' A clerk nodded and walked off he returned a few minutes later with a television and video recorder and the tape, with a grin he held the tape up and ripped the ribbon from it, a security guard grabbed him as he set it on fire.
'What tape?' He chortled as he was dragged from the court, Mr Jefferson turned and with a smirk that could almost be described as feral said,
'Indeed, it seems the evidence has been destroyed.' Rolling her eyes Helga pulled a second tape out of her bag,
'Weren't you listening to me when I said I had made copies?' Apparently he hadn't as he turned very white and held a hand out for the tape,
'I don't think so. I'll put it in.' Stepping down from the witness box she turned the television round to face the onlookers and the judge moved round to the front of the box and sat next to Reba. Pushing the tape into the player Helga switched the television on and pressed play, after a few moments of flickering the museum was seen on the screen and Helga's voice could be heard,
"It is now two forty five a.m. I have been here five hours and so far nothing has happened, damn my hiding place is bloody uncomfortable, wait something is happening." The camera pans around the room and stops at the door as Jacob Daniels appears in the doorway he flashes his flashlight around the room then a loud thump is hear and he falls forwards, Marcus the Weasel appears on screen before disappearing.
"We have lift off." Helga whispers triumphantly, Big Louie walks onto the screen and pulls a spray can out of his bag. He stands in front of the case for the Spirit of the Nile and sprays around it, various lines appear around the case and pulling several mirrors out of his bag he positions them so that the lines break up leaving a gap big enough for him to walk through. Lifting the case off the jewel he picks it up and fondles it for a few seconds before slipping it into his bag and leaving, the Weasel grins excitedly and claps his hands together.
"Okay I'm going, this is getting a tad bit dangerous now." The camera is now bouncing as Helga crawls out of her hiding place, she bumps into a display and the alarm goes off.
"Shit!" Helga whispers before running, you can hear Louie yelling,
"Get her you idiot Weasel! She has a camera." As Helga runs off she ducks into the main entrance room and punches in a password, pushing the door open she runs across the street to where her car is waiting and climbing in starts the car and drives off. Finally the car stops and she picks the camera up levelling it so it is facing she says with a strained smile,
"I can only hope the Santoni family don't figure out who I am, or I am in such big trouble. First things first though, I get this to the police station." The camera is switched off and there is silence in the court until the judge sits back in his seat,
'I think maybe it is time the Jury persons go away to decide their verdict.' Standing up the Jury filed out and Arnold and Helga exchanged glances,
'So do you think we have won?' Mr Pritchard nodded,
'With evidence like yours, of course, Louie didn't even get a chance to defend himself, even his own lawyer realised it was useless to even try.' Helga grinned and they all sat back and waited.
'Alright, this is an easy one. Just write down your verdict and put them in the box, and don't forget to fold them.' The head juror said with a grin, the eleven other jurors nodded and filled out the pieces of paper. Eventually all thirteen pieces of paper were in the box, picking it up the head juror opened them all and counted them out. With a grin he said,
'Lets go back out then shall we?' Standing up they all walked back into the court.
Arnold sat up with a start,
'Already? That's got to be the quickest decision in history.' Mr Pritchard nodded,
'Two minutes is definitely quick.' The judge waited until they had all sat down,
'Have you reached a decision?' The head juror nodded,
'We have. It was a unanimous decision. We find the defendant Louie Santoni....'
You guys have to wait until the next chapter to find out what he is. Hehehe. I do this to keep you reading. You have to review now and please no swearing. And don't have a contract taken out on me or else I can't finish the fic and then you will never find out.
Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold, and I won't be buying him from Craig Bartlett because I don't think he would accept three pound fifty and a few fanfics.
Authors Note: Another chapter up, woohoo. Anyway. I have got to say the last chapter I wrote was the most difficult I have ever written. I don't do law at college so I had to rely on all the seventies cop shows I have watched for the legal stuff. Cagney and Lacey comes in very handy doesn't it? Hehehe. Okay I'm gonna explain a little joke about the dead collector, his name was Mortimer, for short Mort, which is Latin for death.
The defence lawyer is Mr Jefferson and when I was writing about him I had this image of the lawyer on The Simpson's the one with the funny voice who is the lawyer for Mr Burns and the creator of Itchy and Scratchy when that homeless guy tries to sue him. I don't know if you guys will have seen him but if so that's what my lawyer looks like.
Chapter Nine
It was midnight and Arnold sat up in bed reading, he couldn't sleep and he could tell from the sounds of moving in the living room that Helga couldn't either. After a minute of listening to her trying to muffle the sounds of the kettle he grinned and got out of bed, pulling a robe on he opened his bedroom door and said,
'Make mine tea with two sugars.' With a startled yell Helga spun around and the box of tea bags flew from her hands hitting Arnold on the forehead,
'Erm, okay. This'll do.' Laughing Helga caught the box as he threw them back to her,
'I'm sorry did I wake you?' Shaking his head Arnold pulled a bag of sugar down from a cupboard and passed it to her,
'No, I was awake, I am a bit nervous about tomorrow.' Helga nodded,
'Yeah, so am I.' She confessed with a sigh,
'I just know that the defence lawyer, Mr whatshisname?'
'Jefferson.' Arnold said with a smirk,
'Yeah Jefferson will try to turn it so I didn't see anything and the camera footage I have is all circumstantial evidence.' Helga said nervously as she filled the two cups with boiling water,
'Helga don't worry, he couldn't get away with that. Anyway you can see the jury all know he is guilty.' Helga nodded sourly,
'Yeah and how many of them has he had threatened or bribed, you know, vote not guilty and I won't break your legs.' Arnold shrugged,
'I don't know, but until the court case nobody will have known who they were and they are being guarded by high security guards who will just shoot somebody trying to get in who isn't a member of the court with a security pass.' Smiling Helga nodded sheepishly,
'I'm being daft aren't I?' Nodding Arnold hugged her,
'Yes, but you wouldn't be you if you weren't being paranoid and over reacting and I wouldn't care as much for you if you were blasé about it.' Helga raised her crystal blue eyes to meet his emerald green and said with a grin,
'I always knew you would like me eventually.' Kissing him on the lips she pulled away and fishing the tea bags out of the cups added milk and handed him his drink.
'Here drink this.' Arnold just looked at her startled until she pushed a hot cup into his hand,
'Don't spill it and don't let it go cold.' She said with a grin, sitting on the sofa she wrapped her duvet around her shoulders, and Arnold realised that she had been sitting for some time on the sofa. Sipping his tea he stared around aimlessly until she opened the duvet out and patted the seat next to her,
'Come and sit next to me, it's cold.' Nodding Arnold sat next to her and Helga attempted to pull the duvet around both their shoulders, after watching her struggle for a moment he pulled her cup from her hand and placed it on the coffee table next to his own. Then he pulled Helga onto his knee and wrapped the duvet round them both,
'This is much better.' He murmured into her ear, giggling Helga snuggled against him,
'After the trial would you go out with me sometime?' She asked turning slightly pink, Arnold grinned,
'I would love to.' After a moments pause he kissed her and felt Helga wrap her arms around his neck,
'Helga?' Helga pulled back slightly,
'Hmm?' She said with a grin,
'After the trial do you want to move in with me?' Helga smiled in delight,
'You really want me to?' Arnold grinned,
'Of course.' Grinning Helga wrapped her arms around him,
'I'd love to!'
'All rise for the honourable Judge Samuel Jenson.' The clerk called, Arnold stood and felt Helga's slim hand grip his nervously, Judge Jenson walked out and sat down, the defence lawyer stood up and began with addressing the jury,
'Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, my client has been charged with a heinous crime, one which I assure you he did not commit. I am going to prove to you without a shadow of a doubt that my client is not a member of a Mafia family, and is in fact a charitable member of this community.' Helga groaned and Arnold squeezed her hand,
'Never was there a more impossible task.' Reba murmured, Arnold and Helga nodded in agreement,
'For my first witness I call Detective Arnold.' Sighing Arnold stood up; he was wondering why the defence lawyer would possibly want to interview him,
'Detective Arnold, have you had any previous meeting with the so called Santoni crime family?' Arnold resisted the urge to grin,
'Yes I have.' Mr Jefferson did a double take,
'You have?' Arnold nodded,
'Yes his father Stuart Santoni was arrested last year for money laundering, he was let off as there wasn't enough evidence to make it stick.' Mr Jefferson gulped nervously and Arnold felt pity for him, he wondered which family member or body part had been threatened.
'But just because he was a criminal doesn't mean his son is. Isn't that right?' Arnold raised an eyebrow,
'In my experience the apple never falls far from the tree, if Louie Santoni has been influenced from an early age in the ways of a Mafia way of life he wouldn't have had a chance to lead a decent life.' Mr Jefferson sighed,
'But that is not the case with Louie Santoni. He has made many donations to charities all over the city.' Arnold smirked,
'I did a background check of all the charities he makes public donations to, they all lead back to one bank account, under the name Louie Santoni, he doesn't donate it he just moves it around. But in the end he doesn't lose anything.' Arnold smiled when he heard Mr Jefferson swear under his breath,
'No further questions.' Helga was grinning broadly when Arnold sat back down,
'You were fantastic.' She whispered, Reba patted him on the shoulder,
'You've made us proud hon.' She said warmly, for a moment Arnold knew what it was like to get motherly praise, the thought saddened him, instead of letting himself dwell on it he concentrated on the trial.
'For my next witness I call Helga Pataki.' Helga stood up grinning,
'This will be a breeze.' She whispered, Arnold grinned, he was glad she was feeling more confident, and after the pathetic attempt Jefferson had made of cross examining Arnold he knew she would stump his as much as he knew he had done.
'Miss Pataki, did you see with your own eyes Louie Santoni take the Sapphire?' Helga smiled sweetly,
'Yes I did, and so did my camera, and I have copies, and it is true what they say.'
'What is that?' Grinning Helga said,
'The camera really does put on ten pounds. Both Louie Santoni and the Spirit of the Nile looked really big on film.' Louie Santoni jumped up and yelled,
'I did not look big on the film.' Helga smirked,
'Is that a confession Mr Santoni, because to me it sounds very much like one.' The Judge leaned down towards Helga and said with a smile,
'Now Miss Pataki, leave it to the lawyers to cross examine him.' Helga smiled sweetly,
'Of course your honour.' Mr Jefferson groaned aloud and said,
'Is it at all possible to see the tape?' A clerk nodded and walked off he returned a few minutes later with a television and video recorder and the tape, with a grin he held the tape up and ripped the ribbon from it, a security guard grabbed him as he set it on fire.
'What tape?' He chortled as he was dragged from the court, Mr Jefferson turned and with a smirk that could almost be described as feral said,
'Indeed, it seems the evidence has been destroyed.' Rolling her eyes Helga pulled a second tape out of her bag,
'Weren't you listening to me when I said I had made copies?' Apparently he hadn't as he turned very white and held a hand out for the tape,
'I don't think so. I'll put it in.' Stepping down from the witness box she turned the television round to face the onlookers and the judge moved round to the front of the box and sat next to Reba. Pushing the tape into the player Helga switched the television on and pressed play, after a few moments of flickering the museum was seen on the screen and Helga's voice could be heard,
"It is now two forty five a.m. I have been here five hours and so far nothing has happened, damn my hiding place is bloody uncomfortable, wait something is happening." The camera pans around the room and stops at the door as Jacob Daniels appears in the doorway he flashes his flashlight around the room then a loud thump is hear and he falls forwards, Marcus the Weasel appears on screen before disappearing.
"We have lift off." Helga whispers triumphantly, Big Louie walks onto the screen and pulls a spray can out of his bag. He stands in front of the case for the Spirit of the Nile and sprays around it, various lines appear around the case and pulling several mirrors out of his bag he positions them so that the lines break up leaving a gap big enough for him to walk through. Lifting the case off the jewel he picks it up and fondles it for a few seconds before slipping it into his bag and leaving, the Weasel grins excitedly and claps his hands together.
"Okay I'm going, this is getting a tad bit dangerous now." The camera is now bouncing as Helga crawls out of her hiding place, she bumps into a display and the alarm goes off.
"Shit!" Helga whispers before running, you can hear Louie yelling,
"Get her you idiot Weasel! She has a camera." As Helga runs off she ducks into the main entrance room and punches in a password, pushing the door open she runs across the street to where her car is waiting and climbing in starts the car and drives off. Finally the car stops and she picks the camera up levelling it so it is facing she says with a strained smile,
"I can only hope the Santoni family don't figure out who I am, or I am in such big trouble. First things first though, I get this to the police station." The camera is switched off and there is silence in the court until the judge sits back in his seat,
'I think maybe it is time the Jury persons go away to decide their verdict.' Standing up the Jury filed out and Arnold and Helga exchanged glances,
'So do you think we have won?' Mr Pritchard nodded,
'With evidence like yours, of course, Louie didn't even get a chance to defend himself, even his own lawyer realised it was useless to even try.' Helga grinned and they all sat back and waited.
'Alright, this is an easy one. Just write down your verdict and put them in the box, and don't forget to fold them.' The head juror said with a grin, the eleven other jurors nodded and filled out the pieces of paper. Eventually all thirteen pieces of paper were in the box, picking it up the head juror opened them all and counted them out. With a grin he said,
'Lets go back out then shall we?' Standing up they all walked back into the court.
Arnold sat up with a start,
'Already? That's got to be the quickest decision in history.' Mr Pritchard nodded,
'Two minutes is definitely quick.' The judge waited until they had all sat down,
'Have you reached a decision?' The head juror nodded,
'We have. It was a unanimous decision. We find the defendant Louie Santoni....'
You guys have to wait until the next chapter to find out what he is. Hehehe. I do this to keep you reading. You have to review now and please no swearing. And don't have a contract taken out on me or else I can't finish the fic and then you will never find out.