September 2
Defendant Lobby No. 6
9:30 AM
Deirdre Brigit
I entered the defendant lobby with Yuri at my side the next morning. I couldn't help the frown that was insistently reappearing on my features despite my attempts to suppress it. I could see Lily sitting on the couch on the opposite end of the room. She was staring down at the ground, but I could still see the exhaustion dancing around her eyes.
She didn't notice Yuri and I had approached until Yuri tapped her on the shoulder. Lily jumped and shot us a sheepish smile. "Sorry," she said apologetically. "I was thinking about what Mr. Morix told us yesterday. I couldn't sleep well last night because of it... It's hard to avoid thinking about it, you know?"
"I get it," Yuri nodded. "I was thinking about it a lot too. I can't believe that secret was hiding right under our noses this whole time, and we didn't see it at all until yesterday. I mean, we had hints, which seem to make it so obvious in hindsight, but at the same time... I don't know. It's got me thinking. There's a lot resting on our shoulders in court today. We have to save one of the most important public figures in the city while trying not to anger a group of assassins. It's not going to be easy, but we have to find a way to get through it. Mr. Morix will have our heads if we let anything bad happen to Chrysalis."
"That's true... This is a mess. Why did it have to end up this way?" Lily murmured with a shake of her head. "Right now, things are looking pretty bleak, but we must figure something out if we want to catch the culprits after all this time. Mr. Morix is counting on us. I don't want to let him down now."
"We can't let our doubts get the better of us," I reminded them. "We won't be at the top of our game if we're focused on other things. Don't let yourself slip into fear. Focus on the task at hand. We'll be fine. From what we saw yesterday, Ms. Mercure and her friend from Interpol are going to try and track down the hostages and Occisor. If we can just stall for long enough, they can free the hostages, so Occisor won't have anything to hold over our heads."
"A surprise attack is our best bet here anyways," Yuri remarked. "I don't know how we're going to stall for that long though. I mean, Occisor wants our answer as soon as the trial starts. We'll need to tell them something, but since we didn't get the chance to talk to Chief Prosecutor Bespoke, we don't have a plan. Any ideas on what we should do?"
"We need to tread carefully and keep them from losing their temper," I told her. "Any irrelevant questions will have to be avoided. We don't know what they'll do if we anger them. The hostages could end up being hurt or worse if we push the wrong buttons."
"Let's not think about that. I mean, I know that it's important to keep in mind, but if we focus on it exclusively, we'll only freak ourselves out," Lily suggested with a frown.
"She has a point. I don't want to focus too much on the hostages. It's going to make our performance slip," Yuri agreed with a nod. "I don't know how we're going to find something else to think about, but we'll need to figure something out. We can't lose this case."
"I was out here thinking our cases were hopeless before, but this one just takes the cake. I don't understand why it has to be this way," Lily murmured with a shake of her head. "I don't know where N and M are, but we should try and talk to them a little bit before the trial begins. Maybe they'll have some new information for us. We didn't get to visit them again after we finished our investigation since we were focused on getting back to the agency. Mr. Morix might be able to help us out too."
"I don't know where Mr. Morix is," Yuri frowned. "I guess he's coming in late. Or maybe he's talking to Chief Prosecutor Bespoke. The two of them are close friends, so maybe he can worm some information out of him. Then again, I don't know how much that will matter at the end of the day... We don't really need to prove the prosecution wrong at this point. We just need to hold off the trial until Neptune and X can figure out where the hostages are being held..."
"Perhaps he's telling Chief Prosecutor Bespoke what the plan is. After all, I highly doubt our little gambit will be successful unless we can get him on our side. One half of the courtroom trying to stall but the other hurrying might not work out very well. If the judge leans toward him, the hostages are as good as dead," Lily suggested. "Wow, that got pretty dark... I guess we'll just have to figure out what we're going to do alone for now though. I don't think it's a good idea to leave the defendant lobby to talk to Chief Prosecutor Bespoke while we're still waiting to see M and N. We could easily miss them, which would be the opposite of good."
"What's that about us?"
As if on cue, M and N came walking into the room. Detective Wattson was standing beside them, a tired smile on her face. They approached us silently, waiting for us to say something.
"I didn't expect to see you here," Yuri began, looking up at Detective Wattson.
"I was asked to escort him in today, love," Detective Wattson explained. "How did your investigation go? Did you find any useful information?"
"Not particularly," I lied, not wanting to explain in detail how we found the evidence needed to pin down Oracle. "What about you?"
"There wasn't exactly a lot to look into yesterday because of how this case has unfolded. With a killer already confirmed, you can't do much. Because Occisor has hostages, we'll need to be careful..." Detective Wattson frowned. "However, I did hear a juicy little tidbit from a few people working at Interpol. An agent by the name of X is close to figuring out where Occisor is located. He's got a private investigator at his side and a few police officers provided by the precinct to find the assassins."
"That's good to hear," Yuri grinned. "If we can get Occisor in the palm of our hand, this will be much easier. I'm glad to know they've made some progress. Yesterday, it seemed like they were just getting started when we spoke to them."
"Also, we've figured out who a few of the hostages are. I'm sure you've already heard about this, but... It seems that one of your coworkers has conveniently gone missing at the time of this incident," Detective Wattson frowned. "If our deductions are correct, Chrysalis Starr is among the hostages."
"We heard about that," Lily frowned. "That's just another reason for us to catch the assassins at their own game, if you want my opinion."
"Yesterday, her older brother called her cell phone in hopes of getting a response from her. He didn't get a hold of her and mentioned he thought something was wrong. That was when we figured it out," Detective Wattson explained. "We have a few other reports on who some of their hostages could be, but we can't share that information. The families of the hostages asked us not to share it openly if that was possible. I simply figured you would want to hear about your coworker being taken..."
"Thank you for telling us," I told her. "Is there anything else you wanted to tell us?"
"I don't think so. I'll leave you to talk to your client," Detective Wattson told us. She turned on her heel and walked away with a small wave.
I turned to M and N. "Alright," I said promptly. "Is there anything else you want us to know?"
"I can't think of anything in particular," M answered, his arms crossed over his chest. I saw his foot was tapping impatiently against the ground. "Do you have a plan?"
"Somewhat," Lily explained bluntly. "We're going to make sure you're acquitted though. Don't you worry. It's going to be fine. We're going to get the hostages out too. In other words, we're going to make sure all is well by the end of today."
"Well, if you're so confident, I suppose I can trust you," shrugged M. "I don't know what's going to happen. I talked to Chief Prosecutor Bespoke briefly. He told me that he knew now that I wasn't the culprit and was willing to drop all charges now that somebody else had confessed. However, he couldn't release me due to the situation with the hostages. He didn't want to risk angering the assassins keeping all those people."
"What do you think of this situation?" Yuri questioned.
"I keep thinking about O. In a way, all of it makes a lot of sense. I wish I had figured this out sooner. I would have loved to talk to her about it after what she did to weed out traitors from Interpol," M admitted. "Of course, she's probably going to disappear without a trace after this case ends because of her identity being exposed. It happened a year ago when Estelle Burns was revealed to be Oracle. This time will be no different. As irritating as it is, there's not much we can do about it. She's an elusive one."
"I heard X was trying to find her. What do you think of that?" I asked.
"That sounds like him... He was always something of a rebel, even if he tried to hide it the best he could. It's against company protocol to try and rescue a compromised agent if it could risk the greater good of the workers there. However, if he's doing it like he is now, otherwise known as 'not using any men from Interpol', I suppose it's fine," M replied. "There are a few officers from the local precinct working on it from what I've heard. If he plays his cards right, everybody will be able to get out of this case safely."
"Here's hoping he can pull it off. He's a skilled agent who knows what he's doing, so it shouldn't be too bad, right?" Yuri questioned, though I got the feeling she was more trying to convince herself than the rest of us.
"I hope he can do it... I don't want all those hostages to end up hurt or worse," murmured N. "It could very easily end badly if something goes wrong."
"He'll do it. We're going to be fine," Lily assured him. Much like Yuri, it seemed like she was telling herself that as opposed to trying to convince the rest of us.
"Well, if that's all you wanted to ask me, I think I want to talk to N a little in private before the trial begins. Is that alright?" M asked.
"Of course," I nodded. "We should discuss our strategy for today anyways."
M walked away over to a secluded corner away from much of the activity in the room. N trailed after him. I watched the two of them lean up against the wall and begin to talk, but I couldn't understand a word that was being said.
"I can't stop thinking about the hostages. I know it isn't going to help us at all, but it's hard to focus on something else. There's so much riding on this trial. I always knew that when I defended somebody in court, I was taking their life into my own hands. This is something so much greater than that though... It's not just M's freedom at stake. It's Chrysalis and over a dozen people. It's one of the most important figures in the city as of recent history. It's a lot more than we've ever had to deal with," Lily said.
"Stop thinking about it if you can. We have a lot more to worry about right now," I reminded her.
"I know that, but... This is so much pressure. I wish Mr. Morix was able to help us, but he isn't here yet," Lily murmured.
"I'm sure he's helping us out in his own ways. His younger sister is in danger. There's no way he's going to just stand by and let all this happen to her. It's not in his nature. I have the feeling we'll see him helping us out in his own ways. We're just going to need to have faith in him," Yuri told her.
"This isn't going to be easy with him doing other things. He's easily the best out of everybody at the agency when it comes to these things. Chrysalis might be a good bet, but she's out of commission too... It's like they're trying to make this as hard on us as possible," Lily remarked.
"I think that's the point. They don't want us to figure this out, so they're making this hard on us... Granted, they don't know how they're making it hard on us, but it's still an issue," Yuri frowned. "There isn't much we can do about it just standing around here though. We need to get in there soon and show those assassins who the boss is around here. They aren't going to get away with this so long as we're the ones behind the defense bench. If there's one thing we can use to our advantage, it's our determination. They can't deal with our stubborn determination forever. We have the wish to save those close to us, which is bound to help us win in the end, right?"
Before I could come up with a reply, a bailiff appeared next to Yuri, as if he had heard her speech about going into the courtroom to win and appeared accordingly. The bailiff, who I recalled to be KJ, as Yuri had called him a few times before, waved at her. "The trial is about to start," he explained.
"Thanks," Yuri grinned as KJ walked away. She turned back to Lily and me. "Well, that's our cue. We're going to do this. Don't worry about it. Everything is going to be fine. No more panicking."
"For the sake of Mr. Morix and Chrysalis, we're going to win this," Lily grinned. "The agency is going to be back to normal before the day ends. Consider that a promise from me. I wish Mr. Morix was around to hear me say it, but it's okay. We're going to find a way to do this whether he's standing alongside us or not."
"Then let's go take care of it," I nodded firmly.
September 2
Courtroom No. 6
10:00 AM
Deirdre Brigit
When we got into the courtroom, I looked around at the other people in the room. Chief Prosecutor Bespoke and Prosecutor Wood were standing next to each other quietly. The latter was messing around with the papers on the bench just as she had been doing the day before. Chief Prosecutor Bespoke was looking up above our heads. I turned around to see what he was looking at, which is when I noticed Mr. Morix sitting in the gallery above us. His arms were crossed as he frowned down at Chief Prosecutor Bespoke. I noticed his phone was sitting simply on his lap, like it was ready to be used at any moment.
Judge Diaphan was sitting in her normal position, playing around with the gavel in her fingers silently. She was staring down at the witness stand, where I noticed KJ was standing alongside the TV from the day before. He was tinkering around with it silently, though I heard him murmur a few things here and there.
Judge Diaphan watched him for a few moments longer before letting out a sigh and speaking. "Is something the matter?" she asked impatiently. She seemed just as ready to end this trial as I was.
"We seem to be having a few technical difficulties," KJ explained. He seemed on edge. I got the feeling the words of the assassins were ringing in his ears even a day later. "I know they wanted us to contact them at the designated time specifically, but it doesn't seem like there's a signal from their side yet... There isn't much we can do about it at the moment. All we can really do is wait until something shows up. I know it isn't exactly the best use of our time, but we don't have a choice..."
"I'm worried about all of this. What if they get mad at us? We could end up in some serious trouble if we can't figure this out soon," Lily hissed at me. "What about the hostages? They're going to be in even more danger if the assassins decide to blame us."
"I think now is a good time to go over protocol when it comes to contacting dangerous assassins with hostages. Don't be rude, don't interrupt them, no sarcastic comments, don't be too disagreeable, and don't do anything else that could result in the harming of the ones they have at their disposal," Chief Prosecutor Bespoke declared. He was no longer looking up at Mr. Morix directly, but I could see him shoot a few glances up at our boss from time to time. "Are we clear on that?"
Nobody in the courtroom gave an answer.
Chief Prosecutor Bespoke took that as a sign they were all in agreement. "Glad to hear it. Now, let's try to be nice. If any of you decides to have an outburst in the middle of the trial, I would ask you to see yourself out before the bailiffs have to drag you out," he announced.
"I don't think I've ever seen him look so serious..." Yuri murmured. "I guess he's just as freaked out about this as we are. I suppose I can't blame him. His position as chief prosecutor could be at risk if he fails in figuring this out."
"Then let's not give him a chance to fail. Let's take care of this swiftly and without issue," Lily hissed at her. "Besides, it looks like KJ is almost done messing around with the TV. We're going to be in contact with them any second now."
I looked up to KJ and saw that she was right. He was nearly finished messing with the TV. I felt my heart skip a beat. I hadn't expected this moment to come so quickly. After the day before, I wasn't looking forward to talking to any assassins. I would be perfectly content going the rest of my life without seeing another one. It was terrifying to think I had walked in here today like this was a normal thing, like it was just another task I would be able to take care of before leaving the courtroom to go about my daily life again. I thought for a brief moment what my life was coming to before the TV lit up and began to make grumbles of static. I instinctively covered my ears at hearing the sound. It was far from pleasant to listen to, and that was putting it lightly.
KJ turned a few knobs on the back of the TV, making the static increase and decrease in volume. I saw Lily cringe out of the corner of my eye. Yuri was just glaring daggers at the TV, like she was ready to punch a hole in the screen if it continued to screech. I couldn't help but feel the same, not that I would say anything about it. I didn't want to find myself in deep trouble over it.
"Is it almost ready?" asked Judge Diaphan, toying with her gavel. I noticed that she hadn't called out for the trial to officially begin yet, but I didn't say anything about it. I was silent as I looked up at her.
"It should be prepared to make contact with them any second now," explained KJ. "I'm sorry it's taking so long. It shouldn't be like this... I guess the TV is a bit older than it looks. It's hardly the peak of technological performance, but I had no idea it was going to be this bad."
"I just know that I want that thing to shut up as soon as possible," I heard Yuri grumble under her breath. Judging by the look on Chief Prosecutor Bespoke's face, he felt much the same way. I couldn't help but agree, not that I was going to say it verbally. I was too afraid to think about it, even if the assassins hadn't yet made their appearances.
"It looks like you'll have your wish," KJ cut in. The TV stopped screaming in static, prompting the screen to change.
It didn't take long for figures to come into view. The first one was O, still slumped over in the same chair as before. There was a small amount of blood pooled on her hair. It looked like she was peacefully sleeping, but I got the feeling there was much more at hand. Luckily, her chest could still be seen slowly rising and falling. I found myself breathing a sigh of relief when I realized she wasn't dead.
"Sorry about the delay. We had some technical difficulties," KJ explained from his place beside the TV.
A second figure, one I recognized as the Alexandra Murdayre that had been introduced the day before, came onto the screen. Her arms were crossed as she glared daggers at the courtroom. "You're lucky we can be patient," she murmured with a shake of her head. "But that matters not. It's time to hear your choice. What have you decided to do? Are you going to give the defendant a guilty verdict and let the hostages free? Or are you going to let the hostages die and allow the defendant to walk free? It's your choice to make. It matters not to us."
I found myself frowning, unsure of what to say. I looked over at Chief Prosecutor Bespoke. He was hiding his emotions on the situation well. I felt my heart pound in my chest nervously as he spoke. "Actually, we were planning on asking you a few questions. Is that alright?" he questioned.
Ms. Murdayre glared at him for a moment. "I don't remember us ever saying a conversation was in order here. What makes you want to talk to us? We're not friends sitting down for coffee at a local café. Don't act like that's what's happening here."
"I wasn't trying to," Chief Prosecutor Bespoke told her innocently. He was keeping his composure rather well, I had to admit. "I was just curious about the crime. We never quite got a full explanation on how it was carried out, so we were going to ask you how you did it. I'm not trying to use it against you. We merely have a few questions."
Ms. Murdayre paused. I saw her tapping against her forearm with her index finger. "You know what? Fine. We have nothing to lose here. I guess it wouldn't hurt... Just know that if you rub us the wrong way, we won't let you skate right by. We have people here who would just love to die because of you. Unless you want to be responsible for their untimely demises, I suggest you watch yourselves. Are we clear here?" she asked. With the way she was questioning us, I was almost even more scared of her than I had been the day before. She looked like a regular person, but at the same time, I knew she was much more, and that was what frightened me.
"Alright. I'm glad to hear that," smiled Chief Prosecutor Bespoke. "I was going to start with a question about the information you got to hack the Interpol security system. How did you get your hands on that?"
I did my best not to let out a gasp when I realized what he was doing. Mr. Morix had been gone talking to him after all. There was no way he wasn't on our side here. His idea to ask them questions was his way of stalling. He was keeping them from moving against the hostages until X and Neptune could make some progress in finding the assassins. I assumed he hadn't mentioned it since he expected us to either figure it out on our own or know about it in advance. Judging by the small glimmer of hope shining in Lily's eyes, she seemed to have realized the truth as well. She was squeezing Yuri's hand silently as the girl stared at the TV solemnly.
That was probably why Mr. Morix had his phone on him. He was likely waiting for a call from Neptune about any progress they had made. He wasn't exactly close with her, but she was friends with Chrysalis and probably wanted her safe just as much as he did. Plus, she knew the truth about O, so Mr. Morix was able to trust her with the sensitive situation, even if he was hesitant. It was brilliant.
"We paid a few agents in the technology division to tell us. They had been selling their company out ahead of time, so you can't blame us for that at all. We merely used it to our advantage. We paid them the necessary amount to get the information we needed. If you want the truth, we were planning on killing them after getting what we needed, but we knew they could be helpful, so we let them live. Of course, they weren't around to help us out for much longer since a certain spy here ruined everything," Ms. Murdayre explained.
She turned to focus her attention on O, who was still sound asleep. She flicked O in the temple, jolting the agent awake. Now that I looked at her, I could see the similarities she had to Chrysalis. Their eye shape was the same, they were about the same height, their skin was the same pale and fair color... It was like Yuri kept on saying. It was so obvious looking back on it. It makes you wonder how we didn't see it before.
O glanced around in a panic before her eyes settled on Ms. Murdayre. She tried to glare at the woman, but she was far too exhausted to put up much of an attempt. Ms. Murdayre wasn't having her attitude anyways. Before O could react, the woman raised one hand and delivered a brutal slap to her cheek. O whined in pain, but she didn't say anything. A look of defeat appeared in her eyes.
"They want to know about how you exposed those traitorous Interpol agents," Ms. Murdayre explained bluntly to her. "Go on. Tell them about what you did."
O gulped and took a deep breath. "I-I... I had been doing a little bit of snooping around Interpol when I realized something wasn't right... I found out a few agents under Q were selling information to third parties. I knew that if I came forward, people would wonder how I came across that information. They would grow suspicious, which was the last thing I needed. I decided to send letters to M so they would know I figured it out. I kept it vague and anonymous from Oracle so they wouldn't suspect somebody within their walls. They never realized it was from somebody on the inside, least of all me," she told us. Her eyes were glassy and lacking focus. She looked ready to pass out at any moment. I assumed that was because of the injury on her head. We would need to have that looked at after she returned home.
"I see... You exposed them because you were concerned about the good of the company. That's rather noble of you," Chief Prosecutor Bespoke remarked. "What information exactly did you get from those agents, Ms. Murdayre? We heard it was enough to hack the security system, but we didn't get the details. Those who sold it have been hesitant to explain it as well."
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt. We asked them what it would take to get through the passcode-guarded system and into the security codes. Because they're all tech nerds, it wasn't difficult to figure out for them. They told us for the right price. That was about a week before they were caught for selling information. We didn't have much to go off, but we didn't have a choice. In fact, most of our attempts to hack the security system took place before the murder. It took us a while to get in though," Ms. Murdayre replied.
"You had been attempting this for some time before?" I asked.
"Yes. We did our best to get in there, but we couldn't ever get through. Lucky for us, we managed to do it without being detected, which is always a positive, I suppose... It's a shame things didn't work out earlier. We could have been finished up with this ages ago," grumbled Ms. Murdayre with a shake of her head.
I saw Chief Prosecutor Bespoke look up at the gallery above Lily, Yuri, and I's heads. I didn't need to check to see that he was looking at Mr. Morix. I heard a small beeping noise, like a cell phone being turned on. A shiver went up my spine. I was hoping my prayers had been answered, that I had put this together correctly.
Because if I had, that could have been Neptune calling to tell us she had found Occisor and their hostages.
Here we have some action after that big info dump last chapter. Nice.
-Digital