When Francis woke up to the sound of his phone ringing this morning, he swore he had still been dreaming. It had taken a few moments for the facts to sink in, before he realized what Gilbert was talking about on the other end of the call.
Mathilda and her henchmen had broken into the police station overnight, allowing Natalya Braginskaya to bust out her sister and their friends. To make the situation even crazier, Ludwig Bielschmidt had helped with the jailbreak, only to be drugged by Mathilda and left behind for the police to capture.
With his little brother being charged for his crimes, Gilbert was begging Francis to come in and help out as Ludwig's lawyer.
Now here he was, in a boardroom at the police station with the only other people who knew of Mathilda's alias. Ludwig sat at the foot of the table, just to the left of the Frenchman, a metal chain looped around his handcuffs to keep him in his spot. Gilbert was sitting to Francis's immediate right, with Lars in the next seat over and Roderich at the head of the table. On the opposite side were the JCI executives, showing various levels of discontent over the situation. Alfred was directly opposite Francis, with Arthur in the middle and Vash at Roderich's right. Although he could hear the humming of the air conditioning unit that controlled the airflow, Francis felt the thick tension that could be cut with a knife.
"Ludwig, you claim to not have known of your association to Mathilda Jones," Roderich spoke, "Could you please explain how this is possible?"
"I only knew her as Madeline Williams, a waitress at the Phoenix Cafe," Ludwig justified, "I did not realize who she really was until during last night's heist. Gilbert had shouted for Mathilda to surrender, and she tranquilized me when I asked why he was calling her by that name."
"How did you meet her in the first place?" Lars asked, "How did you end up in a relationship with her?"
"We first met at the Phoenix Cafe, when Kiku and I went there for lunch in early June," Ludwig recounted, "I bumped into her a few nights later, and asked her out for a date. We began seeing each other, and quickly became a couple."
"On July 29th, you assisted in the arrests of Natalya Braginskaya and Madeline Williams," Roderich stated, "Did you know that your girlfriend was being arrested for nearly killing Gilbert and Lars?"
"Yes, I did," Ludwig confirmed, slowly nodding.
"You chose not to report your connection to an arrested criminal?" Vash added on.
"That is correct," Ludwig confirmed.
"When she was bailed out by Antonio and Toris the following morning, did you know where to find her?" Gilbert asked.
"Yes, I knew where to find her," Ludwig explained, "I thought I could talk to her in person first, and convince her to turn herself in. I went to her apartment to do this, only to find that Lovino Vargas was already there. He was the one to reveal that Madeline was actually a freelancing criminal working for the mobs, and that she now supposedly worked for him."
"You had Mathilda Jones and Lovino Vargas in the same room that day?" Roderich asked, "Why didn't you report this?"
"I tried to call Gilbert, but Lovino stopped me," Ludwig narrated, "He demanded that I break up with Madeline, walk out of her life, and never speak of my connection to them again. I suppose that would've been the smarter thing to do, but I didn't want to do that."
"Why not?" Alfred asked.
Ludwig glanced at Francis for reassurance, and Francis gave him a small nod to proceed. The man then glanced down at the table, before proceeding to speak again.
"I thought I was in love with her."
"You thought you were in love with my wife?" Arthur slowly repeated, evidently holding back his irritation as he leaned forward.
"I did not know she was your wife," Ludwig defended, glancing up at Arthur, "All she told me of her past is how she ran away from home and gave up a fortune for the right to choose her own life. As far as I knew, she was a brave, intelligent woman who had simply fallen into a life of crime in her pursuit of freedom. Lovino was willing to adapt to this development, and insisted that I help their group instead. I would not disclose their members or activities to the police, and I would assist them where I could."
"So you chose to help her?" Arthur criticized, "You should have arrested the bitch that very moment!"
"How was he supposed to know it was Mathilda?" Gilbert interrupted, "Roderich, Lars and I are the only police officers who know what she looks like."
"What's your excuse, then?" Arthur demanded, "Any officer should be able to identify her on the spot, even with a concussion, and you weren't able to until after she escaped!"
"Don't give me that bullshit, that was the first time in three years she's been face to face with any of us!" Gilbert snapped as he stood up, "It is your family policy to keep her picture out of the press, you've been doing that her entire life. If you had released pictures of Mathilda, Ivan and Antonio to the press three years ago, they would not have lasted a week as fugitives. Instead, you're leaving us to run around on a wild goose chase, trying to find a woman that nobody else can properly identify. If you're going to claim that any police officer should've been able to arrest her on sight, then that makes you a fucking hypocrite!"
At that moment, Arthur stood and lunged across the table to grab at Gilbert, only to be quickly held back by Vash. Francis pushed with his feet to roll his chair back, watching as Gilbert was prepared to charge as well, only to be held back by Lars.
"Break this up, now!" Roderich demanded, having to shout above everyone else's voices. Once the rabble settled down, and everyone took their seats again, Francis chose to take over the discussion as he rolled towards the table again.
"Ludwig, was this decision to stay with Madeline, and to work with Lovino, the precursor for all your criminal activity thereafter?"
"Yes, it was," Ludwig confirmed.
"Feliciano and Katerina told us you agreed to help with the bank heist, as proposed by Ivan and Antonio," Lars reported, "Did you know who they really were?"
"Not at first, I only knew that the others thought of them as traitors to the Vargas and Kohler clans," Ludwig explained, "When Natalya and I had escaped on Friday, Madeline convinced us to join her at their base to lay low. While we were there, they explained their connection to Mathilda, and recruited us to help break the others out of jail."
"They actually told you who they were?" Gilbert asked, "Did they say anything about their plans?"
"They intend for Mathilda to get her bloody revenge, although they didn't tell me how," Ludwig explained, "They said that Mathilda had been oppressed all these years, and was never allowed to choose her own life. The Jones family was overprotective of her in all areas of her life, except the areas where Arthur was abusing her."
"What a load of shit," Arthur denied, "I did not abuse my wife, whatever you've been told is lies."
"Does that mean Mathilda did not induce her own miscarriage either?" Ludwig challenged, raising an eyebrow as he stared at Arthur.
Francis glanced around as the room fell into a shocked silence.
"Miscarriage?" Lars repeated, "What miscarriage?"
"She knew?" Arthur accused in shock.
"Ludwig, would you please explain this?" Francis requested, "What were you told about her miscarriage?"
"While she was working at JCI, Mathilda discovered she was pregnant," Ludwig elaborated, "She wanted to get rid of the child, before Arthur could take away her freedom and make her a permanent housewife. She chose to chug back two bottles of whiskey, hoping that the alcohol poisoning would cause enough damage to kill the fetus. If Antonio hadn't found her and taken her straight to the hospital, she would've died as well."
"She nearly killed herself?" Gilbert repeated, "Just to end her own pregnancy?"
"Why did we not hear of this before?" Roderich asked the JCI group, "If she was contemplating suicide, then there are mental health implications we haven't been able to consider in this case."
"They've kept quiet because they know that Mathilda is completely sane," Ludwig answered before the others could speak, "Why else would Arthur recruit seventeen psychiatrists to test her?"
"Seventeen?" Francis gasped, "Mathilda's mental health was tested seventeen times?"
"She was hiding the truth behind her miscarriage, and now she wants me dead," Arthur justified, "There is no way she could do all of this with her sanity intact. And it was not seventeen times, Ludwig is exaggerating."
"They showed me her health records, there were 17 different psychiatric reports on test results," Ludwig countered, "Antonio claimed he often had to protect Mathilda from your rage. He also told me that you would convince Vash and Alfred to dismiss his reports of your domestic abuse."
"Is this true, Vash?" Roderich asked, "Did Antonio ever make any reports of this nature?"
"Yes, he did so repeatedly," Vash confirmed hesitantly, "Arthur would always deny such claims, saying that Antonio was an incompetent bodyguard that had no clue what he was talking about."
"How many times did I tell you that Spanish bastard was up to no good?" Arthur said to Vash, "How many times did I demand he get sacked?"
"For fuck's sakes, Arthur, you were no better than Antonio," Alfred suddenly spoke up, "You had been demanding his pink slip ever since Mathilda miscarried! Is it any wonder I gave up on making you two get along?"
"Let me get the record straight here," Gilbert interrupted as he leaned forward in his chair, "Did all three of you know that Antonio Fernandez Carriedo, a bodyguard hired to protect Mathilda Jones, was accusing Arthur Kirkland of abusing her?"
Francis watched with bated breath as the trio glanced between each other, the shock on their faces fading into guilt, before Alfred looked forward and nodded in confirmation. Gilbert leaned back, shaking his head in disgust.
"You fucking bastards brought this all onto yourselves," Gilbert scolded, "Not only does Mathilda have grounds to counter-sue you all, but the rest of us have grounds to prove your contributory negligence on this investigation!"
"That's it, I've had enough of this," Arthur said, "Roderich, get this hot-head out of here before he spins this out of control!"
"Quit your bullshit, Arthur," Gilbert shouted, "You can be charged with domestic abuse, contributory negligence, conflict of interest and prosecutorial misconduct! No wonder your wife wants you dead, you're the biggest asshole on this planet!"
"That's it!"
Arthur stood and lunged forward, reaching over the table to grab at Gilbert. The albino immediately rose from his seat to the challenge, snatching Arthur's wrists and holding them away from his body. Vash immediately jumped up and tried to pull Arthur away, and Lars did the same to pull Gilbert away.
"Both of you, stop this at once!" Roderich ordered.
Francis and Alfred both rose from their seats to help pull the fighters apart. As soon as Francis saw a gap forming between the two fighters, Lars gained a strong hold around Gilbert's waist to pull him away from the table. Francis backed away, noting that Alfred and Vash had restrained Arthur as well.
"Lars, get him to his office now," Roderich barked, "We'll have to deal with this some other way."
"Come on," Lars groaned, trying to pull Gilbert towards the door instead of the table, although the albino was trying to get back at Arthur.
"You've earned all of this, you fucking asshole," Gilbert shouted, intending on getting the last word, "When Mathilda comes for you, you'll regret everything you've done!"
The room became silent as the albino was dragged through the doorway, taking the shouting outside. Once the muffled voice died down, Roderich turned to Vash.
"Take Arthur to my office, we'll resume our chat there," Roderich directed calmly, "Make sure they avoid each other's paths."
"Come on," Vash instructed before Arthur could speak, giving the man a nudge to move forward. The two of them went around Roderich and left the room. Francis glanced over to see that Alfred had chosen to stay behind. The shareholder had sat back down in his chair, and appeared to be lost in thought as he stared forward blankly.
"Where's Gilbert?" Roderich asked, and Francis turned to see Lars in the doorway.
"He's on his way to his office," Lars reported, "Kiku and Bella are with him, they know how to calm him down."
"In that case, can you please escort Ludwig back to his cell?" Roderich requested, "We'll have to continue these discussions of Mathilda's case some other way, but his charges for betraying the police force still stand."
"I will come visit you later, Ludwig," Francis assured as Ludwig rose from his seat, "We will have plenty to talk about for your case."
"Thank you, Francis," Ludwig replied as he rose from his seat.
Lars reached their side, and unlocked the chain connected to Ludwig's handcuffs, before guiding the criminal to the back door. As soon as they had left the room, Francis turned to glance at the shareholder again.
"Are you okay, Alfred?" Roderich asked, also noticing the remaining guest.
"Gilbert was right, we are all to blame," Alfred confessed with a heavy sigh, "I could've given Mattie the freedom she craved at any point. I should've listened when Antonio pleaded for us to help her. I was a terrible brother, and I helped push her to her limits. It's our fault she snapped, but I never imagined she would react the way she did."
"Whatever pushed her limit, we only know one thing for sure," Francis replied, "Mathilda wants her vengeance for what you all did to her, and I don't think she'll stop until she gets it."