A/N: Hello everyone! I'm back, with working technology! Hope you all had a great summer, it kind of ended for me since today was my first day of school! I'm sorta excited, but also not really...Anyways, I didn't forget about my fanfiction, and here it is, the next chapter! We're getting deeper and deeper into the swamp, the next chapter is the turning point in many senses. Stay reading and enjoy!
Preview: the court
Billy looked down at the procession, standing on the balcony of the room. The smoke curled off the tip of his cigarette. He could hardly believe this was all going on for Heath. The fact that Heath murdered some puny judge didn't surprise him. It was just surreal.
"Excuse me, sir?" An old woman called him out. "No smoking in the court room."
Billy licked his lips and tossed the cigarette down the floor.
[….]
"Do you have all the documents?" Winnifred whispered to Charlotte, leaning to her side.
"Yes," that one quietly replied, nervously looking around. "Do you think we'll need them?"
"Heath said we will."
"Well I don't think we can trust Heath's side anymore."
Winnifred moved back again to her side, concealing her hurt. Charlotte noticed the slight tension in her friend's face and put her hand over Winnifred's.
"Freddie, I'm sorry," she gently said. "I didn't mean it." Winnifred managed a weak smile, not wanting to fight with her friend at this moment. Her eyes traveled around the room, until she spotted Johnathan standing next to a column. His gaze was tense, expecting the judge looking through his papers on the pedestal. The psychologist slightly turned and saw Winnifred. His deep blue eyes slightly darkened, as he nodded. The corners of Winnifred's lips slightly twitched. Johnathan seemed to sigh, then looked away. The lawyers walked into the room. Everyone stood up, standing until the judges sat back down. Suddenly, everything seemed to freeze in the room. The accused walked in, led by the cops. Winnifred felt the breath seeping away from her chest as she saw Heath's bruised eyes, looking directly at her. His crackled lips slightly twitched, then he sat down. Winnifred's nails dug into her skin. Her eyes darted to the side of the room, where Jack was sitting. His gaze was fixed on Heath. The judge cleared his throat.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have gathered here to examine the case of the murder of Judge William Jake Mitchell of Gotham City. The man accused of this murder is sitting in front of you. His name is Heath...Heath." Winnifred looked down as the judge stumbled over Heath's last name, or rather the lack of it. A slight murmur went over the court. Heath calmly listened. The judge proceeded with the formalities. Winnifred mostly kept her eyes during this, feeling the dread heavily fall down on her chest as he pronounced the details of the murder and as the police displayed the evidence.
"Accused, do you reject anything that has been said so far?"
Winnifred's eyes darted upwards. The room seemed to hold its breath.
"No sir." Heath's clear voice echoed on the walls. "I killed the man."
Winnifred quickly looked down, aware of the renewed murmur and tension traveling around the people. She felt the sweat on the back of her neck trickle down under her collar.
"May you describe the circumstances?"
"Of course, sir." Some advocate came up with a Bible. Heath quickly swore, eyes never leaving the judge's face. A ghost of grin flickered on his lips, as if reminding him of the promised fifteen years.
"It was around two in the morning. I was patiently waiting for Mitchell to come to his office. I was wearing a mask, just in case. When he walked in, we exchanged a couple of words regarding who I am and how did I get in. I used my knife by the way. After he understood that I had nothing good to offer, I sliced his throat open."
The murmur turned into a clamor. Winnifred pressed a hand against her forehead, sweat streaming down the lower sides of her arm and on the back of her feet. Her forehead was steaming. Winnifred looked back at Johnathan. His face was pale, blue eyes serious then ever. The judge knocked to quiet down the room.
"Order! Do you know that forgot a joker card next to Mitchell?"
"Yes sir. I left it there."
The cynicism and impudence were outright. Winnifred wanted to shut her ears. Please, Heath, she pleaded. Why are you doing this to yourself?
"I said, order in the court! Why did you kill Judge Mitchell?"
The room was suddenly quiet all by its own. Winnifred lifted her face. For a second, Heath's eyes darted at her, before returning back at the judge.
"Because I work for Jack Browning."
[….]
Winnifred felt the knot of confusion that has been following her for these five days finally blow up inside of her. Eyes wide, she stared at Heath, who was calmly taking in the uproar from the crowd. Winnifred glanced at Johnathan. He seemed to be slightly smirking, confusion clearing from his face. What the hell? Winnifred was even more confused.
"Oh my god," Charlotte breathed next to her and harshly dug her nails into Winnifred's arm.
"Look." The women both looked at Jack, sitting at the edge of the second row. He looked stunned. The judge angrily pounded his mallet against the desk, trying to hide the amusement on his face.
"Order! Order in the court! Mister Browning, do you support this man's claim that he's your employee?"
Jack slowly stood up. The hall fell quiet, eyes following him.
"No," Jack clearly said. "That is a lie. I never hired this man." Heath, watching Jack, quietly chuckled.
"Or so you think," he pointed out and turned back to the judge. "I was hired by Carmine Falcone, you know, the big mob dealer in Gotham?" There was a few more pounding from the judge. Heath patiently waited, in the meantime, forming the rest of his sentence.
"...and so he hired me, and then I find out that banker Jack Browning is also in ties with Falcone. So," he turned to Jack. "In a way, you hired me."
"I oppose," Jack coldly retorted. "I would never hire you."
"Continue, Mister Heath," The Judge said, eyes slowly shifting from Jack back to Heath.
"How does your possible allegation to Mister Browning tie to Judge Mitchell?"
Heath sighed and took out a small piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to some lawyer standing next to him. The lawyer startled, then, quickly glancing at the accused, cleared his throat and began reading.
"Miss Rachel Dawes,
I will indeed look into the matter of Jack Browning using the city's criminality to progress his own interests. His business indeed does seem not entirely perfect. I do want to warn you that there were multiple searches in his company, conducted by your first class Lieutenant Jim Gordon." The lawyer lifted his eyes up on the judge.
"And then he moves on to the procedures."
"Who's he?" The judge forcefully said. The lawyer looked back down at the signature.
"Judge William Mitchell."
"See?" Heath reinforced. "I found this in Mitchell's office when I was doing some research on him. Never mind what, it's irrelevant. But after such a hit on my employer, I decided to show Bill where his place is in this world. And so I killed him."
Winnifred didn't hear the mallet's pounding in the uproar. People in front of her stood up, shouting something, closing her view of Heath and Jack. As for herself, Winnifred felt strange. Now that Heath told her why he killed Mitchell, she wasn't surprised. At the depths of hopelessness, he decided to pull down his fiend with him. Someone's hand clenched her shoulder. Winnifred abruptly turned her head. Johnathan was next to her.
"Well, ninety percent of what he said is true," he crookedly smirked, leaning down right up to her face so she could hear him.
"Are you surprised?" Winnifred asked back. Johnathan chuckled.
"No." His eyes traveled across the room.
"It's kind of hard to believe that Heath caused all of this. It's in his taste, yet...I guess he was too quiet for too long."
"Johnathan," Winnifred grasped his hand. "Do you think they'll let him go?"
Johnathan shook his head. Winnifred suddenly saw the tiredness reflecting in his features.
"All they can do is give him a shared cell with Browning. And that'll be more than enough for Heath. It's what he was pursuing anyway."
"Why did he do this?" Winnifred whispered more to herself than to Johnathan.
"Could've he just let them both live?"
"I think you're forgetting the fact that Heath worked for Falcone," Johnathan's fingers slightly tightened on Winnifred's shoulder.
"Remember, he never mentioned how he got on Mitchell in the first place. I think Falcone forced him to do something, and after that it was pure improvisation."
The hall finally started quieting down. Johnathan quickly looked around, before leaning in the final time.
"Get ready. The judge will probably ask for you and your photos." Winnifred nodded. Giving her shoulder a supporting squeeze, Johnathan left back to his column. The people in front of Winnifred sat back down and she could finally see. Jack's face was unreadable, while Heath comfortably stretched out his legs, crossing his arms on his chest. The judge, looking tired from settling down the hall, wiped ten sweat from his forehead, and crossly glanced at Heath.
"Mister Heath? You mentioned Mister Browning's presumable ties to the criminality. Sit down, Mister Browning," he added, noticing how Jack begins to stand up.
"You won't be left without a voice. So, Mister Heath? Do you have the evidence?"
Heath didn't answer right away, giving Winnifred a chance to stand up.
"I do." Her voice was straight and cold. A thousand heads swiveled her direction. Winnifred felt her palms sweat, so she fixed her gaze on the judge. That one seemed befuddled.
"Yes, miss?"
"I have the evidence regarding Mister Browning's allegations to the criminality, including Carmine Falcone," Winnifred repeated. The judge titled his head, crystal green eyes examining her.
"Come on up, please."
Winnifred tugged the bag out of Charlotte's hands and walked up to the pedestal. Her footsteps echoed in the rounded building. She stopped right next to Heath, trying to ignore his intent gaze. A lawyer walked up to her the Bible. Winnifred tried to hold her legs from violently shaking and put her shuddering hand over the leather cover of the Bible. Her finger slightly traced the book.
"I swear by Almighty God that the evidence I shall give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." Her wavering hand lowered down and violently grabbed the strap of her bag. Heath moved out of the place he was standing, leaving room for her. Winnifred wordlessly entered in, fingers slightly touching the wood.
"What is your name, miss?" The judge gently started.
"Winnifred Lewly, sir. I work as an accountant at Jack Browning's bank."
There was a slight murmur around the hall. Winnifred slightly lowered her head. Heath, sitting down at the bench, rubbed his palm with his fingers. His face was focused, carefully listening to her.
"How well do you know the man next to you?" The judge nodded towards Heath. Winnifred slightly bit her lip, diligently choosing her words.
"Quite well, sir. We were classmates in school and in college."
"Did you expect him to murder Judge Mitchell?" Winnifred lowered her eyes. Her legs began shaking more than ever.
"No sir."
"Tell us about the evidence," the judge abruptly changed the subject. Winnifred took a deep inhale, going right against the oath she gave.
"We were talking with Heath the other day. He...was talking about working with the mob. In the conversation, he mentioned Browning." Winnifred paused, collecting her thoughts.
"I found it strange that a name of a well respected banker would be mixed with Gotham's criminality, so I decided to check out on some papers. I and Charlotte Hutchinson, another accountant at Browning's place, asked for the documents from Browning's secretary. As we started looking through them, we found many strange coincidences." Winnifred fell quiet, uncertain how to explain herself.
"Can you give us an example?" The judge helped her out. Winnifred took another breath.
"Yes. The murder of business man Milden. The ousting of Foster's company. It was an arrangement between Jack and Falcone. Falcone would murder or oust out powerful businessmen, handing their businesses over to Jack, while he would provide the mob a safe account at sixteen percent."
The judge angrily pounded his mallet, while Winnifred desperately tried to hold on her composure.
"Do you have any legal documents on you, miss?" He hurriedly asked before the hall could go any farther. Winnifred quickly took out the photos out of her bag, shakily laying them out.
"Only photographs, sir. The actual documents are at Browning's bank in Jack's office."
"Very well, miss. However, why didn't show this evidence to the court earlier?"
"It was the day before Mitchell's murder."
"I see."
The hall was quiet. The judge quietly ordered the police to go to Browning's bank, before looking back at his papers.
"You may sit down next to the accused, Miss Lewly. Is Charlotte Hutchinson in this room?" Charlotte quickly stood up and walked over to Winnifred was standing. Winnifred wearily sat down, the shuddering slightly stopping. Heath wasn't looking at her, slightly kneeling forward, his hand folded in front of him. Winnifred crossed her arms, trying to unnoticeably dry her sweaty palms. Charlotte calmly swore the oath, waiting for the judge to ask her.
"Are you Miss Charlotte Hutchinson, accountant at Browning's bank?"
"Yes sir."
"Miss Lewly mentioned you also looking through Jack Browning's documents. Do you deny that?"
"No sir. We looked through the documents together."
"So you confirm that everything Miss Lewly said is the truth?"
"Yes sir."
"Alright, Miss Hutchinson, you may go back to your seat."
Winnifred carefully licked her lips, wondering when she would be able to go back to her seat. The police returned, carrying a stack of papers. The hall seemed to hold their breath. The police handed them over to the judge, who began looking through them.
"And the secretary?" He meanwhile asked.
"He wasn't there, your justice."
"Find him." The police obediently walked out. The judge turned the papers over, face becoming more serious. He finally looked up, sternly looking at the people in front of him.
"These are, indeed, documents concerning Jack Browning's ties to Gotham criminality. Mister Jack Browning! Come on up."
Jack calmly walked over. His face was unconcerned, her Winnifred could feel the cold anger rolling off of him. The lawyer quickly jumped up to him, holding the Bible. Jack glanced at him in disdain, but quickly gathered his composure, and coldly swore the oath. The judge just as cold looked at him from the top.
"Mister Browning, do you deny your allegation to Carmine Falcone?"
There was a short, tense silence.
"No sir."
Winnifred felt the nervous lump breathe down her threat. Heath slightly lowered his head, trying to hide his emotions.
"Do you deny all the machinations, some stretching as far as planned murder?
"No sir."
Winnifred glanced sideways at Heath. His face was in the shadows, but she thought she saw a slow grin extend on his lips.
"Did you know about Judge Mitchell's coming investigation?"
"No sir. This is my first time hearing it."
"So I assume his murder came to you as a surprise?"
"Of course, sir." The judge smirked, thinking something to himself.
"Well, gentlemen," he said, looking at the three people in front of him. "The laws are clear. Mister Heath, you will spend the rest of your life at Blackgate Prison, no parole. As for you, Mister Browning, your bank will be closed and you will serve twenty five years in prison." The mallet heavily went down. The trial was over.