The next morning, things were pretty much normal around the Sneer mansion. Sophia was in the process of getting up around, but she was moving slowly. Cedric avoided Cyril as much as he could, only because he was still uneasy about Ralph's suggestion to call the police about this matter.
At one point, Sophia was in the nursery, rocking back and forth in the rocking chair with Forest cradled in her arms as Cyril walked in.
"Got up, huh?" he asked. Sophia just nodded. She didn't even look up at Cyril.
"Aren't you even going to say something?" Cyril asked.
"No," Sophia replied. "Except maybe thanks for chasing off Mr. Morales."
"Yeah, well, I'd feel better if you'd look at me while you thanked me."
Sophia shook her head, and held Forest closer. She had done a pretty good job of hiding her face from the others. She didn't want anyone to see her, except maybe Forest, because he didn't really have anything to say about it. After all, his vocabulary was restricted to "goo goo" and "ga ga" for awhile.
"Exactly what are you hiding, Sofa Girl?" Cyril asked.
Sophia took a deep breath. She slowly pulled her head up and turned towards Cyril. Cyril nearly swallowed his cigar when he saw Sophia's black eye.
"I knew Silas Morales could throw a punch," Cyril said. "But I never expected . . . . ."
"He didn't," Sophia said, turning her attention to Forest. "This happened after I fell down the stairs. People are going to be blaming you for it if anyone sees it."
"Yeah, I know. Those Raccoons are already blaming me for the whole attack."
Sophia tensed. She was probably never going to get over what happened. She didn't want to talk about it at all. She wanted to forget it happened.
"Well, this'll blow over soon," Cyril said. "Then we can get back to normal around here."
Sophia nodded, but she was confused at Cyril's behavoir. She knew Cyril wasn't too crazy about her, but she couldn't figure out why he had chased off Silas Morales, and she also couldn't figure out why he seemed so concerned about her. The door bell rang, which brought Sophia out of her thoughts. The Pigs weren't around, so Cyril went to answer it. To his surprise, two police officers were standing there.
"Now what's this about?" he asked. "If you're here to plug that ridiculous Policeman's Ball of yours . . . ."
"Nothing like that," one of the officers said. "Cyril Sneer, I presume?"
"That's me," Cyril said. "Now what are you doing on my property?"
"You're under arrest," the second officer said, holding out a pair of handcuffs.
"I'M WHAT?!" Cyril screeched. "On what charge!"
"Assault and battery," the officer said as he slapped the cuffs on Cyril's wrists and led him to the police car.
"There must be some mistake!" Cyril shouted. "I had nothing to do with it! I was merely stopping the real assaulter and batterer! You can't do this to me! I'm innocent I tell you!"
"Yeah, yeah, that's what they all say," the officer said.
The two officers managed to get Cyril into the back of the squad car. Then they climbed in themselves and drove to the station. It was an interesting drive. Cyril kept protesting that he was innocent, and the cops still locked him in a cell when they got to the station.
Back at the mansion, Sophia had heard the commotion and was trying to see what was going on.
"Cedric!" she called. "Cedric? What's going on?"
"Well, I got to talking with Ralph, Melissa, and Bert and they said . . . ." Cedric started, but then stopped suddenly when he saw Sophia's eye. "Sophia! I can't believe it! I didn't think Pop would go that far!"
"He . . . . he didn't," Sophia said. "What happened was . . . ."
"Hey Cedric!" Bert shouted, as he, Ralph, and Melissa ran in. "We just saw the cops take away Cyril! I can't wait for the trial! Of course, I'll be your lawyer."
Ralph and Melissa exchanged dual "Oh brother" looks, and rolled their eyes. That's when Melissa caught sight of Sophia.
"Oh my gosh, Sophia, did Cyril give you that black eye?!" she gasped.
"No, he didn't," Sophia said. "He had nothing to do with it!"
"Did Cyril tell you to say that?" Bert asked. "Is he threatening to hurt you again if you ratted him out?"
"Bert, please," Sophia said.
"It's all right, Sophia. Don't you worry about a thing. I'll take care of the whole matter at the trial. Now you just go back upstairs and rest. I'll take care of everything."
"Bert Raccoon, Attorney at Law," Melissa muttered under her breath.
Bert didn't hear her. He was already off and running with his strategy to win this case. Sophia groaned, and sat down in a nearby chair. Even thinking about the next few days were going to be exhausting.
"Do you need anything while we're here, Sophia?" Ralph offered.
"Yes," Sophia moaned. "I need this whole ordeal to be over."
"I can bet," Melissa said, patting Sophia's arm. "But I'm sure everything will turn out all right."
"I just want to know who's idea it was to have Mr. Sneer arrested."
Ralph, Melissa, and Cedric began to look a little guilty about something themselves. Sophia couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"All of you?!" she shouted. "Oh Cedric! You too?!"
"I didn't want to, Sophia," Cedric said. "But we weren't sure if Pop's guilty or innocent. I didn't want to risk him hurting you again, or even hurting Forest, if he is guilty."
Sophia sighed. She didn't want to be around when Cyril found this out.
Of course, Cyril already had a pretty good idea that the Raccoons had him arrested. He was pacing inside his cell, wondering how in the world he was going to get out of this one. After awhile, the Pigs arrived.
"We did just what you told us over the phone, sir," Lloyd said. "We called a lawyer."
"Good," Cyril said. "I'm going to prove my innocence if it's the last thing I do!"
"You mean you're not guilty?" Floyd asked.
"Gee, we thought you were!" Boyd shouted.
"Does everyone in the entire forest think I'm guilty?!" Cyril shouted. "Sheesh! Just because I don't like the girl, you all start to think I'd actually attack her like that!"
The Pigs began to shudder, and they backed up. They were just glad Cyril was behind bars, so he couldn't reach out and strangle them.
"Is the lawyer going to take this case or not?" he asked.
"Yes sir!" Lloyd shouted. "His name's Wilbur Wolf, and he's willing to take the case."
"It's open and shut, actually," Boyd said. "If you plead innocent, and you're really guilty, they'll find you not guilty anyway. They've got Bert Raccoon representing them."
"You're right, it will be open and shut," Cyril said. "If that nitwit's on the case, I'm home free."
The Pigs nodded, and then left. Cyril grumbled, and continued pacing around his cell. He just couldn't believe this was happening to him. True, everyone in the Evergreen Forest knew he was mean, conniving, and was liable of lying to make a fast buck, he knew that. But what he couldn't believe was that anyone could think he'd harm Sophia, just because he didn't like her. Cyril was known to be heartless, but even he wasn't that heartless.
While he was waiting to be released, Cyril got to know some of the inmates, most of which were in for basic crimes, like robbery, purse snatching, car jacking, that sort of thing.
"So what are you in for, Sneer?" one of the car jackers asked.
"A crime I didn't commit," Cyril said.
"Hey, ain't we all!" one of the other guys laughed.
"I'm serious," Cyril said. "What happened was my ex-best friend assaulted my son's wife, and beat her up pretty badly. Then I walked in on them, and chased him out, and my son happened to walk in while I was holding the baseball bat my ex-friend was using. Now everyone things I did it!"
"Yeah, and I really didn't rob that bank," one thug said, and then everyone started laughing.
Cyril grumbled and gnashed his teeth. This wasn't going well for him. He hoped that the trial would be an open and shut case, especially with Bert Raccoon as the counsel on the other side! He didn't think he could take it if he lost, and ended up in prison. He wouldn't last two minutes.
A few days later, Cyril found himself in a courtroom, at a desk with Wilbur Wolf, the lawyer who was going to take the case. Sitting at the bench next to his were Ralph, Melissa, Bert, and Cedric.
"So where's Sofa Girl?" Cyril asked. "Isn't she here?"
"She's at home," Cedric said. "Bert didn't want to put her through any agony, Pop. She hasn't really been feeling well these past few days, you know."
Cyril groaned. This didn't look good for him. Sophia was probably the only other person who knew what really happened that night, other than Forest, and Forest couldn't talk yet.
"All rise!" the bailiff shouted, and everyone stood up. "Court is now in session! Honorable Judge James Owlsen presiding."
This was it. The moment of truth. Would Cyril end up in jail, or would he be found not guilty of the charges? He didn't want to admit it, but Cyril was incredibly nervous about the outcome of this trial, which would change his life forever.