October 26

Courtroom No. 6

10:40 AM

Victoria von Graye

"This entire incident began with a few letters being sent out to people who were of importance to the Emsthorpe family," Deirdre began. "There were three letters. The first was sent to the chief prosecutor, Ghastly Bespoke. The second wound up in the hands of someone from our agency, Chrysalis Starr. The third letter found its way to the current witness of the case, Niamh Wood. Each of them have a connection to the Emsthorpe in some way or another, and that was the reason they were being targeted."

"The Emsthorpe family wishes for the destruction of the legal system, and so, they targeted those who they felt were important. That's where the chief prosecutor comes from," I picked up next. "The other two grudges were a bit more personal. Chrysalis was responsible for exposing the victim of this case in the courtroom during one of her previous killings, and that created quite a bit of hate between them. Prosecutor Wood, on the other hand, is a member of the Wood family, a line that has caused many issues for the Emsthorpe assassins over the years. Her being targeted is just an extension of that grudge she has been treated poorly for so many times in the past."

"They lured everyone in under the false pretense of thinking they would be meeting with the judge of this case to discuss the Emsthorpe incidents. Instead, they were met with an empty building, and the assassins behind the case were supposed to strike," Lily went on. She paused for a moment before shaking her head. "But that's not even close to what actually happened. Instead, two of the three assassins sent to kill the recipients of the letters that night were traitors, and they decided to lash out at the final assassin with outside help."

"There are four children of the Emsthorpe family. The oldest is Balthazar Emsthorpe, and he's the only son of the family. He left years ago after uncovering the truth behind what his father did to his mother years ago. He murdered their mother, and that was enough to force Balthazar away," Yuri chimed in. "Raven is the next of the children, and she was the most loyal to their purpose as assassins, hence why she was betrayed and killed in this case. Emmeline is next, and she was the one who reached out to Balthazar after he left. She knew she was going to need help to pull this off, and she decided to turn to the man who had the best chances of helping her. Last is Belladonna, and she went along with Emmeline's plan after learning about what happened to their mother as well."

"The plan was for Emmeline to target Chief Prosecutor Bespoke, Raven to go after Chrysalis, and Belladonna to restrain Prosecutor Wood," Deirdre continued. "Raven was going to deal the killing blow against our current witness, but she had other business to take care of first, leaving Belladonna to restrain her first and foremost."

"On the night of the crime, the other three children of the family teamed up to fight against Raven and save the targets of the assassination from what would have been their own deaths," I continued. "Emmeline did nothing to target the chief prosecutor, instead leaving him alone. He thought nothing was going on and eventually left, safe from the events of the night. Emmeline was busy with Balthazar as they tried to follow Raven and back her into a corner so they could get rid of her once and for all. She refused to be swayed even after hearing the truth behind their mother's death, so Emmeline and Balthazar came to one conclusion: there was only one way to stop her, and it came with her murder."

"Raven wound up discovering the victims out of order though," Lily said. "She instead found Prosecutor Wood before Chrysalis. She was about to go in for the kill when Emmeline reminded her of what she was meant to be doing that night. Raven then left Belladonna to look after Prosecutor Wood while she went after Chrysalis. That would be the turning point that eventually led to her death."

"The confrontation took place in one of the smaller rooms," Deirdre started. "Chrysalis was attacked, and Raven went in to try and get rid of her once and for all. That was when she was stabbed in the back by none other than Emmeline Emsthorpe. Belladonna had stayed behind to look after Prosecutor Wood while both of her older siblings followed Raven through the building to stop her once and for all. Emmeline reached for a blade meant to be used in the assassination and stabbed Raven in the back, killing her instantly and saving Chrysalis moments before she could be the one killed instead."

"Seeing all of this caught Chrysalis by surprise as I'm sure anyone can imagine," Yuri continued. "She passed out from shock, and Balthazar moved her away from the crime scene with hopes of burying her memories of what had happened that night. Along the way, he realized that Chrysalis' necklace had snapped, and he shoved the charm into the dirt of a nearby plant for the sake of keeping her presence hidden. After that, he left with Emmeline, abandoning the victim's body and waiting for the police to come and find it."

"Unfortunately, they weren't quite out of the woods yet," I sighed. "Their father is the leader of the Emsthorpe crime ring, and he wouldn't have stood for a failure like this. It was just a matter of time before he found out about it and came after them for their treachery. Rather than trying to fight him off, the Emsthorpe children decided to play a different game. Belladonna convinced Prosecutor Wood to come with them so they could hide her until all of this had blown over. Since she was the target the Emsthorpe family wanted dead the most, it was dangerous for her to go back to her regular life so soon."

"The rest of us wrongfully assumed it was a hostage situation of some kind since we didn't realize she had a reason to go along willingly," Lily went on. "She wound up going with the rest of the assassins away from the crime scene, and they did what they could to protect her by hiding her somewhere. She was mostly closed off because of what she had gone through, but at the very least, she was safe and out of the hands of the Emsthorpe family's leader. That was the thing that mattered most to all of them."

"However, there were still other matters that needed to be taken care of, and that was where the phone calls came in," Yuri told everyone. "Balthazar wanted to make sure Chrysalis was safe too, especially since she was unconscious on the ground with no memory of what had happened to put her in that position. Balthazar wound up calling Chrysalis' older brother and the defendant of this case, Pieter Fury, saying his sister needed him. Pieter jumped up immediately and went to investigate, and that was when he found the body. He didn't discover his sister in the building at all, instead ending up framed unintentionally for the murder of Raven Emsthorpe."

"As for the reason Pieter of all people was summoned to the scene of the crime, it was because he knew how to fight," Deirdre explained. "He knows how to use a sword, so if anything happened, he would have been able to protect his sister. He didn't wind up finding her though because of how large the Council of Six's headquarters are, instead ending up arrested for the crime. That brings us to where we started this case."

"There was something else involved with all of this though, and that would be where Prosecutor Wood was throughout it all," I pointed out. "She was on the run with the rest of the Emsthorpe children who were trying to keep her safe. Balthazar was trying to guide us down the right path to help prove Pieter's innocence thanks to his anonymous calls, but Prosecutor Wood was being kept safe thanks to the work of Emmeline and Belladonna. They knew they couldn't just leave her alone, so they instead turned their attention to playing the defensive game and keeping her out of the range of their father no matter what."

"And that brings us to the end of everything we've uncovered so far," Lily declared. "The culprit behind this case is Emmeline Emsthorpe, and I'm confident that hearing her testimony will prove as much. She was the one who killed her sister for the sake of stopping the triple assassination that had come to be known as the Night of Calamity within the ranks of the Emsthorpe assassins. She was the one responsible for all of this, and in leading this rebellion, she killed her older sister. That is the truth we have been searching for since all of this began."

The entire courtroom remained silent for a few heavy moments after our explanation had finished, and Judge Diaphan nodded to herself. "That certainly sounds like a plausible turn of events," she murmured. "I understand quite a bit more about this case now... Though I never would have anticipated the truth behind this case would come in the form of members of the Emsthorpe family finding their hearts and senses of morality."

"Still, that's the truth we have uncovered, and that is what happened on the night of the murder," Deirdre replied with a shake of her head. She turned her attention to Prosecutor Wood next. "What do you have to say to that, Prosecutor Wood? Did we get any of our details wrong in that explanation?"

Prosecutor Wood remained silent and still as could be, staring down at the floor blankly. She took in a careful breath before sighing and shaking her head. "No," she murmured. "That... That's what happened as far as I'm aware."

The gallery finally began to chatter with those words, and for a few heavy moments, Judge Diaphan just let them talk. She hit her gavel down sharply when she had heard enough of the clamoring though, not even crying out for order as she continued to speak. "I suppose that resolves all of our questions then," she remarked. "All that remains is for us to find the truth behind this case by speaking with the woman herself."

"We have her here. It shouldn't take long for us to call her up to the stand. Give it five minutes at most," Prosecutor Cruz announced. I could tell he was trying to avoid us having to go into recess, and I was glad for it. I didn't think I would have been able to stand it if this case was drawn out any more than it already had been. We had dealt with enough as far as I was concerned.

"Please call her to the witness stand as soon as possible then," Judge Diaphan nodded. She set her gavel down carefully, and the courtroom went so quiet that you could have heard a pin drop.

Prosecutor Cruz nodded and started for the door. He went off to speak with Emmeline in the lobby, leaving the rest of us in the courtroom. For a long time, no one dared to say a word, instead just sitting there in their own silence because there was nothing they really could say to make this any better. This was an awful situation no matter how you looked at it, and while we had managed to solve the bulk of our issues so far, there was still one final obstacle in our way, and it came in the form of pushing a confession out of Emmeline.

Yuri looked up to Prosecutor Wood for a long time before she finally allowed herself the chance to speak. The preceding silence was so tense it could have been cut with a knife. "Are you okay?" she asked, each word coming out thick and heavy.

Prosecutor Wood jumped a little bit at being addressed, and she stared at Yuri with wide eyes for a long time before settling down. She nodded slowly. "I... I will be," she murmured. "I didn't think this was how any of this was going to end. I didn't realize I was being targeted for an assassination attempt that night, and... I didn't expect to end up being saved by some of the assassins themselves."

"After the trial ends, you should try to talk to someone about what happened," Deirdre suggested with a small frown. "I understand this was a lot for you to go through, and if you ever find yourself in need of a shoulder to lean on, you can always come to us. We would be more than happy to support you through anything that is bothering you."

Prosecutor Wood looked at her with wobbly eyes and a trembling bottom lip before she nodded. "Thank you," she whispered, nearly choking on the words along the way. "I just... I never thought it was going to end up like this. Even now, there's still so much going on, and... And..."

Before she had the chance to finish speaking, the doors to the courtroom opened once again, and Prosecutor Cruz came back inside with a woman a short distance behind him. Emmeline Emsthorpe stuck out easily among the ranks of the siblings. Raven and Balthazar both had pitch black hair, but Emmeline was different. Her hair was blonde, and I could only imagine she had taken after her mother rather than her father in terms of appearance.

The longer I looked at her, the more I seemed to realize. She wasn't just Emmeline Emsthorpe. She was also the public relations manager that had killed the Ashbrooke teacher, Aubray Venia. She was also the strange woman who had broken into an abandoned building to attack someone innocent, Jane Doe. The truth behind all of this was becoming increasingly clear. We had seen her twice just as we had seen Raven twice before all of this began. Our first recent run-in with the Emsthorpe assassins had been with Belladonna, but the more recent cases had been split between Emmeline and Raven.

And now, we were seeing Emmeline after she had turned against her sister, resulting in the ultimate betrayal and her own downfall.

"Witness, please state your name and occupation for the court," Judge Diaphan instructed. I was impressed by just how stern she was being about all of this, especially given her history with the Emsthorpe assassins. She had suffered so much because of them, but even so, she refused to be pushed around by the sight of one of her enemies. She was in control this time, and everyone in the courtroom knew it. There would be no escape for Emmeline, Balthazar, or Belladonna. Not this time.

Emmeline took in a careful breath before letting it out. "My name is Emmeline Emsthorpe. My occupation is assassin," she explained. Her voice was heavy and tense, not that I expected much of anything different. A lot was going on, and she knew it just as well as the rest of us. This was going to be her last crime. Today, she would not get away, and she knew it.

"You understand the reason you have been summoned here, yes?" Prosecutor Shield asked, his eyes narrowing into slits. "You are here because you have been accused of orchestrating the murder of your older sister, Raven Emsthorpe. You were the one responsible for the crime that ended with her death a few nights ago, or so we have come to believe. Do you understand the severity of this crime?"

Emmeline nodded slowly. "I do," she replied. She said nothing else, and all I could do was stare at her. She seemed far more remorseful than I would have expected, though I wasn't entirely sure what I had been anticipating to see in the first place, especially since the past few times we had run into her, she hadn't seemed all that enthusiastic about continuing her work as an assassin.

"We would ask that you testify at once about the events from the day of the crime," Judge Diaphan instructed. "You have been accused as the one who was responsible for the murder of you older sister. Do you have any responses to this?"

"There's no need for a testimony," Emmeline cut in. "I always planned on confessing openly when I was given the chance to do so. It's true. I was the one behind my sister's death. I admit it."

The gallery began to chatter at that, but as per usual, Judge Diaphan was having none of it. She hit her gavel down sharply, and everyone immediately went quiet. "You were always planning on confessing to the murder?" Judge Diaphan questioned. "If that's the case, then why go through all of this to try and hide it at first? I would have thought you would have wanted to come forward as soon as possible rather than letting someone else end up framed for the murder."

"I did not want anyone to be accused of this crime," Emmeline clarified. "I wanted to help the people who had been targeted for the assassination. I couldn't do that without acting a bit outside the limits of what's legal. It's nothing new to me in the first place, so I didn't care."

"You thought you were going to have to remain at large for a short while after you committed the crime if you were to succeed here..." I murmured, a frown spreading across my face. "But now that you're here, you're confessing to what happened without missing a beat."

"You know exactly what happened that night. I've played the game of denial against you before, but unlike every other time, I have no intentions of trying to run away this time," Emmeline said. "I've been losing my faith in the family business for a while now, and I thought it was time I put a stop to all of this. Raven could have backed down, but she chose not to, and that was her mistake. I didn't want to kill her, but in the name of saving three lives, I had to destroy hers. It was an easy decision at the end of the day."

"Why did you try to avoid being arrested for so long?" Prosecutor Umber questioned. "That only makes you look worse. If you really wanted to avoid a heavy sentence, then you would have come forward immediately."

"Who said I was trying to avoid a heavy sentence?" Emmeline countered. "I wanted to stay away from prison for the rest of the case because I knew my father was going to try and come after Niamh Wood again. I was the best suited to protecting her. Balthazar lost his edge in the year since he left behind the family business. Belladonna is still young. I had to do something to step up and take care of that, and if it meant hiding and protecting Niamh Wood, then so be it."

"It was all about Prosecutor Wood then... That makes a lot of sense, I must admit," Deirdre murmured with a small nod. She glanced back up to Emmeline a moment later. "What else can you tell us about this case?"

"I lost my faith in our father's purpose a while ago. I began to realize just how awful all of this was, and I couldn't just stand by and let him keep hurting people. When I heard about what he had done to our mother, that was the last straw. I asked Balthazar for information, and he told me everything. Just like that, I found out about our mother's murder in all of its gruesome details, and that was enough for me to want to leave," Emmeline replied. "Though there was something else first."

"What are you talking about?" Prosecutor Cruz asked, raising one eyebrow in confusion.

"It was from the murder at Ashbrooke Academy," Emmeline said. "I didn't know what happened, but... I saw the way all of those students were grieving for their teacher, and it changed something inside of me. I realized there was more to all of this than I had realized before, and I needed to back away from it before anyone else got hurt. It took me a long time to see the consequences of what was happening, but I'm glad I at least noticed it eventually. Now, I'm never going back."

"And that means every child of the Emsthorpe family has now turned against its legacy," Lily concluded with a small sigh. "With Raven dead and the other three children traitors, there's no one left to inherit what Augustus Emsthorpe has in his hands. He's alone, and he's going to see it soon enough."

"I suspect he already knows," Emmeline remarked. "He's just waiting to figure out what to do next... And I don't know if any of you are ever going to be safe again as long as he's still at large. He's capable of doing many things to hurt people, and you cannot underestimate that danger no matter what. That was why I decided to intervene and help Niamh Wood by taking her under our wing until it was safer for her to come out of hiding. It's still not entirely safe for her to be anywhere, but it's better than it was before."

All eyes shifted over to Prosecutor Wood at that, and she looked up to Emmeline with darkened eyes. "I... I don't know how to feel about you," she confessed. "I want to hate you for what you did. You took away one of the people who helped me most during one of the worst parts of my life. I was alone and struggling after everything that happened at Ashbrooke, but she was there to save me... And then you killed her when I tried to go back to her."

The courtroom went silent, and Emmeline looked away from her, not willing to meet her gaze. Prosecutor Wood took in another careful breath before pushing it out a moment later. "But at the same time... I know I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for you. Everything you did in this case helped to save my life, and I can't deny that no matter what I do. You saved me, and I know that. There's no point in trying to avoid it. I just wish I knew how I was supposed to feel about you. On one hand, you've killed so many people, including those I care about... But on the other, you've done so much to help me over the course of this case. I suppose all I can really do is thank you for what you've done recently... And then I'll leave it at that."

Emmeline stood there in silence for a long moment before she nodded. "I understand," she murmured. "No matter what, I respect your decision. When I think of everything I've done, I'm disgusted by it as well. There's nothing I can say or do that will make this any better, and I know that. Still... I hope I can do something to make up for it one day. I may not be able to reverse the damage I've done in the past, but I'm going to make the effort to change, at the very least."

Prosecutor Wood said nothing. All she did was nod, and she turned around and walked back over to the witness bench slowly. She was shaking slightly, but she didn't acknowledge it. Instead, she just pressed one hand against her chest and stared down at the ground. It would take a long time before she was able to put herself together after all of this, but until she was ready, she would have infinite support from everyone who cared about her. We would make sure she ended up okay no matter how long it took or how much help she ended up needing. It was a promise.

"You lost your desire to be an assassin around the time of the murder at Ashbrooke, didn't you?" Lily questioned, and Emmeline nodded. "That certainly explains the encounter our agency had with a character by the name of Jane Doe. She put up so little resistance when talking about what she had done to hurt others... And now, I can understand why."

"I did what I had to in order to survive," Emmeline replied. "That meant attacking an innocent person. I didn't want to do that, but I had no other choice... So in the background, I began to plan for the day when I could break free of all this and finally escape. It was the best option I had. I didn't go in for the kill when Albert Devine ended up hurt at my hands because I didn't want more blood on my hands."

"But that didn't matter much as long as you had to kill your older sister to help the people who were being targeted in this case," I said. "You knew what you had to do if you were going to keep them safe, and you were well beyond the point of being able to talk to her about it."

Emmeline nodded. "When I spoke to Raven about our mother, she didn't care. She believed our mother had been a traitor who had deserved what happened to her. It was fine with her as long as she could keep working to uphold the legacy of our family. That was the moment I knew there would be no coming back for her, and I was just going to have to proceed without her. It wouldn't be easy, but I had no other options."

"And that leads us to today... The truth of this case has been laid bare, and we know who was responsible for it all," Judge Diaphan declared. "While this was once something we thought to be impossible, the truth is that the killer is a member of the Emsthorpe crime ring who stabbed someone else in the back for the sake of other people. It's not something any of us would have anticipated, but here we stand regardless."

"Yes... That is the truth," Emmeline confirmed. "I understand that I can't make many requests of you after everything I've done, but... I would like to at least ask... I want you to go as easy as you possibly can on my younger sister. Belladonna was raised this way and knew no better. She has only been involved with a few crimes in the past, and she has only killed once. She was never on the same level as me or the rest of my siblings, and she deserves better than this. I wish our father had never gotten to her in the first place, and even if I can't go back and erase the damage all of that did... I can still ask that she be granted slight mercy."

"I can make no promises," Prosecutor Shield told her. "The circumstances of this case are dark and serious, and we need to handle them with the utmost care. Whatever happens from here will be the appropriate response though. That much I can assure you from the bottom of my heart."

Emmeline simply nodded. "I understand... And I am ready to accept whatever punishment you see fit to give me," she declared. "I am no longer a member of the Emsthorpe family as far as I'm concerned... But I will not deny the history I had among their ranks. What you choose to do with that information is your decision."

"We will bear it in mind going forward... And through the verdict as well," Prosecutor Cruz said. He nodded to Emmeline, and she stepped away from the witness stand to allow Pieter to take his place at the heart of the courtroom. All eyes locked solely onto him, a promise of what was to come. The last few days had been nothing short of a nightmare for us all, but at long last, it was going to end, and he would be free.

Judge Diaphan hit her gavel down once to focus the court once again before she spoke. "This case has come a long way in the last few days... But I am confident we have finally arrived at the truth behind the murder of Raven Emsthorpe," she announced. "With that in mind... This court now pronounces the defendant, Pieter Fury, not guilty. Court is adjourned."

Judge Diaphan's gavel came down once again, and the entire courtroom seemed to sigh with relief. At long last, it was all over. When Pieter and I locked gazes, I realized there were tears in his eyes, not that he would ever admit it openly. I offered him a gentle smile and a promise to hug him and never let go once all of this was over. He deserved that much, and I was more than happy to give it to him.

Emmeline stood nearby, and she let out a small exhale as bailiffs started to crowd around her. It took a moment, but Prosecutor Cruz approached the group and said something to the bailiffs, prompting them to step away from Emmeline for a few moments. I couldn't quite hear the words being said, and I ultimately decided I wasn't going to bother with listening in anyway. We had too many other things to focus on at the moment, and I could ask any questions I had later.

With that, everyone started out into the lobbies, and I felt a massive weight finally lift itself from my chest. Pieter was free, and we were finally done with this case. The truth hadn't been pretty, but we had managed to find it regardless. At the end of it all, we had found out about the treachery of a family responsible for the suffering of so many, and it had saved lives contrary to what any of us could have imagined.

The fight had been long, but it had been worth it for this moment alone, and all of us knew it.

three weeks remain,,,

-Digital