*grin* Thank you for the reviews! They make me very happy indeed!

To the beta, for her unceasing patience and support - may a lionhead rabbit fall into your lap someday.

Disclaimer: Colfer owns this universe.

Chapter 8: Verdict

Police Plaza, Haven City

'Okay Fowl, talk quickly and let's get this over with.' Trouble Kelp nodded at the boy sitting across the table from him.

Artemis gazed back calmly. They were in the interrogation room he had previously been taken to years ago when the LEP had suspected him for trading with the fairies, just before the B'wa Kell rebellion had broken out. Nothing much had changed since then, except that his hands were not shackled to the chair this time. Evidently the People had more trust in him now than they had back then.

But maybe this trust might not last longer – he would have to be careful. After Holly's question earlier that day, there were some things that Artemis knew he had to avoid touching upon or he would risk arousing suspicion further.

'Ask away, Commander,' said Artemis.

'You do know that one of the Council has been found murdered?' said Trouble. There was no trace of suspicion in his face, but then again, he wasn't Root. Root would have been purple in the face, not to mention completely distrustful of his least favourite Mud Boy.

'I am aware of that,' Artemis said, clasping his hands on the table. 'I wasn't involved in it.'

'Are you working with those who committed the murder then?' Holly interjected, from where she was standing beside Trouble.

'I doubt you'll believe me if I said no,' said Artemis, smiling wanly. 'Maybe I should get a shot of sodium pentothal to convince you?'

'Don't push it, Artemis,' said Holly, scowling at him. 'Just answer the questions.'

'I will. I take it that you'll be using the Retimager?'

'You're losing and you're still being a smart ass,' said Foaly, stepping into the room with the Retimager. 'Your time's running out, Fowl. The Council's having an emergency meeting as we speak.'

'I didn't get the memo,' Trouble said.

The centaur shrugged. 'Hey, don't look at me. They voted that it'll be the Council's responsibility to decide what to do with the murder and not involve you officers in the decision. Can you blame me?'

'I'll take it up with them later,' said Trouble grimly.

'All right, Artemis, relax.' Foaly held up a pair of what appeared to be kitchen plungers. 'You know what happens next.'

Artemis obediently leaned back in his chair, allowing Foaly to place the plungers over his eyes and start the process.

'I'm trying out a few images,' Foaly explained as several images flashed on the projection screen. 'Knife, solinium pulse, Neutrino, Merrick himself, Ariya…truth is, Commander, there isn't enough evidence to connect this guy here with the murders. Or even show that he had a hand in the plans.'

'Anything?' asked Holly, watching the sequence of images.

'Nope.' Foaly stopped the flow of images on the screen and turned off the Retimager. 'He's clean, even with that message. He's speaking the truth…but you never know with Fowl. You can try mesmerizing him if you like.' He took the plungers off the boy's face and headed to the door with the equipment.

'I'll take that as proof enough,' said Trouble, before the centaur left the room. 'We'll let him go; but in the meantime, I want you to keep an eye on him, Foaly. We have enough to deal with in Haven as it is.'

'Thank you, Commander,' said Artemis, sitting up and rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands. 'If there is any way that I can help to solve this mystery, don't hesitate to call me.'

'And what makes you think that you can help us, Artemis?' said Trouble, irritation written all over his face. 'Just leave now, and leave us to deal with our own problems.'

'I will.' Artemis stood up, straightening the nonexistent creases in his shirt. 'If Holly would be so kind as to escort me to E1…?'

'Wait, there's something I have to ask.' Trouble got up from his seat, his eyes narrowed. 'Holly mentioned something about your theory that someone is aiming to undermine LEP authority. What makes you think so, Fowl? A murder's a murder, not some conspiracy or anything.'

'Your Council member has been found dead,' said Artemis. 'Isn't that an indication that someone is specifically targeting the LEP?'

'And how does Merrick come into it?' asked Holly, who had remained beside her commander. 'Explain that, Artemis, because I'm not seeing it.'

'From what you said, he's quite influential in Haven. Perhaps you could check his previous contracts and business associates? See if he had anything to do with LEP, maybe?'

'I'll get Foaly on it,' said Trouble, sighing. 'So you think it's a conspiracy now, Fowl?'

'If it is, I'll be glad to help, Commander,' Artemis replied. 'I'm involved too, in a way.'

'No, you're going home.' Trouble shook his head and strode to the door. 'Holly will take you back. Oh – and Fowl?'

'Yes, Commander?'

'This is your last chance, do you understand? Give us another reason to suspect you and I'll personally sign the form to get you mind-wiped.'

'I understand, Commander.'

'Good. I'm not in a mood to give chances, Fowl. Holly, meet me in my office when you get back.'

'Yessir,' said Holly.

Trouble left the room, shutting the door after him. Holly turned to face the boy in the silence that ensued.

'Do you believe me now, Holly?' asked Artemis.

'I do, I suppose.' She shrugged and looked at him questioningly. 'So…home again? Butler will be waiting.'

'If there is any way that I can – ' Artemis began.

'No, there's nothing you can do, Artemis,' Holly interrupted before he could finish what he meant to say. 'We'll be fine on our own, thank you.'

'If you say so,' he said quietly. 'But if there is any way that I can make amends…'

Holly smiled, guessing what he would say next. 'Look, I'm done being angry with you, Arty. You've done enough and I've already forgiven you for what you did. It's just that I'm uneasy right now, with everything that's been happening in Haven. I wouldn't want to think that you were involved, but that message gave me reason to suspect you – but it's all right now, isn't it? And I've got to get you home in one piece, like I promised Butler.'

'I see.' He nodded but didn't say more on it.

'Come on.' She held the door open for him and gestured to him to hurry up. 'Kelp's waiting for me.'

North-South Expressway, Malaysia

The North-South Expressway ran, like its name, from the northern states of Peninsula Malaysia which shared their borders with Thailand all the way down south, where it met the causeway that connected the mainland with the island nation of Singapore. Virgin and secondary jungle which had escaped the rapid development brought about by the construction of the expressway lined the roads at certain stretches, and green hills threw some parts of the expressway in shadow at all times of the day.

These neglected, hilly, jungly stretches of land bordering the expressway – besides providing a scenic view on long journeys – were also handy for hiding fairy terminals from human eyes. Field operatives who needed a fast flyover to whichever populated area they had to go to were free to follow the expressway as a marker, as fairy sightings were few and far between and towns and cities were often located nearby.

And in a small sunny clearing near Kuala Lumpur, a fairy sat in the shade of large ferns.

'Anything yet?' the fairy muttered to no one in particular.

On closer look, there appeared to be a fairly conspicuous earpiece in the fairy's pointy ear.

'Oh blast.' The fairy held up a pair of binoculars and squinted through them, scanning the road.

'Port Klang, you say?' The fairy sighed and stood up, folding the binoculars into a tube and slipping it into a pocket. 'Great. More seafood.'

And then, revving up the wings on its back, the fairy pushed off from the ground and shimmered out of sight.

Motorists using the expressway often thought that the shimmer they saw above the road on hot days was due to the heat and light refraction. They were right most of the time.

Police Plaza, Haven City

'Hey, Captain Short! Captain! Hold on a sec!'

Foaly had just cleared the pair for a shuttle flight to E1, Tara – there were precautions they had to take to prevent fairy civilians from knowing about Artemis's presence in Haven, particularly at this time. Tension was running high outside, according to the news reports that filtered into the LEP's HQ by the minute, and civilians were worried that another threat from humans was imminent. Despite the reassurances that the LEP spokespeople kept giving to the public, many still demanded that officers be sent above ground to check up on the Mud People and stop any attack that may come from above.

Holly and Artemis stopped in their tracks, waiting for the techie who had called to them to catch up. The elf stumbled up to them, out of breath, having run all the way from the Ops Booth.

'It's Fowl,' the techie wheezed, pressing a hand against his side. 'Ow. Anyway, Foaly wants to see him. And Pomona Lyess is in there. You're to take him there, Captain.'

Holly and Artemis exchanged skeptical glances before Holly spoke, 'We've just been cleared for a flight to Tara. Are you sure about this?'

'Yes,' the techie said, nodding fervently. 'Hurry up – Foaly's threatening to trample me if you're not back quick.'

Holly turned sharply on her heel and marched back up the way they had come. Artemis followed after, hurrying to keep up with the elf.

'Who's Pomona Lyess?' he asked in an undertone as they turned the corner and out of sight of the techie, who had slumped against the wall to get his breath back.

'Council member. Ariya's cousin. She'll be furious after that murder.' Holly shook her head and looked over her shoulder at Artemis. 'Best if you don't say anything, Artemis.'

'I won't,' he assured her. 'I hope Foaly comes up with a good excuse.'

'What you need is an explanation, not an excuse!' cried Holly as they hurried down the next corridor. 'You've been suspected of the first murders in Haven in thirty years, Artemis, and you still don't see how precarious your position is. Do yourself a favour and try not to talk too much, okay?'

'All right, all right.' He stayed silent all the way to the Ops Booth; his thoughts were anything but silent. There was something odd about this here…and he would get down to it, despite Holly's and the commander's warning to him to keep out of their affairs. Then again, they couldn't stop him from thinking about this with his big brain, could they? And when the time came, they'll be asking him for his help, like it or not –

'Fowl?'

He came to a halt beside Holly. The sprite before him in the Ops Booth wore an expression of – what could only be – dislike. She drew herself up to her full height and stared at him coldly. So this was Pomona Lyess.

'How may I be of service, Councilwoman Lyess?' he said evenly.

'We've voted to send you to the Atlantis maximum security penitentiary,' Lyess replied. 'Four were in favour of the decision, two against. One of our members is, as you no doubt know, unable to attend any future meetings.'

'I offer my condolences on your colleague's death.'

'It doesn't change anything, Fowl. You're going to Atlantis for conspiring in the murder of two upstanding citizens of Haven, not to mention your involvement in the unprovoked shooting of a goblin by an LEP officer – '

'And how is he involved in that?' Holly interrupted. 'There's no proof that he was!'

'Captain.' Lyess switched her stare from Artemis to the captain. 'I do remind you that you are LEP and that the Council's decision should be followed at all times by officers of any rank. I'm putting you in charge of escorting Fowl to Atlantis with the Retrieval Three squad. Please see to it immediately.'

'Wait – wait – you can't do that to Fowl, Lyess,' said Foaly. He had been remained silent during the exchange earlier, preferring to watch and see how it would go. Things were not looking good here.

'It's the Council's decision, Foaly,' Lyess said. 'We've signed the necessary paperwork, and it's your job to process the forms and see to it that this boy here is in his secure cell as soon as possible. Do it. Now.'

'But there hasn't been any precedent to this,' Foaly protested. 'We haven't had a human in Atlantis at any time in history, and doing this might just go against the law, Lyess. And there's human law to consider.'

'I don't care about human law at this point in time,' said Lyess, smiling humorlessly. 'Civilians are panicking as we speak, and I'm not going to see more murders today or any time in the future. If the Council thinks that Fowl should be locked up for our safety, then so be it. Good day to you.' She swept out of the booth amid dismayed stares from Holly and Foaly.

'We're screwed,' said Foaly, clopping back to his computers.

'Can you reverse the decision, Foaly?' Holly joked half-heartedly as she followed him to the screens. 'Destroy the paperwork and just let Artemis go?'

'It gives me much grief to hear you say that, Short,' said someone from the doorway.

She kept her back to the door, recognizing the voice.

'We have to see to it that the People are safe,' said Trouble Kelp, entering the booth. He nodded briefly to Artemis, who gave a curt nod in return. 'It's not about what we think is right, Captain, but what is right for the People.'

'Artemis is innocent, Commander,' she said softly. 'It's not right to lock him up when he hasn't done anything. There's no sufficient evidence against him.'

'Who said it should be fair?' Kelp gave a bark of derisive laughter. 'We have to consider the safety of Haven's citizens, Short, and you're talking about what's fair.'

'Sorry, Commander.'

'Get to it then. Cuff the boy and call up Retrieval Three. I want him out of my sight before the Council makes another decision without my knowledge.'

'Yessir.'

'Commander,' said Foaly, 'we're risking a lot by sending Fowl to Atlantis. We're not just talking about fairy law, but Mud Man law too. What if he decides to take action against us in the future?'

'Let the boy have his say,' said Trouble coolly. 'Do you have any objections to us locking you up in Atlantis, Fowl?'

Artemis smiled at the commander's back. Kelp was giving him a chance to point out the loop hole in the Council's decision without actually hinting that he knew about it. The new commander was a difficult one to trick.

'No objections, Commander,' he replied, to horrified looks from both Holly and Foaly. 'And I promise not to sue if I'm freed.'

'I thought you'd take the bait, Fowl,' said Trouble. 'Not so smart now, are you?'

'Let's just say I have my own plans.'

There was a look on his face that Holly was all too familiar with – Artemis was planning something on his own, unsurprisingly. She hoped for his sake and everyone else's that he knew what he was doing. Artemis's plans had a tendency to involve danger and people not knowing what they were doing beforehand, as she had come to learn from past experience. And she had a bad feeling about that vampire smile still fixed on his pale face – she would have to go along with his plans when the time came, whether she wanted to or not.

Still, it's better than nothing, she thought as she secured his wrists with plastic cuffs while Foaly contacted the captain of the Retrieval Three squad for her. She searched Artemis for any electronic devices on him as per protocol, but there were none, as she had advised him to leave them at the Manor before heading to E1.

'Don't do anything stupid, Artemis,' she whispered as she walked him to the door. 'I won't be around to save you all the time.'

'You can trust me, Holly,' he said.

I wish he'd stop staying that, she thought as she gave him a none-too-gentle slap on the arm.

To quote the Queen of Hearts: "Sentence first - verdict afterwards."