Mia was the first to wake up when the theme of Steel Samurai rang through the bedroom.

She nudged the man laying next to her. "Diego, it's yours." Mia opted for the more professional-sounding standard ringtone. Diego's cell was the one with the theme picked by Maya.

Diego buried his face to his pillow, mumbling something incoherent.

Sighing, Mia reached over the sleeping form of her boyfriend to get his phone from his nightstand.

"Mia Fey speaking." You could have never guessed she was still half asleep and sitting in her bed from her voice. She was all business.

"Mr. Armando is currently unavailable. I'll make sure he'll get there as soon as possible." She told the frantic person on the other end of the line.

Mia turned her attention to the man snoring away next to her. Diego was not a morning person. To get him out of the bed this early you'd need some highly caffeinated stuff.

Or…

Smirking, Mia braced herself against the sleeping form and pushed.

And with a thud the sleepy attorney fell to the floor.

"So it's that urgent?" Came the groggy query from the floor.

"Yes."

"What time is it? Too early…"

"6:30 isn't considered to be too early by most people. This is almost the time I wake up most mornings."

"…"

"You aren't sleeping on the floor, are you?"

5 cups of extra-strong blend 256 later Diego was awake enough to get dressed and get himself to the detention center where he met the nervous client of his. A client he had gotten off the hook for theft just few hours ago, but in the process inadvertently proved he had been on the KB Security building when a murder had taken place there.

"You knew about the murder, didn't you?"

Diego wasn't about to tolerate any of his foolish evasiveness right now. This would have never happened if his client had been honest with him from the start.

But on the other hand, now that he knew what the prosecutor's trap had been, Diego felt relieved. Now he'd just have to deal with it. If he took the case. He was still mad with DeLite for not being perfectly honest with him. Although, to be fair, that was mostly his lack of proper caffeination talking. Once he'd get his fix he'd probably be in a more pleasant mood. This case had gotten his interest, after all. Diego had an idea who the prosecutor would be.

He had planned this.

That had been Krapp's first case, and he hadn't minded losing to set this up.

I'll need to find more about him once I have the chance. He is after something.

"Mr. DeLite. I will defend you. But this time," he gave him his best impression of Mia's glare. "You will tell me everything."

"I'll pay later! I swear!"

It took Diego a moment to place the frantic man he had run into in the KB Security guard office. Larry Butz. A few years back, Mia had defended him in a case, and ever since, the man had been in debt, slowly and infrequently paying away their fee.

"So, you are the little birdie who was sitting here in the nest, watching the building?"

"Huh?"

"You are the security guard here." He never seemed to hold a job down for very long.

"Yeah. I mainly sit here and watch these screens." Butz gestured towards the wall covered in computer screens displaying surveillance footage from around the building.

"Were you here when the murder took place?"

"Yeah, sure. Why wouldn't I be?"

He was clearly lying. It didn't take a professional attorney to see that.

"Butz."

"Ye-yes?"

"Unless you will be honest with me, I call Mia here. And then she will make you tell the truth." With men like Butz, it was best to be straightforward, Diego decided.

Judging from the way blood escaped his face, Butz must have remembered the last time he had been late paying and Mia had had a talk with him. "Listen, I didn't do anything wrong! Actually, the truth is, I wasn't here! You see, there's this girl I've been seeing. Or was, I think the fact that she has a new boyfriend who threw garbage at me when I tried talking to her means she's pretty much over me. Especially since she was cheering him on."

I guess this little birdie is less of a hawk and more of an ostrich burying its head in the sand. Aloud the attorney said: "So basically there weren't anyone here that night?"

"No!" It seemed like he had something more to say, so Diego stayed silent. Just when he was going to end the silence since it looked like the guard would never find the words, Larry continued in a hushed tone. " Do you, maybe, think it was my fault? If I had been here when the murder took place, I could have done something…"

"Maybe."

"Mr. Armando!"

"Yes?"

"I have decided! This will be the day I turn my life around! No more goofing around for me. I'll do something with my life."

"Good for you. Maybe, if the premature nightfall on this man's life will lead to a new dawn for someone else, perhaps something good will come from this tragedy."

Not that you have such a great track record. But I guess everyone needs to grow up eventually.

"Yeah! I'm not too sure about all that you said, but yeah!" Butz gave the attorney a thumbs-up and a grin.

Or not.

After getting that information, Diego thought it best to check up on the department store Lordly Tailor.

He was greeted by the nervous Adrian Andrews.

"I am so sorry, Mr. Armando! It was all my fault!"

"Don't go taking all the credit for this mess. I'm sure the little thief who sneaked away with the urn had his part to play too." Diego said, giving her a smile.

It seemed to calm down the blonde woman at least a bit. "Yes, but after you and Miss Fey did your best to convince Kurain to borrow those treasures… Even though you had already done so much for me..."

Diego remembered the case she was referring to all too well. Mia and him had been contacted by an assassin who had kidnapped Maya. And unless they got Matt Engarde, the assassin's client, a 'not guilty' verdict, Maya would be killed. That case had been one of his worst of his career, confounded by the fact that he couldn't consider it over before the assassin, DeKiller, was apprehended. That trial had been crazy, even compared to all the things he saw in court on a daily basis.

And many times he had been sure the murderer would go free. When the prosecutor had almost fainted due to blood loss after being shot by the assassin, and yet insisting she'd prosecute the case, or when DeKiller had called them and demanded they finished the trial in one day, or when it had looked like the Judge was convinced Adrian Andrews was the killer…

There had been so many times both him and Mia had felt like they were on the verge of disaster.

But they had pulled through, and the truth had come out.

However, that case had made him realize just how dangerous their lives could be. Especially how it could affect those close to them. Like Maya. She had a lot to deal with in Kurain, even without getting involved in murder-investigations and kidnappings. He felt like he had let her down.

It had been Maya's idea to lend the objects to the Lordly Tailor. She had decided she wanted to do something to make the Kurain Channeling technique better known, as a part of her role as the future Master.

Morgan Fey had opposed her, unsurprisingly, arguing that it was too big of a risk to let the sacred objects out of the village, and that it was disrespectful. Mia and Diego had supported Maya, of course, and eventually the village elders had agreed to the exhibition.

Diego hoped this theft didn't get Maya in trouble. But he knew that was a futile hope. Morgan Fey would never let it be forgotten that she had been right, and that their Sacred Urn had been almost lost.

Maya had been scared by it as well, and after recovering the urn, she had left with it to Kurain village to get it safe.

At the moment, I should focus on getting through this trial. In any case, it's better for Maya if I don't get involved with any of the channeling-business.

"Oh, you were there?" It was a mystery to Diego how a man wearing such a colorful outfit could blend in with the background so easily. Truth be told, he had almost completely forgotten he was even supposed to meet with his client in the defense's lobby before the court.

"I am so sorry!"

Diego sighed. It seemed like everyone was apologizing to him today. "Listen, Mister Ace Thief, just stand tall and lift your chin up. As long as you face what's coming standing up, I'll be right behind you."

DeLite straightened. "Yes, Mr. Armando." His voice went more silent towards the end of the sentence, but Diego supposed that was the best he could get.

"The court is in session for Ron DeLite. Again."

"Prosecution is ready."

"Defense is ready."

"The prosecution is ready to call its first witness."

As Detective Gumshoe walked to the stand, Diego evaluated the prosecutor. There was something different about the man today. Like he was now getting serious. Well, he had certainly managed to turn the situation around.

Gumshoe gave his testimony.

"The victim was the KB Security CEO Kane Bullard. The estimated time of death is about 1 AM, 10/12. His body was found in the safe in his office, stuffed in there. That's why his death was only noticed when the cleaning lady noticed a weird smell in the office."

"Would the defense like to cross-examine?"

This is a clear trap. Diego thought. But I have to go for it. I am going to trust this little thief is not a murderer.

He grinned, doing his best to lock eyes with the prosecutor. I'll spring your trap, little puppy. Let's see what you're made of.

"Of course."

Diego decided to cut to the chase. "You're saying the victim had been stuffed in the safe?"

"Yeah, pal."

"Who knew how to open the safe?"

It was the prosecutor who answered. "I have a list of the people here who knew the combination." He tapped a paper in his hand. "The victim, of course, was one of them. There are three other people, two of whom have airtight alibis. But the ex-security chief, who was fired some time ago, not only lacks an alibi, but was in the building at the time, as evidenced by the key-card record." He hit the table to punctuate his point.

"The only person who could open the safe was the defendant," Krapp pointed at him. "Ron DeLite."

The gallery burst into noise, forcing the Judge to call for order.

"Your Honor, the prosecution believes the defendant could shed light on this situation." The masked attorney turned to face the defense's bench. "Is this fine with the defense? As you know, the defendant can refuse to testify. You might want to exercise this right. No-one would blame you."

"Ha!" Diego took a sip of his coffee. "Careful, Mr. Prosecutor. I have been in courtrooms when you were still in diapers. You are twenty years too early to give advice to anyone."

"Fine, then, Mr. Armando. Show me how it is done."

As DeLite walked over to testify, Diego downed the rest of his cup of Blend 348. Too bitter. But at this moment it's just what I need.

"Name and profession, witness." The prosecutor demanded.

"Um, you know that already, don't you? I was here just yesterday… You should know…"

Krapp's shoulders slumped. "Ah, well, I thought I'd try to be professional, you know?"

"Well, my name is Ron DeLite. As for my profession, I guess, you could say I'm a defendant?"

"You certainly seem to end up here often." The prosecutor noted. "Tell the court about the night of the murder."

"Yes, well, the truth is, I got the blackmail letter. So I went to the KB Security building that night. But I wasn't worried. Mr. Bullard didn't have anything on me, after all."

"Do you wish to cross-examine, Mr. Armando?"

"Of course. It would be rather rude to make the little mouse walk all the way up to the witness box and dismiss him without even a chat."

Diego supposed he should get the issue with the safe over with first. "Mr. DeLite, tell us more about the safe."

"Yes, well, the truth is, it was something I could open, no that's not right…" The rest of his sentence faded into mumbling.

"Mr. DeLite", Krapp interjected. "Answer the question."

"Ye-yes. I knew how to open the safe, because I had been working as a security chief in the building until a year ago."

"Why don't you tell us why you were fired?", Krapp pressed.

"Well, actually…" DeLite looked at his defense lawyer, seeking advice.

Diego nodded. If he is asking, he certainly knows. It will be better if the Judge hears it from the defendant himself.

"Actually, I was fired for stealing company secrets."

"So, you had a reason to hate Mr. Bullard?" The prosecutor asked.

"No! I didn't…"

Krapp hit the table with both hands. "Mr. DeLite, isn't it true that you never told your wife you got fired?"

"Ah! I-"

Krapp didn't let him finish, pointing at him accusingly "You were desperate to keep it a secret from your wife! So when Bullard blackmailed you about it, you had no choice but to silence him!"

"OBJECTION!" Diego wasn't sure what to object on, but he had to break the prosecution's flow. He quickly thought of an argument. "Why would a CEO of a big company bother with a mere security guard!?"

"OBJECTION! Incase he is actually Mask DeMasque or not, Mr. Bullard certainly thought so." Krapp pointed out.

"Witness, continue." The Judge prompted, when it became apparent Diego had no further objections.

"Well, I knew how to open the safe, so I hid the body inside…"

"HOLD IT!" Diego interrupted, before the prosecutor could. "You never mentioned that you hid the body." I already had an idea, though… At least it has come out, now we just have to turn the attention to what happened in the office.

"Yes. Didn't I mention it? Sorry."

"So, you're admitting you did it?" The Judge asked.

"That's right. No! I didn't kill him. I just hid the body!"

"Maybe you should testify on that?" Krapp suggested.

"I opened the office door with my card, but there already was someone in the office and he knocked me unconscious. When I came to, I found Mr. Bullard dead, laying on the floor. I panicked, and opened the safe, hiding the body."

"So, you're saying you saw the actual murderer?" Diego asked.

"OBJECTION!" What he is saying is that he saw 'someone'. The prosecutor pointed out.

"I didn't see who it was, though."

"That's just so suspicious!" Krapp exclaimed.

"OBJECTION! All that's suspicious is the prosecutor's intent to make the court doubt this story. If the defendant had wanted to blame someone else he would have made up a better story!" Diego reasoned.

"Luckily, I wore the mask, so I wasn't badly hurt," DeLite noted.

"HOLD IT!" Diego was pretty sure this wasn't all that important, but he wanted to draw the attention to something else before the prosecutor could recover and counter his admittedly weak logic. "You never mentioned you were in a costume."

"No-one asked. But I thought I was being blackmailed over the whole Mask DeMasque-issue, so I thought it best to dress as him."

"As you can see, the defendant has some… Peculiar ideas and beliefs. If he can believe himself to be this other person, who is to say what else can be wrong with him? Maybe he really believes he saw someone else, but maybe that was just another delusion," Krapp noted.

"OBJECTION! Pure conjecture. There really was someone else there."

"Can the defense provide evidence of the existence of this other person?"

"Yes." Diego presented the buzzer record. "As you can see, the buzzer went off at once at 1:02 AM on October 12 in the CEO's Office. And yet." Diego gestured with his cup, "The defendant didn't escape. Because he was unconscious!"

"OBJECTION! If he was unconscious when the buzzer went off, wouldn't the security guard have caught him?"

"Exactly. And that's what the real murderer was going for!"

"What!?"

"The real murderer rang the security alarm, just so the guard would find the defendant's unconscious body on the crime scene. But unfortunately for this plan, the guard wasn't on his post, and so no-one came."

"OBJECTION! What if it was the victim who pressed the button?"

"OBJECTION! I would like to draw your attention to this," Diego presented the button. "It had no fingerprints! The victim wasn't wearing gloves, and he had absolutely no reason to clean up the fingerprints!"

"OBJECTION! What if it was the defendant? He was wearing gloves!"

"Why?"

Krapp was taken aback. "Why? Um…" He hit the table again. "It's simple. To call the guard! He wanted the guard to confirm the time of the crime, so that his pre-arranged alibi would apply!"

"So why would he hide the body?"

"Um," Krapp scratched the back of his head. "He panicked?"

It's time to bring him out. The actual murderer. Let's just hope it's not too late. Diego turned to the Judge. "Your Honor. It's time."

"Huh? Time for what?"

"To bring the tragic clown in here for a little encore."

"A clown? Ah! I get it! The Zvarriman!"

"Indeed. And we better hurry before sweet Lady Justice in her haste shields our clown."

"For a moment there I thought I was following you, Mr. Armando, but it turns out I wasn't." Judge said, his tone of voice suggesting he was used to that.

"Your honor," Krapp interjected. "He means that he has to get Mr. Atmey here before he is pronounced guilty of being Mask DeMasque, right in the courtroom next to this one. That would give him a solid alibi."

"Well, then-" The Judge began, but was interrupted by the prosecutor. "However, I don't think the defense has adequately provided evidence to support this course of action!"

"OBJECTION!" Diego slammed his coffee-cup on the table. "I am demanding we summon Mr. Atmey here to witness for the purpose of providing proof!"

"OBJECTION!" Krapp shook his head, hands on his hips. "Why does it sound like the defense has, in fact, no evidence to support their wild fairy-tales? To begin with, Atmey has an alibi!"

The Judge nodded. "I am afraid, Mr. Armando, that the prosecution is right. Unless you can at least discredit the alibi, I can't allow you to disturb the trial next door."

"I can prove that this alibi of his is nothing but smoke and mirrors!" Diego presented the picture that was the alibi in question. "As you can see, the timestamp doesn't mention the day! We have no proof that this was taken the night of the murder. Mr. Atmey was in charge of the security, he could have taken this picture any other night!"

Diego ignored the 'Ack' sound escaping the prosecutor, and turned to the Judge. "Your Honor. It's time to bring out the truth. And the only way we can do it is to call Mr. Atmey to the witness stand!"

"So, you saw it fit to disturb my trial with another?"

"Mr. Atmey, it's over." Diego was sounding a lot more confident than he felt. We have evidence supporting our claim, but nothing watertight proving this Penguin-look-alike was at the crime scene. I need to make him slip up.

"I, Luke Atmey, had no points of contact with the victim whatsoever. Kane Bullard decided to investigate Mask DeMasque and simply mistook who he was! It was Mr. Bullard who wrote the blackmail letter and sent it to Ron DeLite. Mr. Bullard's mistake is quite excusable. The defendant truly believes he is Mask DeMasque. That is why Mr. DeLite saw it fit to kill Kane Bullard. Truly a tragedy... Now then, I believe I am expected in the courtroom next door-"

"Not so fast." Diego stopped to take a long sip of his coffee. Now that Atmey was here, he wasn't in such a hurry, and could savor his drink. "You forget we still have the cross-examination to do."

Diego could detect a small twitch in the detective's eye, revealing his nervousness for a fraction of a second.

"I'd like you to tell me more about the blackmail letter."

"What can I say? It was obvious it was written to the defendant-"

"OBJECTION!" Now it was time for the attack. "What is obvious is that it wasn't written for Ron DeLite!"

"What are you saying?" The Judge asked.

"It's simple." Diego presented the list of items stolen by Mask DeMasque. "The letter mentions a 'red diamond', and yet, the jewel stolen was not red, but blue!"

"OBJECTION! Maybe Bullard was color-blind!" The prosecutor suggested.

"Well, was he?"

"Um, I don't know…" The prosecutor recovered quickly. "Red or blue, what does it matter? A jewel is a jewel."

"OBJECTION! At this moment, the question of color is of utmost importance. Take another look at the blackmail letter. Especially the wording. 'if you don't, I'll take that red diamond you received the other day instead.' Note he used the expression received. Not stole."

"So?"

"There was someone who received a red diamond as a reward for recovering a jewel stolen by the thief."

"You mean-"

"That very same red diamond you can see glittering on the finger of the witness!"

"OBJECTION!" The prosecutor's desk received yet another slam. "This is all pure conjecture! It makes no sense! Why would Mr. Atmey kill someone who was blackmailing him for being Mask DeMasque, and then use his conviction as Mask DeMasque as an alibi?"

It was time to lay all of his cards on the table. "He wasn't Mask DeMasque, and that wasn't what he was being blackmailed about! The truth is," he presented DeLite's statement, " was the one planning the heists and blackmailing DeLite. And it's quite different to be known as a gentleman thief than a blackmailer."

"OBJECTION! Do you have any actual evidence apart from guesses and conjecture? Can you show Mr. Atmey was on the scene?"

"No, I cannot."

"Sir Attorney, I'm willing to guess that when you were in grade school you received the same report card every year: 'Rash and willing to jump into conclusions without evidence'. Well, don't feel bad. Not everyone is an Ace Detective." Atmey grinned, visibly relieved.

Diego nodded. "Indeed. But my report card also noted that I am a team player. Maybe you would want to help us with this case, then?"

"Hm?"

"We are wondering who pushed the button alerting the security guard. It wasn't the victim, as there were no fingerprints."

"Simple! It was the defendant! His Mask DeMasque costume, even if a cheap imitation, still includes gloves!"

"That's what I said!" Krapp exclaimed. Then was taken aback, realizing the significance of the statement. "Wait-"

Diego grinned. "It seems the prosecutor has realized."

"Yes…"

As per usual the Judge was confused. "Well, I haven't. Would someone like to explain it to me?"

"Our pitiful clown has shown his true colors. The fact that the defendant was dressed in the Mask DeMasque-costume wasn't known to anyone else than him before just few minutes ago, in this courtroom. So, let me ask you, how did he know about it! Simply by being present in the CEO office that night!"

When the witness broke down in mad laughter, Diego knew it was over.

"Mr. DeLite, I went to a lot of trouble to get you that 'Not Guilty' verdict. The least you could do is look happy."

Diego and his client were standing in the defense's lobby, waiting for the paperwork to get done so the latter could walk out of the building a free man. However, he didn't seem overjoyed.

"Yes, and I am grateful to you, but I have lost everything!"

Diego nodded. "Your wife. The reason you did it all."

"She will want nothing to do with me! She hates criminals more than anythi-"

His lament was interrupted by a woman running to him and catching him to a hug. After twirling her husband around she eventually let the bewildered man down. "You aren't angry? You're not going to leave me?"

"Why would I do that? Leave such a wonderful man?" Desiree asked, confused.

"But I'm a criminal!"

"But you announced all your crimes beforehand, like a real man. What I hate are sneaky cowardly criminals, like that 'Ace detective'."

Diego smiled at the display in front of him. They made a cute couple.

He couldn't help comparing them to him and Mia, and that thought led quickly to another that had been on his mind a lot lately. Maybe we should finally tie the knot.

Get married, have children… A little boy with his love of literature and a baby girl who'd have the determination and the eyes of her mother but his unruly hair… He'd teach them to read and play soccer and encourage them in anything they'd want to be…

But his fantasy was disrupted by a memory of Maya, kidnapped and held in a basement.

We couldn't bring kids to this kind of family… Even without the danger, we'd both be too busy to bring up children. And there's the whole situation with the Fey clan. If Mia's children were girls, they'd get involved with all that politics and supernatural mess, and if they were boys, they'd never be accepted by their mother's family.

And it wasn't like they weren't happy. He and Mia had their own routine, they had already lived and worked together for years. Why would they require any official acknowledgement of their relationship?

And yet the romantic in Diego would have wanted to go through the whole deal.

But why rock the boat? Everything was just fine.