The entire courtroom stared at Dahlia in silent shock. She merely smirked. Never thought my hair would be this color again. She took off the wig. "Well?"

"Are you claiming that the witness wore a wig to frame the defendant?" Larry said. He pounded his desk. "That's highly improbable. The witness and the defendant have absolutely no connection! How could she know the defendant would be at the park that day?"

Dahlia shook her head. "She wouldn't have known. However, Ms. Cadaverini wasn't planning to frame Nick. Isn't that right Viola?"

Viola gave a sad smile, but said nothing.

Larry, on the other hand… "Who on Earth would she be trying to frame then?"

"Furio Tigre!" Dahlia said. "The owner of Tender Lender!"

"What?" Larry said, surprised.

Dahlia presented a photo of Furio. "As you can see, he has a very similar hairstyle. Viola wanted him to take the fall for the murder, so she wore a spiky wig. Nick, who happened to be there at the time, was intended to be a witness. But because he had spiky hair himself, he ended up being accused!"

"Objection!" Larry said. "Why would the witness want to do any of this in the first place?"

"I know why," Dahlia said. She looked at Viola, who had remained completely unchanged throughout the entire trial. "It was because of the accident, wasn't it Viola?"

Viola's smile flickered. "Yes."

Larry turned as pale as a ghost.

Viola turned her head away, a dark shadow cast over her face. "I lost most of my memory of the accident; the damages to my brain were fatal. But I woke up in a hospital bed one day, alive with my head in bandages. Don Tigre, he told me he had paid for my surgery because he cared. I believed him, but I think part of me always doubted him. Every time I saw his scooter, my faint memories of the accident would come back. One day, I was cleaning the office. When I was cleaning out the drawers, I found the medical record for my surgery. It was 1 million dollars. Seeing it made me think of my accident, and of Don Tigre. Finally, I figured it out. He never cared; he was just scared of my grandfather."

Viola brushed a strand of hair from her face. "I had done so much for him, so many bad things, because I was so grateful. Because I thought he cared about me. I was appalled, I almost killed him instead. But when mentioned killing off Ms. Byrde, I decided I would do it for him and frame him. That way, he would pay for what he'd done. Ms. Byrde probably could have paid off her debt given time, but I was too angry and filled with hate. When the time came, and I saw her at the park, I lost myself. I took the pistol and shot her, thinking only of framing Don Tigre."

A tear dripped down her face. "I'm sorry."

The courtroom was dead silent as tears flowed from Viola's eyes. A bailiff approached her and she was escorted off the witness stand to be imprisoned for her crimes.

"It would seem that we've reached the end of the trial," the judge said, breaking the silence.

Phoenix stood behind the witness stand, where he'd receive his final verdict.

"It looks like you were innocent all along, Mr. Wright," the judge said.

"Yes, thank you," Phoenix said. "Your Honor."

"Does anyone have anything they'd like to add?" the judge said.

Dahlia looked at Larry, expecting him to make an objection. He just stared into space, looking dazed and pale.

"I can't believe it," Larry whispered.

Dahlia cocked her head.

"She- she beat me. It's her second trial, and she beat me," Larry said, apparently to himself. He straightened himself, looking Dahlia in the eye. "Ms. Hawthorne, you may have gotten Wright an acquittal, but you will be defeated."

That's his problem? He lost? And that's Ms. Fey to you. Dahlia glared at Larry, and she couldn't stop herself. "Stupid says what?"

"Wha- Oh come on!" Larry said, a vein pulsing.

"Well, if that's all," the judge said. He had barely heard the exchange due to his hardness of hearing. "This court finds the defendant Not Guilty."

The judge pounded his gavel, and the trial ended.

"Thank you so much," Phoenix said once they were all back in the defendant's lobby. "I really owe you."

"Just doing my job," Dahlia said. "Besides, it was Lotta who really saved the day."

"You mean with the picture?" Phoenix said. "You're right. I guess I owe her too!"

"I take cash," Lotta said, entering the lobby.

Mia chuckled. "Watch what you say."

"I was just kidding," Lotta said, patting the flustered artist on the back.

"Seriously, though," Phoenix said. "I'm really grateful. Maybe I could make it up to you somehow?"

"Make it up to me?" Dahlia said.

"Yeah, you know, maybe I could take you to dinner sometime," Phoenix said.

Dahlia raised an eyebrow. "Dinner, huh?"

Phoenix flashed a smile. "My treat, naturally."

Mia looked away with a hint of a smile on her face. Dahlia, on the other hand, did not.

Phoenix offered his hand. "What do you say?"

Dahlia gave him a wedgie.

"Eek!" Phoenix said. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"Saw that coming," Mia said.

Dahlia released Phoenix and put her hands on her hips. "Wow, you do scream like a girl."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Phoenix said, blushing.

Lotta chuckled. "Well, I just stopped by to say congrats. I'll be taking my leave now. See you next Friday, Dahlia."

"Later Lotta," Dahlia said.

The photography student strode out of the lobby, and a girl wearing purple acolyte robes bounced in.

"Hey Dahlia! Did you win the trial?" Maya said.

"You know it," Dahlia said, high-fiving her cousin.

Maya then noticed Phoenix. "Hi there!"

"Hey," Phoenix said.

"I'm Maya," the young girl said.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Phoenix," the artist said.

"Hmm, Fee-Nicks huh?" Maya said. She touched her mouth. "Have we met before?"

"I don't think so," Phoenix said, tilting his head.

"Weird," Maya said. "Anyway, can I call you Nick?"

"Sure," Phoenix said.

Maya grinned. "Great! Say, why don't we all go out for a victory dinner together?"

"Dinner? That sounds lovely," Mia said.

Phoenix blushed and Dahlia rubbed her temples.

Maya didn't seem to notice though. "Let's go out for burgers!"

"Surprise, surprise," Dahlia said.

"Come on, they're the best!" Maya said. "So, you in or what?"

"Sure," Dahlia said.

"Yeah, I'll pay," Phoenix offered.

"That's a nice change," Mia said.