Chapter XVII: Questions That Need Answering
A/N: The trial begins. Dates will be returning with povs for reasons of my own clarity and sanity. The defense is not going to be kind in this chapter or the next one. Spanish is in bold. There is a shoutout to an old favorite tv show of mine that got screwed over by its network and writers. CowgirlBookworm thank you again! Looking forward to seeing what you all think! SSD
October 2nd, 1912 morning
What a difference 5 months had made. Then, Fabrizio had barely had the clothes on his back or money to his name. Now he was wearing United States Marine Corps dress blues and had regular pay. Being the honor graduate of his class, Fabrizio had been promoted to Lance Corporal.
There was a long whistle that made him turn around. It had been Cecily now grinning.
"You look sharp. The Marines have been good to you," Roland.. er Lieutenant Lethbridge commented.
"The lasses will be after ye lad. You'll have to beat them off with a stick!" Chief Turner laughed.
Lieutenant Murdoch nodded at him before returning his attention to his wife, speaking softly to her.
The others ignored him, speaking to her, talking amongst themselves while their luggage was being loaded onto the train.
"Will, entiendo que estes asquerosamente enamorado de tu esposa, pero tenemos que subirnos al tren," Cecily drawled.
One of the marshals, a dark haired man with blue eyes laughed lowly before suggesting, "We are on a schedule. Getting to New York to avoid any reporters noticing our arrival would be convenient."
Will gave Ada one last kiss before climbing onto the train as the last person, giving both Lethbridge siblings a look.
October 2nd midday
Matt decided that another trip to Durant's was in order. This time it was for lunch. With so many others gone, there was only going to be two people, him and his mother.
They'd gone for a private dining room. It was away from the hubbub of the main dining area, which was now barely heard. Matt felt now would be a good time to bring up Randall.
He still didn't know how to do it as it wasn't like he was mad at his mother. He wanted to buy her several rounds of drinks for pulling a fast one on Wyndam!
"Matthew? You look like you're lost in thought or worried about something. What is it," his mother's blue eyes, the ones he'd inherited from her gazing at him.
Jumping right into things he began, "When Randall had some leave back in July we met up in Southampton for drinks. What I thought was going to be a trip to his favorite pub, turned out to be something else entirely."
"And what was that," his mother asked while eating soup.
"He, uh, wanted to thank someone," Matt gulped.
She gave him a get to the point look before saying, "Who might that be?"
"The person whose ship fished his mother and favorite female cousin out of the North Atlantic," Matt took a long belt of whiskey, wishing for the shine!
"Oh? How was Arthur? I imagine he had to get used to all of those reporters twittering about."
"He finds the reporters to be an annoyance. And we just talked."
"I do hope there was drinking involved," his mother smirked.
"There was. However, it was during the drinking and after I prodded Randall into talking, that I noticed something. Several things as a matter of fact. I've gotten used to Randall's mannerisms over the years and couldn't help but notice that Arthur had some of those same mannerisms," Matt knew he was diving into the deep end here.
Placing the fork on the plate, she calmly asked, "Speak plainly Matthew."
Making sure they were alone, he asked, "Is he Randall's father?"
She was quiet for a few minutes before replying, "He is and if you're planning to lecture me about my supposed loose behavior or threaten to disown-"
Matt held up his hand to quiet his mother. "I would never. I want to toast you for getting one over on Wyndam. And you know damn well Randall's my favorite brother!"
His mother calmed down before continuing, "It was a difficult time, Arthur was so kind. Your father… was not."
"Not just to you. Arthur treated me like I was an ordinary kid and I was more than a waste of space," Matt answered.
"I do wish he'd been around longer. All of you benefitted from his presence, limited though it was," his mother had a wistful smile on her face.
Now came a difficult question: "How did Wyndam find out about Arthur and you?"
"I never asked him," she replied tightly.
"What did he do when he told you he knew," Matt knew he was approaching a boundary.
"You don't want to know, and I don't want to remember." His mother's tone told him not to press the subject any further.
But he could guess. And it wasn't as if he needed any more reasons to hate Wyndam, he now wanted to dig up the coffin and burn it. Any pain Matt had felt at Wyndam's fists paled in comparison to what his beloved mother went through.
And the worst thing? Since they were married, it wouldn't be seen as a crime.
Matt wanted to cheer his mother up so he told her, "After the funeral, when the annoying relatives left, Alistair, Brandon, Randall and I all took turns pissing on the grave!" He chuckled at the memory.
His mother had to restrain herself from laughing too loudly, trying to be stern and failing, "If it were anyone else, I would've…"
"It was Randall's idea!" Matt deflected.
"He always was the most inventive of you four," his mum chuckled.
"He comes by it honestly… on *both* sides!" The main courses now came out!
October 2nd evening
Olive hurried to the front desk before dinner. She had a telegram for James that she wanted sent to him as soon as possible on the Adriatic.
James. I am in New York City for an indeterminate amount of time. Perhaps the next time the Adriatic is in port, you can come see me? The hotel I'm at is the Ritz. Olive.
After handing the note to the front desk, she went back upstairs to the connecting suites.
Olive got no small amount of amusement when she saw both Lieutenant Murdoch and Chief Turner side-eying Cecily whilst she was knitting a scarf. Fabrizio was ignoring the whole spectacle, reading a book. Roland was holding the yarn.
After eying the needles for a few more minutes Will muttered, "I hope she isn't knitting socks for a little visitor."
"Murdoch, I get that you're nervous about the trial, but that was out of line. And she's knitting a scarf for Matt. If anyone's going to be knitting for a little visitor, it'll be Ada," Roland growled.
"I'm actually more concerned about those needles being near me," the Scotsman replied.
"Don't worry, I don't want to use them on you. Anymore," Cecily drawled, sweetness dripping off her voice.
Olive had to laugh. This was entirely too funny and Chief Turner joined her in her mirth.
"Alright, quit the bickering, it's time for dinner. Tomorrow's a long day," Inspector Mann was trying to hide his amusement and failing.
October 4th 1912, morning
Michael was glad that the trial had finally started and that he wasn't the first witness to testify. That dubious honor went to Lieutenant Murdoch.
The prosecution's questions were basic and recounted his version of events. Soon it was time for the defense to ask their questions.
"So did you actually see the defendant pull the trigger?"
"We all did. Otherwise we wouldn't be having this conversation," Will replied.
"How about you recount the shooting from your point of view," the lawyer asked.
"Well we had just gotten the lifeboat into the davit. I turned around to see the defendant firing his pistol at a man who'd rushed forward. Everything after that happened so fast. Mr. Ferretti tackled the shooter, Mr. Turner grabbed the pistol before it fell into the ocean, then we had to separate the two before young Mr. Hearst got strangled. Then he insulted Ms. Lethbridge, I don't think I need to repeat what he said. So I ordered him bound and gagged. Once the lifeboat was loaded, Chief Officer Wilde was the one who ordered me onto the collapsible," Lieutenant Murdoch ended with a sip of water.
"Were there any incidents once you were on the water and away from the ship?"
"Oh yes. The defendant decided to try and capsize the lifeboat with 39 other people in it," Will replied, blue eyes gleaming.
Turner saw Fabrizio and Cecily smirking. He knew he was as well.
The defense lawyer murmured, "Nothing further."
October 5th, 1912 early afternoon
Fabrizio breathed a sigh of relief when Chief Turner was called up instead of him. He knew it was only delaying the inevitable.
The defense seemed minimally interested in the chief petty officer, only asking things from his own perspective.
"Just one last thing, Chief Turner. Did you at any time threaten the defendant?"
"Only after he tried to capsize the lifeboat. I knocked him out a short time later," Turner replied, accent thick.
Fabrizio grinned at the memory of the event!
October 6th, 1912 midafternoon
This was going to be worse than his. Will had been surprised at how civil the defense lawyers had been during his testimony; but the gloves had come off now.
It was Cecily's turn on the stand. And the defense was battering her like a storm surge on a ship in a storm.
"Miss Lethbridge, it's well known that you carry a knife on your person. You've even used it with little cause."
"I used the knife because I thought my life was in danger," Cecily smiled through gritted teeth.
"Your life? I was unaware Mr. Thornton was armed during that incident."
"My virtue then, would you have me give that up without a fight? Or should I have allowed him to force himself on me?" She was gripping the arms of the chair so tightly her knuckles were white.
There was muttering in the gallery, including several muttered curses in Spanish from Roland.
"Miss Lethbridge please, I'm implying nothing of the sort. I'm merely establishing a pattern of violent behavior," the defense lawyer backpedaled slightly.
"Tommy was just trying to get into a lifeboat, not shoving his hand over my mouth while he tried to life my skirt like I was some common whore," Cecily snarled.
"Miss Lethbridge mind your language. Those in the audience would do well not to attack the lawyers, however much they may deserve it. Mr. Barrett, you've been on this subject long enough. Stop badgering the witness," Judge Abbott warned.
Barrett's next question was, "I assume you've gotten close with your fellow witnesses?"
Narrowing her eyes, Cecily clearly knew where this was going but replied, "If you'd gone through what we have, you'd stick together too." She cracked her neck.
"Evidently. So of course you can be forgiven for the… affection you've developed for one in particular?" Will could hear the evil smirk on the lawyer's face.
Before he could even get up to say anything, there was a swift kick to his ankle, courtesy of Roland.
"Quiet. The two of you are in enough hot water already," Roland hissed.
"Was kicking me going to help at the moment," Will replied in an undertone, rubbing his ankle.
"Yes. You were about to say something. Which would have only proved their point," the younger man replied in a low snarl.
"Maybe I should send for Ada. Show her off around the city, make everyone see that those articles are nothing but trash!"
"I'd even put up with Harry showing up and sticking his tongue down Cecily's throat for all to see," Roland groused.
"Was this the first time you've seen a man die? Or did Mr. Thornton nearly die of his injuries?"
Now it was Will's turn to hold Roland down. He then saw that Cecily was barely keep the tears in her eyes.
"Mr. Barrett, ENOUGH! Miss Lethbridge, disregard the question. Her emotional state has no bearing on the events on that night," Judge Abbott barked.
"But if she got hysterical that night, she might not be a reliable witness," Barrett parried back.
Judge Abbott looked down, "Were you hysterical, Miss Lethbridge?"
"No I was not. Everything from that night is crystal clear," Cecily answered tightly.
Realizing that he wasn't going to get her to burst into tears or get her infamous temper to erupt Barret said, "Nothing further."
Cecily walked straight towards them, sitting next to her brother and grabbed his hand immediately. Roland squeezed it back.
Taking full advantage of the fact that the defense couldn't see below chest height, Will gave Cecily's other hand a squeeze. She'd looked lost and nearly worn down by that bastard of a defense attorney.
"Thank you," she whispered.
October 7th, 1912 morning
Cecily quickly realized the defense was going with a different form of attack for Fabrizio. Though it was no less nasty than what was done to her.
References were made to his Italian ancestry, his Catholic faith, and potential connections to certain criminal elements. And that he was using them.
It was quite disgusting.
A/N 2: I know some of the trial povs were shorter than others, but in the case of Cecily's pov of Fabrizio's testimony I didn't know what to do without it getting nasty. Italians had a rough go of it. So… What did you think? SSD
Mina has been recast as Eve Best. I was watching House of the Dragon and there was a point where Rhaenys gave Daemon a dirty look and I thought, "That's Mina."