Chapter Twenty-Two

Daphne sat in her cell at the police station in shock. She knew what had happened to Robert and that she had been arrested for his murder, but she couldn't believe it had happened to her. She couldn't understand why Robert had said she had been the one that hurt him in his dying words. Surely, the police could see that Daphne had been there to help him, but that proved to be impossible since they saw her holding the murder weapon. The cell she was in had no other prisoners, which worsened things. Daphne had never felt so alone. Then she heard the voice she wanted to hear.

"Daphne," Fred said.

As Daphne stood up, Fred couldn't believe how much blood there was on her dress. His eyes widened with shock, which scared Daphne more than she was in a cell.

"Freddie!" Daphne said desperately. "Get me out of here, please!"

Fred began to cry as he felt so sorry for her, and he couldn't get over the appearance of her blood-splattered dress.

"I can't get you out of here," Fred said tearfully. "I'm so sorry,"

Now, Daphne was the one who began to cry.

"What do you mean you can't get me out of here?" Daphne cried.

"You've been refused bail," Fred replied.

At that moment, Daphne could see her future: Life behind bars, but she didn't want to believe it.

"What do you mean I've been refused bail?" she asked desperately. "Please get me out!"

"The police say they have too much evidence on you," Fred said. "I'm sorry, but I can't. The best I can do is to get you a lawyer,"

"Then get me a lawyer!" Daphne pleaded. "Get me out of here! I didn't kill Robert! I swear to God I didn't!"

"I know you didn't!" Fred said, heartbroken over her pleas. "But there's nothing I can do!"

As they continued to talk, Fred could envision Daphne's future, which matched Daphne's vision of her future. Fred prayed to God there would be a lawyer good enough to prove Daphne's innocence.

XXXXX

It was over a week when Fred got Daphne a Lawyer. She was a woman in her mid-forties with brown hair. They met in a private room. As a guard brought out Daphne, she wore a prison uniform, and Fred hated seeing her in it. Daphne hated being seen in it, too. They sat at a table, and Fred and the Lawyer stood up as Daphne entered. The guard closed the door behind her. Fred walked up to Daphne and hugged her. Daphne hugged him, hoping that he would kiss her, but he didn't. The Lawyer cleared her throat discretely to get their attention.

"Excuse me," the Lawyer said. "We should get this meeting underway,"

"Of course," Fred said.

"So, I take it you're my lawyer?" Daphne asked.

"That's correct, and we have a lot to discuss," the Lawyer replied.

The Lawyer sat at the table, and Daphne sat next to Fred.

"I've spoken to the coroner, and he said that the wounds inflicted on Mr Ballard happened two hours before you arrived at the crime scene," the Lawyer said. "Were you anywhere near Mr Ballard's home at the time of his attack?"

"No," Daphne replied quickly.

"Then where were you?" the Lawyer asked.

"I was at home with Fred," Daphne said.

The Lawyer thought that was a little strange.

"Why were you at home?" the Lawyer asked. "I thought you were working that day,"

"We were," Fred said. "But sometimes we go home for the lunch hour as we don't live too far away from our business,"

"And what were you doing at home?" the Lawyer asked.

Daphne and Fred looked at each other shyly. Then they looked at the Lawyer.

"We were being intimate," Daphne said.

The Lawyer knew that being intimate meant they were having sex, and she decided to move on after she wrote that down.

"Were you anywhere else during that time?" the Lawyer asked.

"No, we were just at home, and then we went back to Mystery Inc. Headquarters," Fred said.

The Lawyer sighed, a little frustrated.

"Okay, that's going to be a problem," the Lawyer said.

Daphne felt her throat tighten.

"Why is that going to be a problem?" Daphne asked, scared.

"On the day of Mr Ballard's attack and his death, there was an outage with the internet all over Coolsville," the Lawyer said. "And with the internet down, so were CCTV cameras, so we can't verify exactly where you were at the time of the attack,"

"But I was with Fred!" Daphne said, without thinking. "We were having sex! Doesn't that count for something?"

"Not for a jury, it won't," the Lawyer replied. "Did you happen to take any videos of yourselves having sex for a private collection on your cell phones? If you did, then that would be time-stamped,"

Daphne couldn't believe what she was hearing, and neither could Fred.

"No, we didn't take any videos," Fred said. "When we have sex, it's always private,"

The Lawyer knew she had a tough case ahead of her, but she wouldn't give up. Then a thought came to Daphne that she couldn't believe that she didn't think of sooner.

"Listen, can I talk to you alone?" Daphne asked the Lawyer.

"Why do you want to talk to her alone?" Fred asked.

"Please, Fred," Daphne replied. "I need to talk to her alone,"

Fred didn't like that, but he knew her well enough to know she must have a good reason. Then Fred stood up and walked to the door.

"Guard," Fred said.

The guard opened the door. Fred walked out, and the guard closed the door behind him. Once they were alone, Daphne felt anxious.

"What's on your mind, Miss Blake?" the Lawyer asked.

"Fred and I have a son," Daphne explained. "He was born after we graduated from high school, and he was put up for adoption. His name is William, but there's something that Fred doesn't know,"

The Lawyer was very surprised to hear that, as Fred hadn't mentioned they had a son.

"And what's that?" the Lawyer asked.

"I'm sure Fred has told you why I was angry at the convention when Robert was there?" Daphne asked.

"Yes, he has," the Lawyer confirmed.

"Well, what Fred doesn't know is Robert was there with our son," Daphne explained further.

"He didn't like the interview I did on Coolsville Excitement and the calendar we did, and as a result, Robert called me a common whore in front of my son and a convention crowd,"

"I see," the Lawyer said.

Daphne hated that all the Lawyer had to say was 'I see," but she had something far more important on her mind.

"When it comes to what happened to Robert, I don't want the public to know that William is my son," Daphne said. "He's only eight years old, and he doesn't deserve to be put on public display as the son of a murder suspect. Now, can you please ensure the public doesn't find out, and the prosecuting attorney doesn't include that in the case against me? I want him protected. Can you please do that?"

The Lawyer sighed a little as that was a tall order, but she could understand why Daphne was making it and felt sorry for her son.

"I've spoken to the prosecuting attorney, and he believes he has enough evidence on you for a conviction, and I'm sure he'll agree not to include knowledge of your son to the jury and the public," the Lawyer explained.

Daphne sighed a small sigh of relief.

"And what if he doesn't?" she asked.

"Then William has a tough road ahead of him, but hopefully it won't come to that," the Lawyer replied.

As Daphne continued talking to her Lawyer, she wondered what kind of a future she would have, but the Lawyer assured her that she couldn't back away from a challenge and seek easy answers.

XXXXX

That night, the Warden met with Stephanie in what they knew as "their cave". They were drinking white wine and sitting on cheap deck chairs.

"Congratulations," the Warden said. "Coolsville thinks Daphne is a killer,"

"Hear, hear!" Stephanie said happily.

They tapped their glasses and drank.

"Now, are you absolutely sure I wasn't seen on any CCTV cameras?" Stephanie asked.

"None at all," the Warden said.

"So, I didn't need to wear that stupid disguise?"

"No, but you can't be too careful,"

Stephanie sighed, a little annoyed.

"Goddamn it," she said.

"Look on the bright side," the Warden said. "It was a successful kill, and Daphne's going to end up in my custody for it,"

Stephanie admired how much effort he put into his obsession.

"That's great, but there's something I need to know," she said. "Now you work for an organised crime family on the side, right?"

"Right," the Warden confirmed.

"Then why have they given you so much money and resources when it comes to capturing Daphne?" Stephanie said. "What did you do to earn so much loyalty from them?"

The Warden smiled with pride.

"I saved my boss's son's life, and I got his daughter released from my prison five decades early, thanks to some creative paperwork," the Warden said. "As a result, my boss said if I ever needed a big favor, I should ask him. Over the years, no big favors came to mind, and then one day, Daphne came into my office and took my breath away. From that day, I knew she was going to be mine, and I couldn't be happier with the way you murdered Robert and that there's no way in Hell Daphne will be found innocent,"

For a while, Stephanie thought the Warden was a psycho, but once she learned about his loyalty to his boss, she realised this was a man with integrity despite his obsession with Daphne.

XXXXX

The next day, Fred was alone in the visiting room with Daphne. The Lawyer wasn't with them, and that's just the way Fred wanted it. He was worried sick, but he had a concern on his mind.

"What did you have to talk to our Lawyer about?" Fred asked.

Daphne sighed as that was the last question she wanted to hear, but she knew to expect it.

"Fred, do you trust me?" Daphne asked.

"Yes, I trust you, but I'd still like an answer to my question," Fred replied honestly.

"It's a question I can't answer," Daphne said.

Now Fred was the one who sighed.

"What do you mean you can't answer it?" Fred asked.

"Because it would be better if you don't know," Daphne replied.

"Why is it better that I don't know?" Fred asked.

Daphne pushed her chair back and stood up.

"The trial," she said. "I don't know how it's going to go, and it doesn't look like it's going to go the way we want it,"

Fred pushed his chair out and stood up.

"So, the Lawyer knows what you're not telling me," Fred said. "How about Velma, Shaggy and even Scooby? Do they know?"

"No, they don't, and I'm not going to tell them," Daphne replied.

"But you feel comfortable telling our Lawyer, right?" Fred argued.

Daphne began to shake a little with fear.

"Fred, please don't do this," she said.

"What?" Fred asked, frustrated. "Not see things from my point of view? How can I see your point of view if you keep me in the dark?"

"Honey, I know you're upset, but please try to understand the trial is going to be very complicated, and I'm on trial for my life!" Daphne replied, equally frustrated. "I could end up on death row because California still has the death penalty. They could execute me! Have you even thought about that?"

Fred hadn't thought of that, and he hated that Daphne had.

"The death penalty hasn't been used in years," Fred said, trying to be comforting.

"And what's to stop the government from changing their minds about it and giving me a lethal injection?" Daphne asked, starting to cry.

Seeing Daphne cry was enough to forget that she was hiding something from him, and he hugged her tightly.

"I don't want to die yet, Fred!" Daphne cried, scared. "I don't want to die!"

Fred hugged her tightly.

"I promise you you're not going to die yet," Fred said. "The Lawyer will get you a verdict of not guilty because you're an Angel from Heaven that deserves the best out of life,"

Daphne seriously wanted to believe that, but she knew that a verdict of not guilty would be a miracle, and she didn't know if she deserved one based on how she lived her life.