NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 25: Siblings
Siblings
Working until so late wasn't ideal, and for a case that was supposedly to be simple, it was giving Iza a headache
“What are you trying to do…?” she asked the paperwork in front of her again
It wasn't a case that normally would go towards her, but the woman that worked with this kind of stuff was vacationing. The only reason why it was given to Iza, was because she admired the woman, and she herself offered to take any case that normally would go to the vacationing woman
“Damn it…” she sighed and rubbed her eyes, wishing that the paperwork had come earlier than it did, because it was almost midnight, and the only other person in the office was her boss. The fact that he was still there must have meant that he had an even more important-
“Sounds like you need help” she jumped on her seat, not having heard the man or his cane as he got close to her desk “Sorry, here” he offered her a cup of coffee
Iza was about to decline, but her stomach and blurred eyesight, forced her to accept the caffeine to be able to reach her home in one piece
“Your desk is full, a hard case?” he asked, and Iza forced her pride down and nodded “Then let me help” the old man moved to a nearby desk and with some difficulty rolled the chair towards hers
“It’s about the two teenagers that died on their graduation” she answered as she helped him to move the chair, taking back her seat before continuing “The defender wants a deal…”
“This is the one about the guy, with the gun, in the middle of an amphitheater?” she nodded “Someone, is actually willing to defend him?”
She nodded and sighed again, but a look at all the documents in her desk made her stop, and take a deep breath before looking at her boss again
“First do you want to know about the victims, or the criminal…?” he looked confused for a moment
“Is there something special about the victims?”
“How much do you know about transgenders…?”
He looked a bit surprised about the question, and hesitated for a bit before chuckling
“Recently I have learned a bit about them…” he sighed while looking at his office, while leaning on his cane “Both of them were…?” she woke up her computer and opened a file there, while she searched on the paperwork for another
“According to family and friends, both of them were girls. One was in denial, but she” she pointed at the screen “Wasn’t, her name was Miriam, but only her siblings called her that… and…” she found the file she was looking in the desk and placed it in front of her boss “Well, since they were dressed, and singing, like a woman” she shrugged “Maybe not so in denial…?”
“Our singer was an orphan…?” he scanned the paper and screen quickly
She sighed again, and pointed at a date in the paper, he groaned as an answer
“Just three days before that law was abolished… poor child…” he frowned, his mood soured due to what he was reading “And so close to be eighteen too…”
“Technically Miriam was an orphan too” he motioned her to keep talking “The defendant talked with family and neighbors, and while the parents insisted that Miriam was a boy, from the neighbors he found out that before she left, alone, to the amphitheater, they had a loud fight because she came out as a woman” Iza opened another image on the screen “And from the siblings, he got this”
“A journal…” the image showed the book open on a specific date “The date of death, before going to that place I guess… ‘They have disowned me, I didn’t meant to tell them I was a woman…’ it’s blurry but I assume it says ‘At all’ and you?”
“Her twin claimed that she was crying, and that he didn’t read it before, because they were busy trying to stop the parents, from throwing all her stuff to the trash, but to me… that is what it says too” she opened more files “She also had a younger brother and sister, the girl is both mute and deaf”
Her boss looked at the documents for a while, before nodding
“Since he has evidence and witnesses, then we can accept a deal where any compensation for her death, is given to her twin… but he must take care of his two siblings, for it to apply…” he closed his eyes for a moment “That is, if they wanted to get away from their parents… I wouldn’t blame them… hmm, I can make a few calls if that is the case…”
Iza looked at the old man with newfound admiration, but…
“Sadly there is nothing we can do for the singer” he tapped the paper “There is also no one that can receive a compensation…”
“I understand that, and I’m glad that we can help the siblings… but…” he looked at her “That isn't the only problem…”
“The criminal?”
“Well… according to this guy” she pointed to the papers before opening another file on the monitor in her desk “This, is our killer”
The file was a radiography of a brain, and there was a big black spot on one side of it
“Please pay attention to the date” she pointed at where it was on the screen
“Wait… he was in the military?” he strengthened his hold on his cane, seeing the insignia in the image
“Yes, and this is how he came back, after the last attack against the ‘Friends of the Trees’” she tapped a button and the next image, nearly made him scream in rage
The black spot was almost twice as big, and there was another one, growing on the other side of the image
“I… see… an already existent condition, made worse by the biological weapons they use…?” she nodded and he looked away “Show me the first page of these documents, please…”
Iza was confused, but after a few minutes of looking she found it and gave it to her boss, he nodded and looked at her eyes
“I forgot that you offered to do this… tomorrow I’ll talk with HR to give you a bonus” he pointed to a handmade symbol on the paper “This means, that his boss is asking me for a favor…” he pointed to the paperwork “And this is the homework, that the defendant did, to convince him…”
“Oh…” she was so tired, that she couldn’t make any other sound
“I need to make a few calls, but this is what is going to happen” he patted her shoulder with a smile “We’ll go to trial and before anyone can say anything, a big military punk with a lot of badges on his shirt, is going to enter and ask to talk with both the judge, the defendant, and you”
She nodded
“He will say something along the lines of… free college, for the siblings and the band mates, plus enough money, so all of them can live comfortably for… three or four years. Our killer…” he pointed to the screen “Will be given free treatment, and after a psychological examination, once he is healthy, he will be judged by the military… oh, the parents will get nothing”
Iza nodded again, happy with that last addition
“But… the punk, is going to ask that not a single mention of these…” he pointed to the black spots in the image “Reaches the public…”
That condition made Iza groan…
“It’s a very… public case…” he nodded and continued speaking
“The public might be told, that he killed himself due to guilt. While the truth is, that he is in the middle of treatment” she was a bit horrified, by how calm he was while saying that “Think of it as witness protection, with extra steps, but if it’s concluded that he killed them willingly and not…” he pointed to the screen again “Then he will rot in a military prison”
Iza shivered at the idea… and had to voice her doubts
“Are they… really going to…” her boss smiled calmly, silencing her gently
“Those punks…” he rubbed his leg “Owe me… far, far more than this…”