22 CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

Christophine barged into the station, she walked up to the front desk sergeant and made her entries to see Carly.

Granted a free entry as a barrister, she walked to the prison where Carly had been confined to. She saw her sitting on her bed with her back facing the wall.

"Carly…!" she ran to where she was and the lady looked at her with a puzzled face.

"I'm I supposed to be here…?" Carly inquired lamely.

Christophine shook her head negatively.

"Well, I'm still here anyway." She peered at the barrister vacuously.

Christophine took her gaze away and returned it with a smile.

"-you'll be safe; I'm assuring you…"

Carly took her gaze away and tears welled up in her eyes. The tears dropped one after the other on her thigh. She made several attempt to stop the tears, but it was useless. She held herself tightly and rocked her legs with the aid of the bed.

"-will this ever ends...?" she inquired from the latter without looking at her.

"-yes my dear, it will surely end…" Christophine patted her shoulder. "I'll be your lawyer and I'll get you out of here, believe me…"

Just then, Charlie's wife barged in looking so unkempt.

"Murderer...!" She barked. "You'll pay for this; you will pay…! You'll rot in jail." Judith fumed.

The barrister rushed over to Carly and covered her ears.

"-its okay ma'am."

"-okay, my foot...!" Judith spat.

The barrister still had her hands over Carly's ear, but now, Carly wanted to hear all the woman had to say. She took the barrister's hands off her ear and listened casually to the woman.

"-it can never be okay until this evil child is executed." Judith glared at Carly. "There will be a court hearing in two weeks' time, she'll be in jail for the rest of her life. Only then can it be okay…!"

Judith spat again and left the room.

Carly chortled in amazement.

"Does the lady know that I'm serving a life imprisonment sentence…?"

The barrister chortled and faced Carly.

"I tell you, the woman's a lunatic…" the barrister chortled.

"-really...?" Carly inquired piously.

The barrister laughed out hard.

"-because, the woman has been threatening me that I will go to jail, whereas I'm serving a life sentence…" Carly shook her head.

"-told you she's a lunatic…"

Carly grinned.

"-but don't worry, I will get you out of this horrid place…"

"-what about Leonard…?" Carly didn't look at her.

The barrister's face slowly changed, she was not ready to talk about the latter.

"I don't know…" she stood and walked to the door.

Carly shook her head and glared towards the barrister.

"-do you suppose he's murdered…?"

"-like I said," the barrister smiled. "I don't know…"

Carly watched her as she walked out of the room and closed it gently.

∆∆∆

Christophine held her cell phone tight against her ear; she was speaking with a co lawyer. Her voice loud and clear, she spoke with all authority that there's in her.

"-yes of course..." Christophine chortled.

"-so when is he arriving...?" A feminine voice spoke from the other end.

"-tomorrow, I believe." Christophine took the phone to the other side of her ear and took her coffee off the table.

"-how were you able to arrest him in Canada…?" the voice spoke again.

Christophine drank her coffee and smiled.

"-I sent an arrest appeal to the Canadian law chamber…" she smiled again.

"-wow, much effort…"

"-yeah, I believe you'd be around to see for yourself?"

"-no dear, I would like to, but I have some case to handle that same day. Sorry…"

"-ouch…" Christophine frowned. "Okay then, no problem…"

"-alright…"

The line went dead.

∆∆∆

The third hearing, December 23, 2015

Carly now dressed in a prison clothes, stood before her lawyer. It was the final hearing, so the barrister wanted to make sure that Carly would not spoil the proceedings like she did the other time.

"-listen Carly, you're not guilty. That's your stand today, okay?"

Carly nodded lamely.

"-make sure you don't get angered, okay? Whether we are winning or losing; it's not your concern, your concern should be how to get victory by keeping calm…" Christophine peered at her. "Is that okay by you?"

Carly nodded again.

"-okay," she signaled the sergeant behind Carly, "Take her away please…"

The police officer led Carly away to the court room. The barrister followed behind them.

∆∆∆

The court room was calm and as the judge entered. After sitting, the complainant came forward.

"My lord and wonderful looking Juries, the case at hand is a complicated one and the accusation leveled down on the suspect states that she was the one who killed three noble men in one day. The murdered men includes Charlie Benedict, Franklin Dexter and Gordon Popper. All are noble men. But our suspect said she was not the one that killed the men, but our officer here," he glared at Rick Warren. "-and some sergeant said that they caught her on the act."

The judge nodded, so did the juries.

"Let the hearing begin." The Judge retorted.

At that, Barrister Christophine Drake stepped forward dressed in her professional outfit. She glared at the Judge, bowed and started.

"My lord," she turned to the Juries. "And distinguished juries, it is with great honor I stand to tell you that my client is innocent." She glanced at the place Carly stood and then turned back to the judge again. "She was accused of killing three people. However, let's recall that the things that had her prints on them were a small pocket knife and her handbag. After my research in the past six months, I discovered from a surgeon that there's no how a knife could penetrate the skull and leave a tiny hole on it, according to the surgeon, a knife would leave a flat opening rather than a round one…"

"Objection my lord...!" The complaint said fiercely as he stood.

"Sustained..." The Judge retorted and glanced at him.

"Carly's finger prints were the last on these men, how would you explain that…?"

"-simple," Christophine beamed, "Remember that Carly was held hostage in the men camp, they slapped her and for sure, Carly must have resisted by either pushing away her opponents or hitting them for self defense and at that left her print on them..."

The Judge nodded and the Juries smiled.

"Oh..." the latter frowned, "At the last argument they had at a high court, Carly had threatened to kill Charlie Benedict. She said that he would pay dearly for what he had done, according to her. And the day of the murder, she had sent the police men who were sent to watch and protect her away. What would you say about that?" He walked to his seat and sat casually.

Carly's lawyer came forward.

"She might have gone to revenge, but she had no intention of killing. That was the reason she carried a small knife, and besides, the dead body we saw wasn't sliced, it was shot by a gun…"

The Judge nodded once more and Judith's lawyer jumped to his feet.

"-like you said, that Carly was not the one who killed the three noble men, if not Carly, who could that be?"

The Juries looked at the barrister.

"-very well," Christophine stepped forward. "That's a great question. You should've asked it lately." She glared at the latter. "-my research pinned down a man…"

Judith lawyer chortled mockingly. He came forward and stood, facing the Juries.

"-why a man?" he glared at Christophine. "The killer is Carly; she was the last seen by the police!" he hollered tenderly at the barrister.

The barrister watched him as he went back to his seat. She peered at the Juries; her lips bore a hidden laughter.

"I believe we know who snipers are…?" The barrister grinned.

The other lawyer frowned and Charlie's wife did same.

"-my lord," Christophine directed her gaze at the Judge. "Is it not possible that a sniper shot the three men dead through the window or an opening?"

"-yeah, very possible..." A Jury retorted and mumbled.

Judith glared at the barrister angrily. She was not pleased with the proceedings.

"-sooner or later, this man I'm talking about will arrive…"

The barrister had sent some sergeants to arrest Leonard from the airport. Her joy was that all she had planned was working out nicely.

She glared at the other lawyer as he came out with his hands tucked inside his pocket.

"-who's this man you are talking about…?" the lawyer frowned.

"-he's the actual suspect…"

"-how do you know…!" the lawyer hollered.

"-based on logics and research…" Christophine retorted and faced the Juries.

"-my lord," the latter turned to the Judge. "She's trying to play folly here…"

The lawyer's voice trailed off as Leonard walked into the court room with some sergeants and a white man.

"-who are they…?" the lawyer retorted rhetorically.

"I told you…" the barrister replied.

The men approached and Leonard was led into an enclosure. Carly's eyes went wide; she couldn't believe her eyes. Leonard, of all people, Men are all the same anyway, she shrugged and waited to know the final judgments.

"-and who are you…?" the question was directed to the white man by the Judge.

"-my lord, I'm the accused man's lawyer." The white man gave a bow.

"-so how can we help you…" Judith lawyer frowned.

Carly almost laughed. Asking a lawyer that was about to defend his client how he could be helped was quite a folly. Who knows, maybe the lawyer was just another lunatic like his client.

The Judge nodded at the white man.

"-your name please…" A jury muttered.

As the man began to speak, Christophine walked back to her seat and sat, leaving the white man to the Judge.

"Most honored lord, I'm Graham Crane." He looked at the Juries firmly. "Well, I think the barrister had done some fair work by trying to rescue Carly. My own case is complex, and I employ everybody present to listen carefully." He waited briefly. "The case of Charlie and his brother Patrick, of whom he rubbed off his asset, he achieved this by murdering the innocent Patrick."

The court room was as silent as a cemetery.

"My lady here, Carly, isn't the real child of Ben Antonio but Leonard is…"

Every face in the court distorted with surprise.

"-what do you mean?" the Judge found his voice.

"-well my lord," the latter continued. "It happened that Ben Antonio was the best friend of Patrick, they did business together. Ben Antonio knew everything about Patrick, including his entire asset abroad. One night as Charlie visited his brother, he had with him a poison, but the ignorant Patrick didn't know. Charlie urged his brother into drinking wine with him and at the process; he poisoned his brother's wine and killed him. That gave him the access to Patrick's entire asset. However, Patrick's wife was too shocked to take proper actions, so therefore, she joined her husband. Charlie took over the Pa-Ben business group…"

"-how come Carly didn't know Charlie was her uncle?" Judith lawyer spoke from his seat.

Carly was crying all the while.

"-well to your question," he looked at the other lawyer. "Charlie knew, but Carly didn't, Because Ben Antonio took her away in her tender age. Does that answer your question?" he faced the Judge. "But my lord, do you know that after Carly returned to the state as a young woman, Charlie began to suspect that she knew about what he did to her father, but she knew nothing about that. That led Charlie to befriending Ben Antonio in other to know more about Carly. Seeing that Ben hasn't told Carly anything, he murdered Ben in order to fully cover his crime."

Carly wailed all along. Even the Judge began to shake his head lamely.

"-but my lord and distinguished Juries, hear the worst part of the story." He glared at the numerous people also. "After Charlie murdered Ben, he forged a will and used it to torment Carly. Even the original will that Patrick wrote was burnt to ashes by Charlie, but thanks to technology, he filed everything."

Judith lawyer jumped to his feet and approached the Juries.

"-is he telling a folk tale or what...! Where is your proof dear…" he turned and glared at the white lawyer, "Do you take us for a fool...?"

While looking at the lunatic, Graham walked to his brief case and brought out a flash drive and a file. He walked towards the computer platform and plugged the drive in. suddenly, the image of Patrick Benedict came to life.

"-little Carly, hope you are in good state?" he smiled. "I've filed this for you in case the hard copy got missing." He smiled again and looked at his left. "-barrister…" he called out and Graham appeared, he walked and sat down with him. "I've decided to hand everything I own to my little Daughter, Carly Benedict…"

"-daddy…" Carly's voice interrupted Patrick's voice. She cried out bitterly.

Judith lawyer shook his head and Judith frowned.

"I believe we're done here…" a Jury retorted

"-not really sir..." Graham spoke and handed the file to the prosecutor. "The original copy of Patrick's will and that of Ben Antonio…"

The prosecutor read out the file content loud and clear, all was in the favor of Carly and Leonard respectively. He handed the file back to the white lawyer.

"-due to the enlightenment brought by barrister Graham, ladies and gentlemen, I therefore clear Carly off all the charges leveled down on her. And to the young man who had tried his best to bring this enlightenment to us, I also clear him of all charges. And I level all the charges on Mrs. Judith Benedict. With the authority vested on me, I thereby sentence Mrs. Judith Benedict to a live imprisonment with hard labor. All the property of the late Patrick Benedict shall be given to Miss Carly Benedict and so shall it be to Leonard. My verdict, court…!"

The judge went out of the court room and the Juries followed suite. Carly and Leonard was unlocked by a sergeant. Feeling so happy, they walked out of the court room after hugging each other severally.

∆∆∆

Carly leaned on the balcony while Leonard stood next to her.

"I've heard your story already Leonard." she laughed. "It's okay now."

"Really...?"

"Yes. Really-"

"Thank you so much." She turned and looked at his face. "Where should we spend the week…?"

"We…?" Leonard retorted.

"-yes, we…" Carly smiled.

"Oh…" Leonard laughed.

Leonard looked away.

"Maybe at the hotel…"

"-no, we are spending the week at home…"

"-at home…?" Leonard arched a brow.

"Yes dear, at home."

Leonard smiled sheepishly.

"Whose home…?" he laughed. "-mine right…?"

"-no mine…" Carly smiled.

Leonard chortled.

"-which…?"

Carly arched a brow.

"-the Pa-Ben's mansion of course…"

"Oh, I see…" Leonard laughed out hard.

He settled her eyes briefly on her.

"What about Judith's property…"

Carly frowned, and then smiled.

"-I'm keeping it for remembrance…" she chortled.

Leonard shook his head and held her hands leading her out of the balcony. They walked into the room.

December 26, 2015

Eddy held Christophine close to himself warmly, they had a bottle of wine in their hands each.

"Carly invited us over to her house…" Eddy smiled.

"-nice," she drank from the bottle. "Are we going…?"

Eddy looked at her with a smile.

"-of course we are going…"

They chortled and continued to sip their wine.

∆∆∆

The dining room was as big as the sitting room and the table was filled with all kinds of food.

"Make yourself comfortable," Carly smiled at Leonard and Eddy.

Christophine was in the kitchen assisting in the cooking, but they were through cooking. She appeared from the kitchen with a plate filled with sauced meat. She approached and placed the plate on the table, feeling much exited, she sat opposite Eddy and beside Carly who also sat facing Leonard.

"-what's the matter?" Carly asked as her hand was being squeezed by Leonard's hard fist. "You want to tell me something…?"

"Oh…no, no…" he stammered. "-it's nothing," he glared at Eddy.

Carly smiled and shook her head.

Leonard stood and Eddy did same, the ladies didn't notice them, they were busy dishing the food. The two men walked behind their ladies respectively.

Carly felt a slight tap on her back, she turned to face whoever it was. As she turned, she heard a loud scream, she followed the sound neglecting whatever or whoever that had touched her. The scream came from Christophine, she had Eddy knelt before her and held a golden ring. She smiled and took her gaze away facing the person that had touched her, it was Leonard. He was kneeling down before her and holding out a diamond ring.

"I know I'm not the most perfect of all men, but give me this chance to prove my love for you…" as he spoke, he heard Eddy talking indistinctly.

He took his gaze back at Carly.

"-please, will you be my wife…"

"Yes-"

"Yes-"

The two ladies spoke out at once, looked at each other and giggled.

Christophine raised her man up and Carly did same. Still smiling, the two parties kissed.

They afterward settled down for the meal after the men had worn them a ring.