Trial for Erika Ray! Wrong Place, Wrong Time! Part 1

November 19 12:45 AM

Clare View Point Lake

Fishing Area

"A-A gun..? Wha-" A woman held the gun in her hand.

"Freeze!" An officer pointed his tazer at the woman.

"Well...well...Erika. I am quite surprised and disappointed at the same time, caught red handed." Gray said and looked at Erika.

"W-what? It wasn't me..! I didn't do anything! Gray, you of all people should know I wouldn't kill anyone!" Erika looked at Gray.

"Tell it to the judge...now place the murder weapon down and put your hands behind your back." Gray said.

"It wasn't me..! It...it wasn't me.." Erika said. "Why won't you believe me?"

November 19 9:35 AM

Holmes Detective Dept.

First Floor

"Something reeks of injustice...I can smell it!" Liliana said and puffed her cheeks.

"Yeah today of all days does feel a bit...off." I said and flipped the channel on the TV.

"Breaking News! Detective Erika Ray arrested! Reasoning is that she was found at the scene on the night of the murder at 12:45 AM!" The news reporter said on TV.

We all paused for a second and blinked. I rewinded the TV to make sure I wasn't imagining it.

"WHAAAAAAT?!" We all said then I stood up and went straight to the Detention Center.

"W-Wait for me!" Mari hopped on one foot putting her shoe on then got it on and ran after me. Sophia and Liliana followed.

November 19 9:50 AM

Detention Center

I rushed in the room where Erika was being held in and panted. Erika looked up in shock. I looked at her and placed my hands on the desk.

"Erika! You were arrested?!" I asked. "For what?!"

Erika just looked down and didn't speak. Mari, Sophia, and Liliana entered the room a bit after I did.

"Erika!" Liliana looked at Erika.

"Lily.." Erika closed her eyes.

"Who arrested you?!" Liliana asked.

"Gray did." Erika spoke dully.

"Why did you get arrested?" I asked.

Erika didn't answer the question. I slammed my hand on the desk in front of me and looked at Erika.

"The night of the murder...what happened?! Why were you there?!" I asked.

"Someone was murdered at Clare View Point Lake...I found the body and the murder weapon. I did something stupid.." Erika gripped her hair and sighed with tears forming in her eyes. "I picked up the gun..seconds before the police came...Gray didn't believe me...he said that I was only full of revenge...I hate him so much...I really do.."

'What the hell happened three years ago while we were apart..?' I thought to myself. 'Gray and Erika was as tight as unbreakable chains...What happened to them..?'

"Do you know what kind of gun it was?" I asked.

"A Glock PA195S202 19 Gen 5 Pistol...9mm 4in.." Erika sniffled and used a tissue to wipe her nose.

"She knows her hand guns.." Sophia said.

"I studied upon guns and all of their ballistic markings of the bullets...I know what kind of gun the bullet came from just by looking at a bullet. No murder case has gone past me.." Erika said.

"Erika the Invincible...I heard about that. Every defendant you had was declared guilty because you were never wrong.." I said and closed my eyes.

"I had a perfect record up until I was up against Gray as he was a Defense Attorney...he beat me, humiliated me in court...worst of all called me unworthy of my badge...After that day...I had this unhealthy urge to beat him, but also wanted to solve a case on my own he deems I'm not worthy for..His speeches of Justice pisses me off more than anything because he doesn't know what I've been through...he just sees me doing this out of the act of revenge..and that's what they say my motive was for this case was. Revenge." Erika sighed.

"Gray really said that..?" I asked.

"He's as stuck up as his father...I can't stand this talk of Justice when I can't get my own. My little sister...killed by some man and no one would let me do my job and find out who did! The killer is still out there somewhere...He will never be brought to justice...I can't avenge her.." Erika said and sniffled. "I hate it so much.."

"Erika it's okay! Once we win this case and you are found innocent, we will help you find this unknown killer!" Liliana smiled and looked determined.

"No I can't bother you with this case or my case...I can not throw the burden upon you--"

"Let me be your attorney. If it's true about Gray..then I will deal with him myself! This is a battle we can not lose! I refuse to allow my friend to go to prison for a misunderstanding!" I said and looked at Erika. "I will not let five years worth of a friendship end here.."

"Alice...you're a fool...but you have the heart of gold like your father.." Erika wiped her eyes.

"The power of observation creates knowledge..." I started.

"...that leads to more power." Erika smiled and sniffled. "Your father taught us that..but it seems like someone forgot the meaning behind it."

"I didn't! I'm always searching for clues no matter the crime! I will always gain knowledge and use that knowledge to gain power to protect my friends!" Liliana smiled.

"Knowledge is power.." I said.

"But more powerful than knowledge is understanding..." Erika nodded.

"With understanding is...tolerance!" Liliana smiled.

"With tolerance we can transcend beyond our barriers." I said. "That's where Gray fails at his job."

Mari and Sophia looked at each other and smiled. Mari saw our ki and noticed it was equal. The bond and love we share for one another is powerful.

"I have a request.." Erika looked down.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I want you to only prove my innocence. I know the power you have to find the actual killer with the white lies in their testimony...but for this case only prove my innocence, the killer will reveal themselves with time." Erika said. "Even if you happen to know who the real killer is during your investigation..I want you to only prove my innocence. All I want you to do is prove Gray wrong. Prove to him that all Justice isn't Fair Justice because they accused me of a crime without giving it a little thought..they didn't even question me..they just said I did it out of revenge."

"I see...That means I will have to only look for evidence that proves you're innocent...alright I'll do it. When is trial?" I asked.

"Tomorrow." Erika said. "It's fine since you only have one task, prove I'm innocent. Everything else I don't care about."

"Right..let's go!" I walked out the room and the others followed.

November 19 10:45 AM

Clare View Point Entrance

"Aunt Alice, there's a lot of police in the area!" Mari said.

"Must be the aftermath of the murder. Remember, we are here to look for evidence to only prove Erika is innocent." I said.

"Hold it there." Ash walked in front of me and crossed his arms. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm investigating the matter. Have you heard Erika was accused." I said.

"She was caught in the act. As much as I don't want to believe it either, the picture doesn't lie." Ash said and shook his head.

"Well I don't believe she did it. So out of my way. I will prove she's innocent!" I walked past Ash and he closed his eyes.

"You won't find nothing." Ash said.

"What kind of Detective would I be if I can't find a single clue to prove my client is innocent? I wouldn't be deserving of my badge!" I said.

"Sorry Ashy Boy, but I'm with Alice on this one." Liliana smiled and hurried after me.

November 19 12:48 AM

Clare View Point Lake

I looked around the area and it was quiet for the most part.

"This is a beautiful place.." Mari said. "The sparkle of the lake and the birds.."

"Yeah...Clare View Point has the best scenery. We can come site see after the case is done and we prove Erika is innocent." I said.

"Really!?" Mari hopped up and down excitedly.

"Yeah." I nodded. "But let's start searching."

"Hey Alice, Alice! I found something!" Liliana followed a trail of film. "Seems like the police haven't made it this far yet..whoa...all of these pic...tures..."

"Hm? Liliana? What's the matter?" I asked.

"The victim..." Liliana picked up a photo. "The victim...I know him...This is Mr. Gregory!"

"Huh?! Mr. Gregory?! As in Ace Detective Gregory?!" I asked in shock.

Liliana dropped the photo and stumbled back and bumped into me. I held her shoulder and looked at her. She seemed distraught.

"Who would murder a Detective?" I went to pick up the photo and handed it to Sophia and she put it in the evidence folder. "What were they doing at the lake anyway..? What motive did this killer have?"

"We should ask around." Mari suggested. "This Mr. Gregory guy sounds pretty important."

"He's a literal God when it comes to Defending his clients. A god! All of the clients he's had he was able to make the court see he was innocent." I said. "All defense attorneys wish to have that level of skill as he had. From the picture he looked about 52 years old. The same age as my father."

"This further proves Erika isn't the one who killed him." Liliana said, still a bit shook.

"I wonder one thing though..why would she take revenge on someone she even looked up to..? It doesn't make since at all.." I thought. "If she were to take revenge on someone, it would be the one who killed her sister...not a mentor we had in High School."

"Before we report or ask around. Let's search for more clues." Sophia suggested.

I nodded and walked around the lake and saw a camera. I saw more pictures on the ground then saw a woman laying on the ground. I saw the photos all over the ground and picked one up. It was blurry but it was taken before the trigger was pulled. I handed the picture to Sophia and ran towards the woman. I rolled her over.

"Riley?! Riley!" I sat her up and she coughed a bit. "What the heck..?"

"Mmm..? Alice..?" Riley opened her eyes.

"Riley...what happened to you?" I asked.

"H-Huh? Uhm...I can't remember...all I remember was stargazing and taking pictures of the moon...then heard two men fighting and went to investigate...I couldn't see them clearly...and after that is fuzzy...I can't remember what happened after I saw them.." Riley said.

"Well I can conclude that you were assaulted.." I said. "Your film and everything is scattered across the ground."

"It is..?" Riley looked and looked shocked. "No! My pictures of the moon! No please!"

Riley got up and ran to the pictures and saw that her photos were ruined. She sniffled and looked at them.

"Whoever this killer is...they are incredibly smart." I stood up.

"How can you tell?" Sophia asked.

"It's obvious...Riley was assaulted by the killer, making her a key victim...the killer also set up the camera as if it wasn't even touched..made it seem like Riley just passed out after pushing herself too far." I said.

"Ri-"

"BUT!" I crossed my arms and grabbed my sleeve and closed my eyes. "He missed a pretty obvious detail. Riley was stargazing..her camera wouldn't have been pointing directly to the lake nor would it have the lens cap on. And look at the photos... obvious signs of struggled as she took pictures in a frantic manner to try and capture his face."

"His?" Mari asked.

"His. She said she heard two male voices..Riley do you know when you heard them and when the gun was fired?" I asked.

"I heard them arguing at 11:50 PM then two gunshots were fired at exactly 12:30 AM." Riley stood up. "I was able to take a picture of only the victim's face..."

"Interesting..." I said.

"I even have a voice recording on my phone.." Riley handed me her phone and I looked at it then nodded and handed it to Sophia as she put it with the evidence.

"You might wanna go to the Detective Center and report what you saw and what happened. This concludes our investigation." I said.

"Wait here, take these pictures of the incident...If you can I want you to use these in court." Riley said.

"Alright." I nodded and took the pictures.

Riley ran off and headed towards the Detective Center to report. We went back to the Detention Center to show her what we found.

"Erika." I looked at her and showed her the picture of Ace Detective Gregory.

"Ace Detective Gregory...yeah he's the victim of the crime. My father worked with him a while ago...14 years ago. I was about 7 years old. There was this case 14 years ago called the Brotherhood Incident...Sherlock Holmes, Erik Gregory, and my father Orion Ray were investigating the matter then suddenly an incident occurred between the three.." Erika closed her eyes.

"Ray and Gregory had some type of beef with one another stated by my father." I said.

"Yeah...it's true..the beef lead up to a gun being pulled then your father stopped it. Erik Gregory decided to sue my father which he won the case and led my father getting his badge...revoked..." Erika looked up.

I looked at Erika. Everyone wondered what was happening on why we stopped talking. Erika began tearing up and burst into tears. I looked shocked and the officer by the door on Erika's side looked at her confused. I understood the situation and knew why she was upset.

"The Brotherhood Incident ends on November 21...as much as this hurts for me to say...Ask your dad about the case...bring judgement into the light!" Erika said.

"I will...I will clear your name...and your family's name.." I said and walked off. "I will defeat Gray and show him the meaning of Justice.."