Trial for Erika Ray! Wrong Place, Wrong Time! Part 2

November 19 1:20 PM

Sherlock's House

I rang the doorbell and waited for someone to answer. A man then opened the door and looked at me. He opened it wide open after he recognized me and smiled. I smiled as well.

"Hey papa." I greeted.

"Alice...You finally come home..." My father said happily. "I was wondering when you or Olivia would come home."

"This is Sherlock Holmes...The man...The myth...the legend." Sophia bowed. "My name is Sophia Freya, please to meet you Mr. Holmes!"

"Hey Grandpa!" Mari waved.

"Hello Mr. Holmes!" Liliana smiled.

"Come in, come in!" My father said and let us in.

We walked in and everything was the same before I left to pursue my career. I looked around and felt a wave of nostalgia hit me. I looked at a picture of my dad and his partner John Wattson. I smiled and saw a picture of my mother with my father then frowned.

"I have a question papa.." I set the picture down.

"Yes?" He looked at me.

"Is this woman...my mother..?" I asked. "If so..why haven't I met her at all..?"

"She is." My father nodded and rubbed the back of his head. "Iris Watson was a special woman, but also a woman under a curse. Because of her, I was able to save myself from dying on that day. The day after she had you."

"Curse..?" I looked at him.

"The Curse of Zeal. I was about to be murdered the day you were born and she was under oath to never speak on it. If she hadn't, I would have died. Her love for me...was beyond anything I could ever know. She sacrificed her own life to save me and you and Olivia. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have been able to spend my life with you two...There was nothing I could do to save her." My father said and crossed his arms. "Surely enough...the man who tried to murder me failed and was brought to justice."

"Who was this man, Mr. Holmes?" Liliana asked.

"Greg Knott. He is deceased now..passed away due to heart failure. This is one reason why I didn't want you two to take on this path, but you two were so determined to do this so I had no choice. You two have come so far and yet still not quite at your peak. You have my intelligence and your mother's problem solving skills..but you're not where you need to be...yet you tackle cases and win. I'm proud of you.." My father smiled.

I looked at the picture of my mother once again and picked up the frame. My dad talks about her a lot...I wish I could meet her in person. I closed my eyes then shook my head and set the picture back down.

"I have another question papa." I looked at him.

"Mhm?" He looked at me.

"Can you tell me about the...Brotherhood Incident?" I asked.

He got quiet and closed his eyes. Sophia and Mari looked at him nervously. Liliana tilted her head and wondered why he wasn't talking. He walked towards the table and pulled out a chair.

"It was a matter of time before you questioned it. All of you, sit." He said.

We all went to the table and sat down on a chair. He went to a drawer and opened it then pulled out a case file named B.I. 11-19. He walked to the table and set the folder down then sat down beside me.

"I know why you're asking for this...Erika...she's walking on thin ice right now. I know she isn't the murderer. It's clear from the start..but the public thinks her actions are acts of revenge...that she wants to get revenge on Erik Gregory for the sake of her father. Erika is very close to her father, yet I feel like she knows his dark secret." My father said and opened the folder. "Orion Ray was a convict of the Ray vs Gregory Case aka Brotherhood Incident."

"C-Convict?!" Mari looked at her grandfather in shocked then looked confused. "What's a convict?"

"A convict is someone who was proven guilty by a verdict in the court of law." Sophia said.

"Yes...he was charged a fine for passive aggravated assault against Erik. The fine was $2500 and he lost his badge. The whereabouts of Erik was unknown after that." My father looked at us.

"Do you know why Orion and Erik even had issues with one another?" I asked.

"Orion's wife cheated on him with Erik." My father said.

"Eh..?" We all looked at him dully.

"Yeah I had the same expression as you all did. We all had a Brotherhood. A Detective Brotherhood and then it kinda...fell apart after that day." My father said and sighed. "Of course Erika knows of this incident because it put her family into shame...so in this incident it was seen as an act of revenge."

I took some time to digest the information and closed my eyes. Sophia and Mari looked at me and knew this was my thinking pose.

"Aunt Alice has something in mind..!" Mari said and looked determined.

"Papa, where is Orion at this very moment? When was the last time you saw him?" I asked.

"Old Ashton. That was around 3 years ago." He said.

"We are going to Old Ashton, how far is that from here?" I asked.

"About 45 minutes, walking distance. If you're gonna try to find him, you might wanna try this location." He took out a scrap piece of paper and wrote down an address. "340 Old Ashton."

"Okay! Thank you!" I took the paper and got up. "See you soon papa, I love you!"

"Bye bye grandpa!" Mari got up.

"I love you too, and you too Marianne." My father smiled. "Before you go, you might wanna take the B.I. 11-19. If you want to prove Erika is innocent, it won't be as easy this time...The prosecution will be pressing her hard. You will literally have to fight for her innocence. The battles will only get harder from here."

"Thank you." I took the folder and nodded.

We left the house in a hurry and I closed the door. My father sat at the table and looked at the ceiling and sighed a bit.

"The criminals just keep getting smarter and smarter...justice won't be as easy to obtain like it was back then." He said.

November 19 2:35 PM

Old Ashton

"We are here. Old Ashton...The last place Orion Ray was seen...340 Old Ashton. Let's hurry." I said and hurried to the address.

They nodded and followed me quickly. We searched for a good 15 minutes. We soon arrived at 340 Old Ashton and knocked on the door. A man opened the door slightly and I looked at him. If my hunch is correct...Erik Gregory was killed by none other than Orion Ray.

"What do you want? I don't want any of what you're selling." The man said.

"Excuse me, are you Orion Ray?" I asked.

"No, my name is Wayne Ford. If you're looking for Orion Ray, you're at the wrong house." He said.

I crossed my arms and looked at the man. My father would never lie. The man looked back and me and was about to close the door.

"You know Newham Lake is not too far from here by car. Man the news is talking a lot about Erika right now." I closed my eyes.

"Erika..? You mean the girl who was arrested? I happened to be by the lake that night. I already testified to the detectives...so I will be showing up for court." The man said.

"Why are you playing this dumb charade?! You are Orion Ray!" I glared.

"Orion Ray has been missing for 14 years! He simply does not exist, plus let's say I was Orion...do you have any proof?!" He asked.

"We won't be getting any answers from him Alice. We should just go rest up until trial tomorrow. We have a battle to win." Sophia said.

"Right.." I closed my eyes and walked off.

The man closed the door and we went back to the Holmes Detective Dept. We went into the office on the top floor to unpack the evidence we found and I sat in my rolling chair and sighed.

"November 20th is the day we fight a battle the world will hear...not only is it a battle to prove Erika is innocent, but to also clear her name and teach an old friend what it means to be fair! He is the Prosecutor and I will defeat him!" I said and looked at my computer screen.

"This case will be a case to remember." Mari smiled. "Especially if we win!"

I sat back in my chair and reminisced about how close Erika and Gray were. They were also dating at one point of time, but decided to break up to focus on making it to being detectives and much more. I know Erika would never kill a person...she hates criminals which is why she's even a Prosecutor as well as a Detective.

"They better pray they have no white lies in their testimonies tomorrow...because I will break every one of his false witnesses. To do this to Erika made this case...personal." I said.

"Yeah! Gray has to be taught a lesson so bring your A-Game!" Liliana said determined.

"You know I will." I said.