Chapter 11

May 10th, the day her life could possibly be ruined. Iris sat on her bed, tears wetting her cheeks, she didn't know why she cried like it could fix every little thing that went wrong with her life. She stood up, ran her palms along her torso to flatten her suit jacket and turned to the mirror.

Seven in the morning, she thought, court starts at eight. She looked at the sleeping form on her bed. Arrow ended up staying the night since she was the escort to court for her. Iris walked slowly around and gently shook her awake, smiling when Arrow opened those magnificent brown eyes and stared at her.

"Morning." She stretched and yawned.

"Morning, cutie." Iris whispered softly. "Get dressed, we have to go."

Arrow nodded, sat up, and rubbed her face. Iris walked over to her makeup stand to spritz some perfume on her neck and wrists and let Arrow get dressed in peace. Since she was on the case she needed to be in uniform to be there.

"Have I ever told you how much I like women in uniform?" Iris looked in the mirror and turned.

"I don't think you ever mentioned that." Arrow smiled and clasped the last few buttons on her vest.

"I can't believe it." Iris faked a shocked expression and laughed. "We should get going."

"We should."

Arrow moved over to Iris and planted a kiss on her forehead before snatching up her keys. They walked through the house to the front door and out the front door, down the cement path, and into the car. Iris was nervous sweating, but not enough that it would be noticeable or smelly.

They drove down the street, the courthouse coming into view more and more as they approached. Cars were lined on the streets, police, journalists, a tv news van, and no doubt a few strangers were here to watch the outcome.

They're going to be surprised, Iris thought, the video of her and her attacker playing in her mind. I'm going to win, she thought. She watched Arrow pull into a parking spot and slowly got out of the car, flashes from the cameras consumed her the minute she was standing upright again.

She heard a shout that almost sounded distant, it was Arrow coming to her rescue.

"Get out of here! Give her space!" She shouted, shooing away the image takers. "Come on, Iris."

Iris allowed herself to be pulled toward the courthouse doors, not feeling like she was really there. Although court started in five minutes, Iris was told to take a seat next to her public defender and watched as people wearing different clothes and uniforms filed in one by one silently.

The bailiff was on the side of the judge standed, waiting on the judge.

"All rise." There was shuffling as everyone stood, minus the judge. "Department One of the Superior Court is now in session. Judge Marzia presiding."

"Everyone but the jury may be seated. Mr. Albrecht, please swear in the jury." The woman spoke in a heavy Italian accent while shuffling her papers on the podium.

The bailiff hurried to the front of the jury and took a deep breath, his first day no doubt.

"Please raise your right hand. Do you solemnly swear or affirm that you will truly listen to this case and render a true verdict and a fair sentence as to this defendant?"

"I do." The jury spoke together.

"You may be seated." Mr. Albrecht hurried off next to the podium once more and stood there.

"Members of the jury, your duty today will be to determine whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty based only on facts and evidence provided in this case. The prosecution has the burden of proving the guilt of the defendant beyond a reasonable doubt. This burden remains on the prosecution through the trial. The prosecution must prove that a crime was committed and that the defendant is the person who committed the crime. Mr. Albrecht, what is today's case?"

"Todays case is to prove whether Ms. Iris Aoife killed Alex Sullen." He spoke loud and clear.

"Is the prosecution ready?"

They stood in turns and said "yes, your Honor." An attorney walked up to the podium and placed documents on it.

"Your honor, members of the jury, my name is Gwyn Esau. Me and my partners intend to prove Ms. Aoife is not guilty."

"Prosecution you may call your first witness."

"Yes, your honor. I call Hailey Swiss to the stand."

A woman stood from the audience and walked to the stand, Iris didn't bother looking at her.

"Mr. Albrecht, please swear her in."

"Please raise your right hand. Do you sweat to tell the truth and nothing but the truth?"

"I do." Haileys voice sounded broken and tired, she walked to the stand and sat.

"What would you say your first impression of Ms. Aoife was?" Mr. Esau asked.

"I would say it wasn't a good one. I met her first when Alex and I had gotten into a fight, she came to the house and started banging on the door to be let in. She went to the room Alex and I shared and started trashing it looking for some jewelry box."

"And what, would you say, happened when she couldn't find it? Did she get violent?"

"Not necessarily, she started yelling at him because he was using 'was' to describe Esty. We all knew she wouldn't be found alive except Iris, she claimed he had something to do with Esty's disappearance."

"Was she around a lot? Iris, I mean, has she ever tried to get violent with Mr. Sullen?"

"No, sir. Never anything like that, she just yelled at him when he wouldn't tell her what she wanted to hear."

"Thank you, you may sit."

A few more people were called to stand, one was a witness that saw Iris speed off on April third. Iris waited in her seat, knowing she'd be called, and listened to what these so called witnesses had to say. Then it was her turn.

She swore in and took her seat.

"Ms. Aoife, how would you describe your feelings about what happened with Esty's disappearance?"

"I was in shock, I grieved, at one point I thought she'd never return." Iris said truthfully.

"And what made you come to your conclusion that she was still alive?"

"I don't know, sir, one day I woke up and felt like something was off. We were at Olive Garden the night she disappeared and she mentioned how she thought Alex was having an affair."

"Was he?"

"He was, the mistress is in this room. But, anyway, I drove by because it didn't make sense that she was gone the night she called her husband out and all her stuff was in the garage. Including a bloody ax and clothes."

"We have reason to believe that those were there due to a tree cutting incident."

"It still didn't make sense, and you know that. You're just too afraid to admit it."

"No need for those words, Miss Aoife."

"I'll say whatever I want since it is the truth."

"Back to the questions, did you or did you not arrive at Mister Sullens home argue with him, trash his bedroom, and drive off the night you got into your car accident four years ago?"

"I did, but-"

"And did you or did you not uninvitingly enter his home on said night?"

"I did, but-"

"That does it, she admitted."

"She merely answered your questions that you didn't let her answer." The judge spoke, banging her gavel.

"Why would I when it's all lies?"

"If you listen to her side instead of someone who wasn't there you'd see it's not." The judge looked at Iris. "Care to continue?"

"Yes, I did arrive at Alex's home that night. I read something in Estys diary about a note and I figured he'd have it but he wasn't cooperating which made him look more suspicious. I did walk into his home uninvited but before Esty died I never needed an invitation. I didn't trash his room, I just moved things around. I did yell at him but he wasn't helping me look for the note, again suspicious.

"If a man loved his wife he would never cheat on her or assault in any way, shape, or form. I could tell Alex's love for my best friend was gone and I needed to do something about it. I couldn't sit around knowing my best friend was most likely dead because of the man that claimed to love her."

"That's a lot to unpack."

"Imagine how I felt." Iris rolled her eyes and slouched in the chair.

"You may take your seat by your defender."

Iris got up and walked to the chair she sat in before she was called to the stand, giving Arrow a side eye smirk. She was going to win, she knew they had nothing against her. Talking broke out as she walked so the judge banged her gavel again.

"The testimony Miss Aoife gave has hard evidence, she claims Mister Sullen was killed by defense and purly defense. The video she has submitted will be shown on screen so we can all take in the information and come to our conclusion." She looked at Iris. "Is that ok with you, Miss Aoife?"

"Anything to prove I'm innocent."

She nodded and looked at the news guy, he hooked something up and the video she took began playing. It was different, there was more light and she could see the distress on her face immediately. The sound of Alex on the ground sounded and Iris looked at the table, she didn't want to relive this.

There was the sound of talking and then a thud, the fight for her life was starting. The sounds of grunts, screams, and thuds played out as they did the night that it happened. Iris felt tears wetting her cheeks as she remembered the grief and pain she felt finding that chamber, then it was all over.

"Jury, you may rise and come to your verdict."

The jury rose and walked into a side room for more than five minutes before coming out again.

"We have our verdict."

"Give me the card." The judge held out her hand, read the card, and smiled. "Miss Aoife you have been found…not guilty."

There were more boos than cheers, some apparently still thought she deserved a life sentence. Iris rose and tried to find Arrow in the crowd, things were being thrown at her, insults. Then there were arms around her and a pair of lips were on hers.

She won two cases, the case of love and the case of manslaughter.