Law School Murders: ‘The Kim Files’

By preparing herself for the inevitable, Kim wished to look the part. She bought a hand made designer suit the color of lilacs. She felt like she could take her rightful position as a woman accused and acquitted and display it seriously.

When the day came for her to testify, more paparazzi trailed her than Gardner. As she swore the oath, cameras followed like flies on stink.

“Would you please state your name for the record,” The DA Albertson Dott stated with gravitas.

“Kimberle Jergensen.”

“Thank you. This may seem like a bit of déjà vu.”

“A little.”

“Now, can you point out the man who committed these horrific murders?”

Kim stood up and pointed directly at Gardner. She didn’t feel joyous or relaxed at the moment. In fact, an iciness entered her body. She kept a pointed index finger trained on Gardner.

“Will the record reflect that Miss Jergensen is pointing at Brandon Gardner. Thank you, Miss Jergensen. How were you associated with the defendant?”

“I was his professor,” she replied.

“At DIT?”

“Yes,” she said.

“What kind of grades did Mr. Gardner earn?”

“Objection! What’s my client’s grades have to do with anything?”

“Sustained.”

“He got A’s and B’s. He was a decent student.”

“What can you say about your last meeting together before the murders?”

“I just told him he had to study more if he wanted to turn those B’s into A’s. I recommended studying with his tablet and smartphone. There was tons of information that backed up what we discussed in class.”

Dott looked at his watch. “Did you ever sense that Brandon would do anything irrational or immoral? Something to this extent. What were his intentions?”

Kim looked cross. “I think he was just trying to make it as a sophomore and wanted to keep his mind focused on the good. Somewhere he took a wrong turn.”

“That wrong turn…was it inspired by any of the cases you were talking about?”

“We had just started the semester. I didn’t launch into any cases just yet. I was still outlining what we would be discussing in the weeks to come. He may have picked up on the fact that we were going to study mass shooters but that wouldn’t be for a few months.”

“Did Mr. Gardner tell you anything that would have raised red flags?”

“No.”

“What were his best attributes as a relatively good student?”

“He was deeply persistent. He wanted to learn more about the cases of serial killers like the one we’re currently studying.”

“What was the last thing that Gardner said to you?”

“I remember him saying that he was going to a frat house party. He was adamant about it. He changed his whole demeanor when he mentioned his frat brothers. His eyes got wide and he spoke faster. I think he was just zooming off of an energy drink he had consumed a few moments earlier during class.”

“No further questions, your honor.”

Kim stepped down from the stand and found her seat amongst the rest of the public. The cameras followed her every move.

When she got home that night, she looked at herself on the news channels and websites. She stumbled onto a podcast devoted to her. The Kim Files had already typed up a twelve hundred word post to go with the audio.

She scrolled past all of that and found a few pictures of Gardner. She felt she could see all of the anger in his face, even as he smiled. She used her detective skills to consider just how much the former college student now on trial for murder thought.