Academy Murders: Icy Face

“I can attest to her death,” Sidney Merriweather said. “It was not murder. Penelope killed herself,” Sidney said. An audible gasp fell over the courtroom. The judge nearly grabbed her gavel.

“So, you’re saying Miss Bascomb strangled herself in her cell?”

Sidney nodded slowly.

“I’m going to need a verbal response for the record, please,” the defense attorney said.

“Oh, sorry! Yes, she committed suicide.”

“No further questions, your Honor.”

Kim sat in court with a subdued beige and gray ensemble that almost made her disappear. But her cocoa brown skin radiated away from the drab costume she donned. She felt finicky. It was like beetles crawling on her skin. She felt that she wanted to speak up, speak out and proclaim her innocence.

As the witnesses took the stand, she cycled through her mind the idea of not killing but murdering. As a cop, she had killed but could never bring to mind the idea of murder. Much less two murders. Her mind pushed her to remain straight faced.

She recalled Goro. By knowing that he was the barrier between her and the truth, she knew that she would have to show that she was completely guiltless.

The next witness swore the oath and took the stand.

“Yes. I can attest the accused is guilty,” Samantha Gunley declared.

The prosecutor looked down and then up again.

“So what you’re posting is that there was some kind of motive involved?”

“Yes.”

“Please explain further.”

“She never liked Penelope or Naomi for that much,” Samantha mentioned.

“Objection, your honor. That’s a totally different case.”

“Try to focus on Miss Bascomb.”

Samantha said, “Yes, your Honor.”

“Now, with Penelope, you were both in prison for the same amount of time?”

“That’s right. We sort of bonded in a way that no other inmate showed to me. I protected her and myself. We were tight.”

With this new admission, Kim’s lawyer leaned over and whispered, “We’ve got this.”

“Thank you, your Honor. The prosecution yields.”

Kim’s lawyer stood with the brazen confidence of a wolf mother guarding her pack. This time, she was protecting an accused woman.

“The defense would like to question the witness.”

“Proceed,” the judge said.

“Miss Gunley…how long did you know Penelope?”

“We were cellies…cell mates for at least three months. Then she got transferred to Jergensen’s cell.”

“Would you say you became close based on your records?”

“We never discussed it much. We’re training to be agents so we kind of just snooped out each other. I heard she was stealing. I was supposed to be in the psych ward.”

“Okay….”

“She stuck up for me and said my thievery wasn’t a mental condition.”

“And you were happy about that?”

“Ecstatic. I don’t want to be bound to a table or drooling all over myself in some puzzle factory.”

“So you were cellmates that had something to share?”

“It was like a lighter to a candle. The spark in my soul made us like soulmates rather than cellmates. Then she was murdered by your client. The knowledge I have that makes it possible for me to ascertain whether she is a cold-blooded killer lets me know I’m aware.”

There was no proof, but the spider that Kim had thought was in her cell crawled out of the wall. She watched it scale over the oak fixtures. A smirk curled around her lips. She wanted to burst out laughing. A laugh so hearty and full and true that it would warrant second glances and views of curiosity. But she didn’t laugh. Her icy face looked like stone. She cleared her throat.