Chapter 357 The Queen's Court
ADRIANA
I hadn't been expecting to see Leo there, but I'm guessing that he had enough just as I did. I was going there to tell Elijah how I felt and what would happen to him if he dared to do anything silly, but Leo beat me to it.
He didn't see me when he came out of the room crying because I hid behind the door, but what shocked me was the fact that Elijah sat in that room and did nothing, even after Leo told him that he was going to run away.
The sight of my son's brokenness and my husband's paralysis had cemented my resolve. I've already told Elijah what I wanted to say. I didn't want to look for my son. All hell would break loose if I looked for Leo and I didn't find him. Let him come back on his own. If he didn't, then Elijah would have to answer for it.
Just as I'd planned, court was going to be in session this evening. The elders didn't seem pleased to be here, their faces etched with the weary resentment of men roused from their comfortable beds, but that had nothing to do with me. Their job description didn't come with a time limit, so even if I called at the butt crack of dawn, they were meant to answer, no matter what.
As soon as Elijah entered the room and we stood up to bow, it had started. The air was thick with tension, a palpable weight that settled on every shoulder. Alisha, Tobias, and Tim stood in the middle of the court, a triangle of guilt and innocence. Since this was my case, I was the one presenting.
"The reason why I have called this meeting at this time is because the system has allowed for a man who did not commit a crime to take the fall for it," I began, my voice clear and steady, carrying to every corner of the grand hall. "When this issue first came to me, I couldn't really attend to it because it was at this point that the King's health deteriorated, and for that, I apologise for the delay in justice." If I had the time back then, Tim wouldn't still be in jail.
"Please note that I spent a lot of time on this just to find out the truth, so it might take just as long for us to hear the full story. So don't be in a hurry to go home, because we might be here for the full night." I liked the disapproving looks on their faces, the subtle shifts in their seats, but they couldn't do anything to me. I was the Queen, and this was my justice.
"Tim, come forward and tell us who you are." I didn't bother going back to my seat since I was going to be moving around a lot. I'd gone down earlier to tell him that he was going to be testifying, so he should get ready. It wouldn't be easy staying in the same room as Alisha, but he just had to try. He hadn't made eye contact with her since he entered the room, his gaze fixed on a point just above my head.
"Good evening, your majesty," he said, his voice hoarse from disuse. "Some months ago, I was accused of killing my wife because I was found with her body. I walked into the cabin where we spent our honeymoon and saw her with a knife to her neck, and the coast guard saw me and arrested me. That's why I'm here." He stepped back, his shoulders slumping, as if the weight of his wrongful accusation was a physical burden he could no longer bear.
"Tobias, come forward and present yourself." He was reluctant, and from the way he was looking around, I could tell that he hadn't been on this side of the room before. He was always the one in charge, the one asking the questions. Now, he was the one being judged.
"My name is Tobias Harrison. Commissioner of police," he said, his voice barely a whisper. "Lucy was my friend, and Alisha is the mother of my child. Out of guilt, I helped her cover up a crime, fake her own death, and plan to escape." I think as he said it, he became aware of just how stupid he had been. Unfortunately, there was no remedy for what he had done.
"Alisha, step forward and tell us who you are and what you have done." Unlike the others, she didn't have a scared or sad expression. Her eyes remained on the floor, and it was like she had been hypnotized, detached from the gravity of her situation.
"What do you want to know that you don't already know?" she asked, her voice flat, devoid of emotion. "I don't have the time to waste here. Just throw me in jail if you want to."
Of course, was I expecting anything else from her?
"I would have done that if things were that easy, but unfortunately, we have to follow due process," I said, my voice hardening. "So I'll start with this. Did you kill Lucy?"
She crossed her arms over her chest, a defiant gesture. "No, she was my best friend. Why would I kill her?"
She was still going with that explanation? After everything?
"You say you didn't kill Lucy? Where were you on the day she died?" I pressed, my patience wearing thin.
"I was at home."
It didn't matter how much I questioned her; I knew that she wasn't going to let up easily. She was a fortress, and I needed to find the crack in her walls.
"At home? Because her secretary says you stormed into the office and demanded to see her. And when you didn't see her, you threatened her job. Does that sound familiar to you? Where did you go after that?"
I could see that her resolve dropped, and she changed her posture, but it was still defensive. "I went home."
At the last minute, Hazel had decided to cover all the bases, and it was a good thing she did.
I signalled Hazel, and she went to play the tape. The large screen at the front of the room flickered to life, showing a grainy but clear image of Alisha in the elevator, her face a mask of anger.
"Correct me if I'm wrong," Hazel said, her voice ringing through the hall, "but doesn't that show you entering back into the elevator to go to Lucy's office? And isn't that you going through Sandy's computer? Perhaps you forgot. I'm happy to remind you."
She should have had counsel, but it was an open and shut case. I shouldn't even be involved in this, but I wanted to see to it that she spent time in jail. I wanted to make sure that she took responsibility for what she had done.
"Yes, I went through her computer. So what? I just wanted to know where she was. I needed to speak to her."
"Speak to her about what?" I asked, stepping closer, my voice dropping to a low, dangerous purr. "The fact that she knows that you killed her baby? Or the fact that she was pregnant and you wanted her to leave her husband because you loved her, and she didn't care about you?"
That was the final straw. I knew it was only going to take one trigger to get her to talk. I should have known that it was going to be her feelings.