Chapter 13 — Bad News

By October 2nd, Esther and Leo had sorted and sent all the files and evidence to the court. Then they began to prepare for the court hearings, as they received confirmation that the first hearing would be held on October 6. Leo seemed to be way too calm for the person that was about to testify in court soon, but after all, it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. He knew exactly what to say, so wasn't nervous. Esther, on the other hand, felt a growing nervousness, largely due to her earlier dream and the warning of an angel appearing in it. She looked at Leo with a bit of jealousy that he was so calm in this situation and wondered if Leo would have looked just as relaxed if he too had been visited in his sleep by one of the Scarlet Angels.

Unexpectedly, however, Leo also lost some of his peace when a rumour hit the police station about what line of defence Alair Taylor, the Mad Dog public defender, had chosen.

"Seriously? Is he going to make him a madman who kills under the influence of childhood trauma?" Leo said indignantly as he and Esther sat in the social room sipping coffee during the break.

"We should expect something like that to happen." Esther replied, holding her cup with both hands. "He read Vermeulen's testimony, found out about his past, and as befits a good defender, decided to take the opportunity." she also added clearly dissatisfied with this fact.

"It's just unbelievable." Leo sighed, stirring his coffee with a spoon. "I hope he won't be able to soften the sentence with insanity. Yes, Mad Dog sometimes acts like he is not right in his head, but I'm sure this guy hasn't committed all these crimes without knowing what he is doing. If that was the case, we'd have caught him much sooner." Leo stated, then took a sip of coffee from the mug.

"Take it easy, even if his defender chose this strategy, Vermeulen's insanity has to be proven. The court will probably order a psychiatric examination to forensic psychiatrists and the result of it will decide whether this line of defence will be taken into account or not." Esther spoke up, although she wanted to convince herself more than him. "His public defender is called Alair Taylor, right?" she asked just to be sure.

"Well, yes, it's true, why?" Leo answered her question with a question.

"I know this guy, you should too. I guess everyone in this country should know him." Esther replied, but seeing his uncertain expression she continued. "He is known to defend criminals as a public defender because he believes that not everyone commits crimes on purpose, and anyone who resorts to crime because of some sort of trauma should not be punished in the same way as an emotionless psychopaths. Alair Taylor had as many supporters as opponents because of his worldview, but he was not liked by the general public. But of course he doesn't care, otherwise would have quit long ago." she explained briefly. "Overall, we are kind of unlucky that Alair Taylor was assigned to defend the Mad Dog. This guy is good at what he does and can cause us problems even if the psychiatric examination show that Vermeulen was sane at the time of committing his crimes." Esther sighed slightly.

"How come? If the psychiatric examination will clearly show that Mad Dog was sane, then the matter should be clear and the sentence severe." Leo said, not quite understanding her apprehension.

"I'm afraid that Alair Taylor will want to play on the feelings of the public, judge and prosecution. Given Vermeulen's life story, he can make a victim of him in a way." Esther explained more thoroughly.

"I didn't think about that." Leo admitted, slightly embarrassed by his short-sightedness, then he seemed to remember something. "Wait a minute... Is Alair Taylor the same lawyer who appeared on a TV show once and his statements caused a big scandal in media?" he asked, looking at her.

"Yes, it was him on that show." Esther confirmed, taking another sip of coffee.

"Well, then we really have a problem." Leo admitted. "At first, I did not recognize his name, but when you started talking about his worldview and in general... It immediately reminded me of that show's episode in which they talked about the connection between crime and trauma, and their guest lawyer that caused the scandal with his words." he added after a moment.

"Now you see for yourself, we have something to worry about." Esther pointed out, then finished her coffee. "Besides, are you still saying now that my dream with one of the Scarlet Angels was just an auto-suggestion?" she asked, finding her chance to get back at his harsh words from earlier.

"Esther, please..." Leo looked at her pleadingly. "Let's not talk about this nonsense. You stopped talking about it for a few days and I thought you got smarter..." he continued, clearly still distrusting of what she told him a few days ago.

"Shut up for a few minutes and listen to me for once." Esther interrupted him. "The angel in the dream warned me that Laurens Vermeulen would want to make himself insane and this angel asked us not to let his strategy give him any benefits." she explained, eyeing him intensely. "We have to be careful. Today, this angel's words are confirmed and this may be proof that..." Esther wanted to go on, but she became immediately silent as Leo's hand fell on the table top with a thud, making a shiver run down her spine.

"Damn it, Esther, get a hold of yourself, for God's sake!" Leo raised his voice, clearly very angry now.

It was the first time she had seen him being like this towards her. Yes, he had been furious before, but only at criminals, never at her.

"Leo..." Esther wanted to say something but didn't know what. "I really..." she broke off, staring at the table top.

"I'm begging you, don't make me doubt your sanity, Esther." Leo continued a little calmer, but his face was still very dark. "I really think you should go on a long vacation after all this. If it were not for the fact that you have to testify, I would ask the Chief to let you rest right now." he sighed heavily, running hand through hair, then finished his cup of coffee.

"I'm sorry." it was all Esther could say. She got up, took her and his mug, rinsed them one by one, and set on the dryer.

"Let's go to the office." Leo announced, and they both left the social room.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This time, after work, Leo didn't bother Esther with anything else, and even told her to go straight to home and bed right away so that she could rest as much as possible before tomorrow. Dutifully, Esther climbed into the car, fastened her seatbelt, and started the engine, then she headed for the street. She got home pretty quickly, as always, because there were no traffic jams in the streets on late evenings, when she and Leo were leaving work. Well, there were hardly any cars, to be exact.

Esther parked the car, got out, and locked it securely. Then she entered the building and took the stairs to the fourth floor, where her modest apartment was located. Even as a good detective, she did not earn so much to change her apartment for something bigger and in a better neighbourhood. She had a car and just the fuel cost a lot. Yes, Esther could get a refund for going to work in her own car, but mostly if she was called in off duty, after hours of work. Besides, Esther was saving money by putting aside large sums in a savings account. She had a dangerous job, so after choosing to start a family, if something bad happened to her, Esther did not want to leave them with meagre compensation from the police. Also, she liked to send small amounts of money to her mother and grandmother, even though they asked her not to. Mother was still working, grandmother had her own and grandfather's retirement money, but she just wanted to repay them somehow for taking care of her.

Esther reached the apartment, put the key in the lock, and turned it to unlock the door. Then she stepped inside, immediately closing them tightly behind her. Esther noticed that since starting work in the police force, she was more paranoid about burglaries, always closed the door and checked the locks carefully every now and then. Perhaps the neighbourhood she lived in was generally very safe compared to other parts of Cardiff, but Esther thought you could never be too careful. Break-ins, assaults, kidnappings, and even murders have happened even in the safest places—that's what she learned while working in the police force.