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BridgeportCase Double Trouble1

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Monday 7:30 A.M.
Stanton Manner

The cold bite of October has already had some time to make itself at home in the quiet town of Bridgeport.  October also brought with it a large white bed sheet that got in between Bridgeport and the dull blue sky.  This omnipresent spirit, born from the little clouds of exhaled breath, is something I have yet to fully understand but know all too well.
This weather suited the next case perfectly, right down to the chilling truth and a frostbitten comfort.  Though, in essence, this is really about two completely different cases, at first.
Being a creature of hot climates, I wanted to sleep in that cold morning.  Though Cut's pet Snap, Crackle, had other ideas and wanted to be fed right at that instant.  So, with only slight difficulty, he pinched the corner of the cover with his beak like mouth and slowly dragged it off, his tiny claws tapping on the floor as he did so.  Cold air penetrated through my PJ's all too quickly and shocked me awake.  I angrily looked at the little trouble maker, who was looking at me with his distinctive "feed me" look.  I've contemplated the idea of feeding the greedy little monster to the point he was too fat to move just so I didn't have to see that look of his, but my brother Cutagon would defiantly frown on that.
I slowly headed towards the kitchen with the blanket wrapped tightly around me.  Crackle sat on part of the blanket and seemed to enjoy himself as he slid along the wooden floors, even on the stairs.  At the bottom of the stairs I spotted a letter sticking out of the mail slot.  I took no mind to the letter and continued my way towards the kitchen.  With not much thought, I tossed a few chunks of stew meat from the fridge at the overgrown lizard.  I didn't care to watch it swallow it's meal like a baby alligator and instead looked at the letter on the floor again.  
I clearly remember the mail not coming so early, so I disrobed my blanket and retrieved the white parcel.  It was clearly assigned to me and also had a valid stamp, though I had one of "those feelings" about it.  Nothing specific, just an uneasy feeling.  The feeling didn't get any better once I opened it and saw that the stationary had random occult markings on it's boarder, only one or two I could recognize.  Though what was written on it was quite official, which was a good hint that I'm probably going to be busy today.  To make it short, the letter was a request by a kid named Eric for me to come to the courthouse and defend him in court, today at ten.
"Crap" I thought to myself as I ran a hand through my hair.  I grabbed the letter again and immediately encountered static.  My entire view was distorted as a thousand voices rushed through my head and a thousand emotions dove into me at once.  It only seemed to last a second, but once everything was clear I found myself on the floor with Crackle nudging at my head whimpering.  I attempted to get up but every time I tried to move my left arm it felt like someone was gouging out my joints every time I moved.
"PASTE, BRO, WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!" I heard my brother Cutagon yell in my head, "DID YOU JUST TAKE ACID?"
"Heck no" I ensured my brother, "you should know me better than that."
"Then what just happened?  It was like someone took my brain, overloaded it, and ran it through a blender at the same time."
I tilted my head towards the letter as one of the symbols in it's border pulsed with a red glow.
"Cutagon" I told my brother, "I think I accidentally came into contact with a magic symbol that actually effects demons."  I stretched my arm once again, giving a thankful sigh as the pain turned into a throbbing sore spot in my joints.  I also took a glimpse at my watch as I did so and felt my heart stop.  It was already nine, I was knocked out for an hour and a half.
"Double crap"

Monday 9:59 A.M.
Bridgeport Courthouse

Even though I will never admit it, this was one of the only times I will ever be grateful that we had a hotrod as a daily driver.  Throwing myself out of the car I forcefully slammed the door, getting an evil twinge of joy feeling Cutagon sqwerm at the slight brutality to his car.  I sprinted into the courthouse and slid just before the waiting room.  Taking a few deep breathes, I cleaned myself up before marching into the waiting room where William Von Twist sat waiting with his legs crossed.
"How wide are your car tires" I heard him say, "because I could literally hear them scream to a stop from here."
I kept my mouth shut as the wooden double doors slowly creaked open to allow us entry.  I also got to see my client as I walked in.  Eric, to keep it simple, he looked like an older brown haired version of Shaggy from the old Scooby Doo cartoons.  Still, there was a nagging sensation that I've seen the kid before.
"This court is now in session for the trial of Eric Delany" boomed the Judge's voice, followed by the clack clack of his gavel.
"The prosecution is ready your honor" Von Twist announced with great authority.
"The defense is ready your honor" I lied, hoping to find a contradiction to hang on to right at the start.  Still, it was hard to concentrate not only because I didn't have time to properly prepare myself, but my client looked familiar to a point where it was scary, and the Judge's gavel was distracting because it was significantly larger than it should be and it's head was made of stone.
"The prosecution may call it's first witness" the Judge said as he ran his hand through his large white beard.
Von Twist nodded and declared, "the prosecution calls the head of the investigation, Detective Greg Mandel, to the stand."  At this time I was wondering if Greg was the only person in the police force because of his frequent occurrence in my previous cases.
"Give me your name and occupation" Twist said calmly
"My name is Detective Greg Mandel" Greg replied in the same monotone "and I am the head detective of investigation."
"Mr. Mandel, please tell us your testimony of what happened when you were called?" Twist asked with a more relaxed and less sinister tone than usual.
Greg adjusted his trench coat before recalling the series of events.  "Five days ago, the police department was called in to investigate a fire at a warehouse owned by the 'Upen Phlames shipping and storage facilities' at the industrial district of Bridgeport."
"Upen Phlames... seriously, the owner is named Upen Phlames?" I asked in a tone that could easily be depicted as "you've gotta be kidding me".
"I'm sorry sir, I should have been more specific" Greg appologised in a most emotion less way, "the owner's full name is Upen Napalm Phlames."
To say that I was just that close to banging my head against the table would be an understatement.  Though, I didn't want to mess up my new haircut before I got to show it off.
"Anyway, the fire was originally thought to be an accident until the origin of the fire was discovered to be at a far corner of the building.  The corner had the ashes of what appeared to be newspapers, an obvious sign of arson."
"But isn't this a murder case?" I asked
"I'm not done yet" Greg said coldly, "further search of the building's remains unveiled the bones of a human body."
"The person could have died a long time before the actual fire" I interjected.
"Too bad though, because we already checked into that theory and from the condition of the corpse he burned to death" Greg then added in a slightly emotional bit of remorse, "kind of a bad way to go really."
"So, who was this man anyway?" I asked in curiosity.
"His name was Tony Alberto, he was the security guard for the warehouses" Greg answered as he held out a picture of a pudgy 60 year old male, "we were able to find out his identity by his teeth marks."
"So tell me, what's connecting my client to this crime?" I asked fearing the worse.
Von Twist rose up from his seat saying, "we have an eye witness who not only clearly saw Mr. Delany walking away from , but has a photographic memory to boot."
After shoeing Greg off the stand he pointed at the door and said, "I call Mr. Ink to the stand."  Then walked in the most interesting character I have seen on the stand up to date.  He was wrapped up for winter, wearing a large red and blue striped scarf that covered the lower half of his face, a large brownish robe, and thick denim bell bottom pants.  Perched off kilter on the top of his ink black hair was a matching brownish beret that made almost made the man look like an odd, ink stained, pepper shaker.  There was a slight gasp from the crowd when Mr. Ink turned around and almost began to show off his missing right arm, it's ripped sleeve stained with old blood that had turned brown years ago.
"That's some injury Mr. Ink" the judge said pointing out the man's missing arm.
"It's just a flesh wound" Mr. Ink said with a witty smirk... too bad his scarf covered it up.
"Your name and occupation please?" Von Twist asked as he kept his professional appearance.
"Oh, sorry" Mr. Ink apologized as he answered, "My name is Splotchy Ink, and I am a professional artist."
"Splotchy... Ink..." I mumbled to myself in disbelief, "who names their child Splotchy Ink."
"The same people who names their twins Cut and Paste" mentally replied my brother as I gave myself a face palm.
Von Twist nodded, ignoring my reaction to his witness's name, and asked, "Mr. Ink, would you testify as to what you saw last Wednesday at around ten O' clock."
"Certainly" Mr. Ink replied before he cleared his throat and began, "that night I was traveling around Bridgeport to get some inspiration for my next art gallery.  Well, while I was walking down the port I noticed some black smoke in the sky.  Hoping to get some good inspiration I followed the smoke to the warehouse.  When I arrived, I saw the defendant walk away from the warehouse as it began to burn.  That was when I called the fire department."
"That sounds like a good testimony" the judge said with a nod, "the defendant can now cross examine the witness's testimony."
I looked at Mr. Ink with interest, more specifically his so called 'photographic memory'.  "Mr. Ink, there are a few things I would like to ask" I began, "you said that you saw smoke and followed it, how long did it take you to actually get to the warehouse?"
"Around then minuets, why do you ask?"
"Because, in your same testimony you said that you saw my client just as the warehouse began to burn" I stood up for more effect, "this cant be possible, because in order to see the smoke from the fire, that fire must have been burning for some time, which means you couldn't have seen 'the warehouse as it began to burn".
"What are you talking about" Splotchy said, ignoring Von Twist's hand motions of silence, "it could have been burning from the inside."
"That makes scence" the judge said scratching his beard, "that would then place the fire at the inside of the warehouse."
"Where the fire started is irrelevant your honor" Von Twist said as he too got up from his desk, "what's important is WHO started the fire, and my witness clearly pointed out that he saw Mr. Delany."
"That is correct Mr. Twist" the judge agreed with a nod before turning towards me and saying, "Paste, is there anything else you would like to ask?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact their is" I said looking at Mr. Ink.  "Mr. Ink, it's said that you have a photographic memory and that your an artist.  Would you happen to have... per say, a picture of the event?"
"As a matter of fact, I do" Mr. Ink said as he pulled a large painting from the stand and sat it on a collapsible easel.
"Wait... how did you keep that entire painting in that small..."
"Objection, stop badgering the witness" Von Twist objected.
"Objection sustained" the Judge agreed with the clack of his gavel.
I gave a sigh looking at the painting, it was a beautiful painting of the warehouse in flames with a very detailed picture of Mr. Delany running from the scene.  I felt both of our fates to be sealed from this very artistic depiction.  Looking at he water in the painting, I spotted an orange dot that didn't seem to match with the reflections of the flames.  It looked like an orange haired maiden with green skin, but to my advanced knowledge, I know that the woman in question wasn't much of a maiden.
"Mr. Ink, I have a problem with the painting" I said forcefully, pointing to the orange woman in the water, "this 'woman' doesn't look like any swimmer I have ever seen."
"What's wrong with swimming in the port" asked the judge, "I occasionally like to take a dip once in a while."
I tried my best to keep the mental image out of my mind before continuing, "but I don't think anyone would be swimming in such cold waters, and wouldn't have green skin."
"Are you racist to green people" Von Twist asked.
"NO" I blurted out while trying to keep my nerves, "I'm saying there aren't supposed to be ANY green people at all."
"But that's what I saw" Mr. Ink tried to argue.
"You can see anything with your eyes closed" I argued back, "and this green woman has destroyed your chances of being a reputable source."
"But... BUT I SAW HER" Mr. Ink said waving his arm around.
"I'm sorry Mr. Ink, but I agree with Paste, anyone can paint a picture of a crime that never happened."
Splotchy Ink began to sweat, before laying his head down on the stand and pulled out a poleroid picture.  "Here, I always take a picture for a better reference.  I have a perfect memory, but there are some little things that not even I can catch."
"Why didn't you show this picture before?" asked the Judge.
"Reputation, and because I was told to by Twist" Mr. Ink said, "he said that it would only make things more complicated."
"Why is that" I asked giving Von Twist an evil glair.
"I don't know, maybe it's because of the boat."
"Boat?" Both me and the judge said at the same time.
"Yes, there was a boat driving past the warehouse, see?" Mr. Ink pointed out part of a boat in the picture.
"Your honor" I said, "the owner of this boat could have easily seen the real arsonist inside the warehouse.  I request that this trial be delayed until further research on this boat has been processed."
"Request granted" the judge said, "this trial will be postponed until tomorrow, court dismissed."
Clack
Clack

Monday 1:00 P.M.
Stanton Household Driveway

I gave a deep sigh as I climbed out of the car.  The trial today was easy, which was a little bit of a relief.  Still, I think Von Twist is just playing with me, he has something up his sleeves.  Though, thankfully for me, I know that their was someone else at the scene of the crime that Von Twist will never find.  Lorna, the grouchy 'mer-person' from Cut's little party, would probably be able to find something from the crime scene that can identify the owner of the boat.
Though, finding Lorna might be a bit of a problem, so I returned home to collect myself and to feed Crackle.  Unfortunately that wasn't going to happen, because when I arrived at my front door I heard commotion on the inside.  I was cautious at first, only placing my ear to the door, but the sound of a thump followed by a female yelp cleaned me of my cautiousness.  I slammed open the door to see Chloe curled up on the floor quietly weeping.
"CHLOE!" I yelled as I slid to her aid, "what happened, who did this to you."  I saw as she held on to her left eye in pain and trying to scurry away before actually looking at me.
"P-p-p-paste?" she said to me in bewilderment, still holding on to her eye, which began to turn purple around the edges, "when... when did you get here?"
"Just now.  So, who did this to you?" I asked, feeling fairly infuriated at the person who could have done this to her.
I watched as Chloe pointed behind me with a slightly confused look, and looking behind me all I could see is the opened door.  The door then started to slowly close, revealing a pancaked pale green gremlin with pinkish purple hair pinned between the wall and door.  We both watched as the gremlin slowly fell forward on his face with a thump.
"... Is he dead?" I asked fearing the worse.
"I heard Liam's been through worse" Chloe said with a bit of a sniffle.
"Let me get you an icepack" I offered, leading Chloe towards the kitchen and retrieving an icepack from the freezer before handing it to Chloe wrapped around a towel.
Chloe sniffled a little as she held the icepack to her eye.  "I'm sorry, when he came to punish me I ran towards your house."  She then started to cry, "I didn't know what I was thinking, I should have saved you the trouble."
"Don't cry, it was a good idea coming here" I reassured her, giving her a reassuring pat on the back.  In the back of my head Cut was singing, "Paste and Chloe are sittin in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G."  I ignored him and tried to comfort Chole, draping my arm across her shoulder.
"Uhhhg, did I just get hit by an 18 wheeler... again?" Liam, the other gremlin, moaned as he got up from the entrance.  I quickly headed towards the still recovering gremlin and yanked him up by the collar of his shirt.
"Hey I got this handled I don't need any help just give me a second chance I... I... I..." Liam then realized who was holding him up by the collar, "crap".  Liam then seemed to vanish, but I quickly spotted the little green rodent scurry under the couch.  Though, I didn't even bother to go and try to retrive him, because under the couch is Crackle's territory.
There was a high pitched scream as the tiny Liam scrambled out of the couch as it collapsed.  Unfortunately, Crackle was able to escape and chase after his prey.  I then quickly saw Liam grow to his original size and jump on the table.
"WHAT IS THAT!?" Liam yelled, Crackle trying to jump up to the table like a rabid Chuwawa.
"That's Crackle" I replied, before noticing that Chloe had also retreated to the top of the table with Liam, "now, why are you beating up Chloe?"
He looked down at the rabid little Snap before saying, "alright, I'll tell you, only if you restrain that little monster."
"Deal" I replied, retrieving another piece of stew meat from the fridge and tossing it into Snap's food bowl, which immediately called Snap's attention and leading him to the bowl.
Liam climbed down from the table, and in a confusing bit of generosity he actually helped Chloe down too.  "Don't tell anyone I talked to you like this, I mean, human's arn't supposed to know about us in the first place," Liam said with a look of disgrace, "but it looks like my sister broke that rule"
"Wait... your... sister?" I said confused.
"Yes, my sister" Liam replied, "but you don't understand, I had to punish her for what she did."
"What did she do?" I asked looking at Chloe, who quickly hid her face with her arms.
"She... she killed one of our own" Liam said with extreme distaste, "how could you."
Chloe looked up both surprised and scared saying "I didn't kill anyone, I would never do that."
Liam looked down with slight disappointment saying, "well, it doesn't look that way."
"If she says she didn't do it" I said with a calm demetor, "then I believe that she didn't do it."
"The words from a human will not move the elders decision on Chloe's punishment I'm afraid."
"But evidence will" I responded with a smile, "if you tell me what and where it happened, I can prove her innocence."
"You know, your kind of like my brother before he lost his backbone" commented Liam, "he thought he could do anything, and he kind of did."
"Well, I might not say 'anything', but the thing I can do, is find the truth."
"I would be glad if you did, because I don't think Chloe would have the guts to kill someone.  Just, don't tell anyone I said that."
"I will do my best" I said, "just, tell me what happened."
Liam gave a blank stare before saying, "I just do what they tell me, and all they told me was that Chloe killed one of our own.  The only people with actual details are... our parents."  I noticed that Chloe had a very glum look to her when Liam said that.
"I will see what I can do... because I really don't want to punish someone who didn't deserve it" Liam said glancing at Chloe, "and proving my brother wrong doesn't hurt either."
Well, you asked for it, here's the next Bridgeport Court Case.

All characters belong to their original owners
Chloe and family belongs to :iconkbkittie:
© 2009 - 2024 Gattlin
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lilwyverngirl's avatar
Ooooo, interesting :3 I loved the opening and the last scene you wrote up :3 really great images in there 83