When the Violin Sings

Chapter 17

Lucy poked Piper's side with her elbow. "Wow, a big conjoined meeting with the three of us. How do you think it will go?" she asked.  It was the first time Professor Murphy had suggested a meeting with all three of them, his reasoning being that as the trial drew nearer, it was important they all remain on the same page and that it would be easier to spread information this way.

Though Lucy seemed in good spirits having Piper tag along, her reasoning being that Piper could do all the talking, Piper was incredibly nervous. It was one thing when it was just her and Murphy talking one-on-one, but she had yet to know how Lucy interacted with her professor, save for tormenting him in her lack of desire to prove her innocence. Lucy had claimed her meetings with Murphy had been improving, but this was the first time they would all simultaneously be meeting, meaning that the meeting could go a number of ways.

"Don't worry! We'll be fine!" Lucy exclaimed, noticing Piper's silence as anxiety. "We've been getting better at tracking down the route."

Yes, but we still have no footage and you won't even tell me about your fight with Noel, Piper thought.

So instead she ignored Lucy and continued to bite on her nails as she walked with her toward Murphy's office. His door was wide open, awaiting their arrival. Piper went to quietly knock on the side of his door to not intrude, but Lucy took it upon herself to stroll right in.

"Ah, Lucia, Piper, come in, come in," he said, ushering them forward.

Piper went to take her normal seat across from him, but Lucy snagged the comfortable office chair, forcing Piper to grab a stiff table chair from across the room to sit on. The chair squeaked as she scooted it closer to Lucy, not to mention it was much more uncomfortable compared to the office chair Lucy sat in. Lucy had her arms resting on Murphy's desk across from her, which Piper could not imagine ever getting away with. She tried to ignore Lucy's manners and instead reached for her notebook. Flipping through the pages, she cleared her throat.

"So, we—"

"Let me stop you there, Piper," Murphy said, holding his hand out. "Have you gotten any video evidence?"

"N-No, but we've made progress on the route. I think we'll get it down after a few more tries—"

"We need to focus more on footage and witnesses than the accuracy of the route at this point," Murphy said. "It's clear Lucia is not able to recall the walk she took precisely, which is why we must put every effort in trying to find some form of evidence. Do you understand?"

Piper slowly closed her notebook and nodded. She glanced down, realizing she had done nothing but disappoint Murphy again. Perhaps she should've given up on the case back when Lucy had gotten upset with her the week before. But she had persisted, and unfortunately, still had nothing to show for it.

"The trial is only a few weeks away," Murphy explained. "Let's stop focusing completely on the route and focus more on gathering evidence and gathering Lucia's story at this point."

"Yes. You're right. Sorry," Piper murmured. She jotted down notes from Murphy to prevent herself from staring at his disappointed face.

"Hey, Piper's been working the best she can," Lucy interrupted.

Piper's eyes widened. Every part of her wanted to look up and mouth to Lucy to leave it be, that she had no authority to challenge Murphy, but Piper instead kept quiet and kept her head down.

"But what we really need is the effort of you," Murphy said. "May I remind you that you still have not given us any details of your relationship to Noel, nor have you said anything about the fight? Piper at least got out from your roommate that your recent break-up affected your mood the day of Noel's death, but that still gives us nothing to work with. So before you go to defend Piper's handling of the case, why don't we start with some information from you?" he asked.