Liars don't Escape

Chapter 16.

The judge walked out. The audience started to leave one by one. Richard walked back to the desk and arranged his files. 

'Mr. Fox.' a voice approached his ears. He looked to his right. It was David Brown. 

'Mr. Brown. Hope you aren't offended.' said Richard. 

'I am a professional lawyer Mr Fox. You played well today.' he said and paused. 'You and I both know that the video you used against me is false, Mr Fox.' he smiled.

'You and I both know that you did bribe to shut an honest tongue.'  he said. David nodded and smiled. 'If there's nothing else, I shall leave.' 

'Sure.'.

Richard grabbed his files and started to walk out.

'Thomas!' Mr Brown called his assistant. Thomas rushed to him. 'Call that little detective boy!' David exclaimed loudly. The voice and the words approached Richard's ears. The familiarity of the voice troubled him. In the back of his mind, he knew it was Mr Brown, but some doubts stopped him. For a moment he closed his eyes. An oval long face with greenish-brown eyes, black messed up hair, smooth skin slightly tanned face appeared in his mind. The face made his heart pace faster. The lips of the face were rough and dry. It was the face of a man, a disgusting man. His mouth opened, 'RUN, little detective boy!'.

The voice echoed in my mind. A voice too familiar, to forget. The voice was too similar to that of Mr Brown's. He started to sweat. His sweat was cold. He opened his eyes and turned back. It was indeed Mr Brown. A completely different face. He shoved off his thoughts and walked out. 

Celine was waiting outside the trial room. As Richard came out, she saw his face covered with sweat. According to Celine, he possibly couldn't be nervous because of the trial. 

'Hey.' said Celine to Richard as he came out.

'Hello, You good?' he asked awkwardly.

'Yeah, thanks to you. What's wrong with you?'

'What could be wrong with me?' he replied unusually while nodding. She understood something was off about him. She didn't feel right asking at the moment. They walled out of the courthouse. The entire time, Richard was silent. Outside the courthouse, Laura was waiting down the stairs. As they were climbing down the stairs, Celine asked Richard to stop for a moment.  He turned towards her and looked at her.

'Thank you for today.' she said and paused for a moment. 'If you have a problem, someday maybe you can share it. Don't simply think too much.' 

He nodded at her words.

'Bye then.' 

'Take care.' he replied. Celine climbed down the stairs to Laura. As he watched her go, a tiny smile approached his lips.

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Richard reached his home. He unlocked the door and walked straight to his room. He kept the files on the table, took off his shoes and lay on the bed. He closed his eyes to relax a bit. The face appeared blurry in his mind again. The voice echoed again. The more he thought about it, the he got more confused. David Brown had a completely different face. Everything about him was different as compared to the face appearing in Richard's mind. The only same thing was the voice, something which can never change. The thought watered the seeds of fear buried deep inside him. Mr Brown couldn't possibly be the same man appearing in his mind. Richard questioned himself. He opened his eyes and sat. Everything about Mr Brown was new to him. It's absurd to have such a thought. He answered his question and sighed. He must have heard it wrong. He tried to console himself. In the back of his mind, he knew, he can hear everything wrong except that voice. That face appeared in his mind, not for no reason.