|| Be Her Guard || Sherlock Holmes x Reader

|♢| Chapter 26 |♢| Order In The Court

The prosecution wasn't very thrilled when they discovered Apollo had plead not guilty to charges of attempted murder, but it wasn't until everyone heard his defense attorney's main argument that their blood began to truly boil: you shot yourself in a failed suicide attempt and are now blaming Apollo to avoid judgement. It's a pathetic lie meant to use the victim as a scapegoat to save Apollo's arse from a hefty sentence, but unfortunately, it sounds pretty convincing to the jury.

One could imagine the fury your friends and family felt as they watched Apollo cry on the stand, describing the night's events in his own words. At some points, his acting had been so good that some started to think he truly believes in the false fairytale he narrated to the courtroom.

You are the love of his life in whom he had met during your second year of college. The two of you started out as friends before beginning to date just two months into knowing each other. Convinced that you're the one, Apollo proposed just four months into the 'wonderful' relationship, however, he reported issues began to arise after the engagement.

You became depressed which only got worse in the few months leading up to you suddenly calling off the engagement. Within a short timeframe, the two of you separated with you moving in with your mother and eventually blocking Apollo's phone number when he tried calling you. Despite having broken his heart, he was still worried over his 'mentally unstable' ex's safety and planned to talk to you at your work one night.

Having been told that you'd already clocked off, Apollo met with you in the back parking lot of the store, but he was met with aggression. Soon, the two of you began to argue until you suddenly pulled a gun, pointing it at your own head and threating to kill yourself right then. No matter how much he begged, you eventually pulled the trigger while sitting in the front seat of the car.

Terrified, Apollo immediately called out for help while trying to stop the blood. With no phone on his person, he was ultimately forced to run inside the store and get your coworkers to call 911. One could imagine his joy when finding out that you had survived the attack. The bullet hit the side of your skull, passing through the frontal bone and existing at the far edge of your occipital bone. Miraculously, it only grazed your brain, causing no serious damage like it would've if it had only been a millimeter to the side. Apollo was less enthusiastic to discover you're blaming him for the incident, claiming that he shot you instead.

Being considered a witness himself, Sherlock isn't allowed in the courtroom outside of his own testimonies which is possibly a good thing since it prevents him from making any inappropriate comments or gestures towards Apollo especially as he told the ridiculous story. While a foolish Mandible shook her head in worry over the defense's evidence, Sherlock has been confident from the start in his ability to win the game, after all, he's already discovered several holes in Apollo's story and the evidence that 'supported' it. To be exact, Sherlock found four main factors that play against the defense.

First of all, the timeframe is concerning. A few witnesses in the area had called police no later than ten twenty that night, reporting that they had heard a gunshot, however, your coworkers had called at exactly ten forty-two, clearly stating to the dispatcher that Apollo had only just ran in about a minute or two earlier which leaves for a twenty-minute gap between the trigger being pulled and Apollo getting help. Even if Apollo claimed he was trying to stop the bleeding, twenty minutes is quite a long stretch of time to put off calling paramedics as your ex-fiancée lies dying. Anyone else in his situation would immediately get help unless they were purposely stalling.

The second flaw in the defense's evidence is the context behind your depression. Family and friends from both parties confirmed that you had showed signs of depression during the months leading up to the shooting, however, the defense failed to explore the possible reasoning for said depression, only highlighting what it led to.