Over a decade has passed since the resolution of the M case. What happens to the members of the QED Club after? Is their bond as strong as when they were still in high school? Or did they start to grow apart?
FUTURE OF THE QED CLUB is a special volu...
A/N: I already hit 32K words in this novella and I thought this would run for only 10 chapters. I will try to finish it by Chapter 13. I hope you're having fun reading it. :))
DISCLAIMER The succeeding chapters will involve legal and criminal proceedings. I am not a police or a lawyer, but to the best of my knowledge, I will try to write these parts as close to the real procedures. Nevertheless, I will be exercising my dramatic license to modify some of these existing conventions to fit the narrative. I hope you all understand!
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LOKI
I WISH I could take a day off so I could witness the presentation of the defense in the trial of Madonna Mendoza. But alas, a leave was not something that I could file easily in my line of work. The forensics unit was always being summoned left and right in different crime scenes in the city, and I had no choice but to tag along.
Fortunately, I was able to slip away from duty after a visit to a hotel room which became a crime scene. I didn't bother to ask permission from our chief or from any of my colleagues. I just got out of the hotel, booked a car and asked the driver to go straight to the Hall of Justice building. Telling them about my detour would only cause more trouble than good for me.
I may be a forensic analyst and I usually side the prosecution especially if the evidence against the accused was strong, but this was a rare instance where I felt like siding with the defense. Maybe it had something to do with my bias against my prosecutor brother. Maybe my friendship with Alistair was egging me to take his side over the other. Either way, I was interested to see how this case would be decided by the judge.
By ten in the morning, the car dropped me by the Hall of Justice building. I paced faster than usual as I entered and walked along the quiet hallways. My head panned left to right and vice versa, looking for the courtroom where the drama was unfolding.
I tried to open the doubledoor as quietly as I could, but it still caused a creaking noise. Some spectators who were already inside turned to my direction and looked at me with furrowed eyebrows. I just ignored them as I craned my neck and looked for any available seat. The courtroom was jampacked. I spotted Lorelei on the second row which was already full. Jamie was still at the witness stand, being grilled by my brother.
I walked past the rows of seats until I reached the second one.
"Excuse me?" I called the attention of a reporter seated beside Lorelei. He didn't appreciate my interruption as he glared at me. "I think there's a problem with your car at the parking lot."
He slammed his notepad shut. "T-Talaga? Ano'ng nangyari?"
I shrugged. "Maybe you should check it out."
He instantly stood and excused himself. He walked past me and exited the courtroom. I then took the seat he vacated and sat beside Lorelei. Well, I didn't have a choice, did I? Either I sit with someone who I know personally or with a complete stranger who might secretly poison me with the tip of their pen. Also, I needed to know what I missed in the first part of today's hearing. Surely Lorelei was taking down notes. That might be helpful.
