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CHAPTER TEN roary ᴏᴄᴛ. 18ᴛʜ, 6ᴀᴍ
AURORA EVANGELINE WOKE up at her desk, cheek on paperwork and drool bleeding the printed words into a foggy mess.
"You were snoring."
Rory's neck cracked as she snapped it to the side, mouth still agape, her eyes barely open. At the sight of him, Rory sighed and raised an absent hand, shushing him away. She smacked her lips open and closed before leaning her left cheek back onto her paperwork.
"Go away, Hamish. I'm trying to sleep."
"No, you're disturbing the workplace with your snoring. And it's Harold." He slammed a case file down beside her. "Looks like you got lucky. The Kin Killer is yours."
"Kin Killer?"
Rory snatched the case from her table and flipped the page open. Gore. A lot of it. It was one of the girls she had seen on the news. One of the victims. It was definitely her, but she was dead in this picture. No pale skin and tender smile. Rory knew who the accused was. The entire state did. But this sister . . . Well, they all looked the same. The girl, the first one in the file, was young. The middle child. Her neck was contorted. One bone swollen and lumpy, sticking out of the flesh on the throat. Her bloated face was purple and green. Rigor mortis had set in unkindly. Bulging, wet eyes, tumefied lips with a soggy, limp tongue.
"Eesh," Rory said. "That's rough."
"Have some compassion," Harold snapped.
"Why? She's already dead."
Aurora Evangeline was accounted as a sort of unfeeling woman. Not cold, but simply unfeeling. Her job didn't bother her anymore. Fighting for good and evil, the toll it took on many attorneys never rung for her. Her mind was clear, and perhaps that was the loudest indication of insanity after all.
"So, I'm locking the Kin Killer away?"
"No," Harold said. "You're defending her."
"Huh? I'm not a defense attorney. I specialize in prosecution."
He shrugged, "An anonymous donor paid. It's already been approved."
"Oh, bore." Rory smacked her tongue against the sides of her teeth. "Alright, thanks, Hugo."
"Harold."
Aurora Evangeline was an excellent prosecutor. Bloody excellent, she would say, thank you very much. Yet, often, she wondered if she was in the wrong world of crime. She put away serial killers and madmen, but there were always more cases to argue. Always more people dead. Always, there were people hurt and hurting.
