— CHAPTER FIFTY —

  Judge Yagglebirch Presides

  -Fritz-

  The judge slammed his gavel, sending a crack of thunder through the courtroom. "Order! Settle down; let's get this started." He didn't match my mental image of judicial authority. He couldn't have been more than twenty-five and leaned back in his oversized chair, one leg casually draped over the armrest as he surveyed the room with an easy smile.

  The courtroom itself was surprisingly understated for being inside Evermoon Gardens. Polished wooden benches, sure, but nothing ostentatious. The crowd was thin - mostly people with nothing better to do than watch the daily parade of minor offenders shuffle through the system. I'd personally rather go watch the rotating events they had running at the arena, but hey, it takes all sorts.

  "Prosecution, are you ready?" the judge asked.

  The prosecutor - a middle-aged man with receding hair and tired eyes - looked up from the mountain of papers he was frantically sorting. His brown suit was impeccably pressed, but that tie... good lord. It featured a geometric pattern of teal and salmon that screamed 'I bought this when Reagan was president and I see no reason to update my wardrobe.'

  "Yes, Your Honor." he said, collecting his documents.

  "Defence, are you ready?"

  Percy and I sat behind the table in our usual clothes, while Lucy stood beside our table, her notes arranged in perfect alignment, color-coded tabs visible along the edges. Her hair was pulled back in a bun, and she'd opted for a navy blue blazer and pencil skirt combo.

  "Yes, Your Honor." she replied, voice crisp and steady.

  "Alrighty boys, let's go. I'm Judge Yagglebirch, and I'll be presiding over the case today." He straightened in his chair, adopting a more formal posture. "Now here's how this is going to go down: at each step, we'll start with the prosecution, then go over to defence. We'll start with opening statements, then present evidence, then bring in witnesses, then present final arguments. Got it? Good."

  He turned his attention directly to Lucy. "Defence, do you know when you may raise an objection?"

  Lucy said, "When an error or violation of procedure is made, Your Honor."

  "And are you comfortable in your understanding of procedure to spot that?"

  "Yes, Your Honor." Lucy said.

  "Then good luck. Once we're done presenting arguments, the jury will deliberate and vote. Majority rules, and ties are counted as acquittal."

  Lucy asked, "When will we select jurors, Your Honor?"

  "I already took care of it!" Yagglebirch said with a dismissive wave. "Send them in!"

  One of the guards opened a side door. The jury filed in, twelve players of various levels and backgrounds looking as unenthused about this case as Percy, who was playing with his sleeve. Lucy pursed her lips and tapped her notepad in annoyance, but she maintained her composed expression.

  As the jury settled into their box, Yagglebirch asked, "Y'all been briefed?"

  The foreperson, a stooped old man with a large, white beard, gave a nod.

  "Good." Yagglebirch turned back to the prosecutor. "Prosecution, you may begin."

  The prosecutor walked to the center of the floor, documents still clutched in his hands like a security blanket and cleared his throat.

  "Ladies and gentlemen, today I will show you how the defendant, Fritz Carlton, took advantage of a party setting to distribute illegal drugs, endangering lives and breaking the law.

  "The evidence will show that two evenings ago, at a bar in the lower Eclipse District, the defendant was seen offering a variety of controlled substances including hallucinogens and intoxicants to multiple individuals. Witnesses will testify that they observed the defendant exchanging these substances for a sack of coins.

  "The defendant knew exactly what they were doing, and was pictured. This was not a case of mistaken identity, nor was it a misunderstanding. The testimony and physical evidence will leave no doubt that the defendant was engaged in drug distribution that night. That is all there is to state on this matter - he's guilty."

  The prosecutor returned to his seat with a satisfied smirk, like he'd just brought the smack down on Al Capone.

  I nodded slowly. "Oh yeah, it's coming back. I did do that." I turned to Percy and Lucy. "I think they got us bang to rights on this one, gang."

  Percy raised an eyebrow. "Two nights ago? Wasn't that right after the Grimm fight?"

  "Yeah, me and some of the Vanguard guys went to another place after you two left - had a little afterparty to the afterparty, you know?"

  Lucy's expression hardened. "How often are you selling drugs?"

  "'Selling' is a strong word." I smiled. "When I'm having a good time, I share, you know? I don't take money most of the time, but sometimes they want something for the road. I'm just passing out goodies at a party!"

  Lucy sighed, the sound of a professional dealing with an exceptionally uncooperative client. "Yeah, we're definitely not letting you testify."

  "Defence, you have the floor." Judge Yagglebirch announced.

  "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury," she began, her voice carrying perfectly through the courtroom, "this case is a sham."

  Lucy straightened her blazer and stepped out onto the floor.

  "What you are going to see here today is nothing more than hastily-cobbled-together circumstance that has brought the fine officers of the World Guard to false conclusions, leading them to trouble a man that is not only innocent, but an important piece of this society."

  She began pacing slowly. "They will provide a list of drugs, but what they will not do is prove where those drugs came from. They will not prove they were sold, they will not prove that they changed ownership on that night, and they will not prove that they were ever in the hands of my client.

  "They will slander my client's reputation, but what they will not do is address the fact that he is a Vanguard associate that has made countless contributions to the Protectorate in both money and information.

  "My client may be unable to control his predilection for night-time entertainment-"

  I leaned over toward Percy. "Geez, she's making it sound like I'm blowing my whole paycheck at the brothel." I whispered.

  Lucy continued, "But he is no wastrel. He was simply engaging in the activities of the party, like any other law-abiding citizen that you do not see here today. By the end of this trial, you will see this case for what it is - a weak, baseless accusation built on hearsay, speculation, and a desperate attempt to make a quick arrest - and you will return the only just verdict: Not guilty." She paused. "Thank you for your time."

  As Lucy returned us, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of something like pride. The kid had skills. Whether those skills would be enough to get me out of this mess remained to be seen, but watching her work was almost worth the trouble of getting arrested in the first place.

  "Nice." I whispered as she retook her place beside the table. "You think they bought it?"

  "Doesn't matter if they bought it." she replied without looking at me, already reviewing her notes for the next phase. "What matters is that I've set a standard they'll fail to meet. Their evidence is circumstantial at best."

  "But I did it." I reminded her.

  She looked up at me, a cold, calculating look in her eye. "Mr. Carlton, that's completely irrelevant to your defence."

  "Alright!" Yagglebirch announced, slapping his palm on the bench. "Let's go to the material evidence." He pointed at the prosecutor. "Prosecution - what have you got?"

  The prosecutor stood. "Thank you, Your Honor. First, we would like to present a list of the items confiscated."

  Lucy was at his throat before he'd even finished his sentence. "Objection - unclear. Confiscated from where, exactly?"

  The prosecutor's expression tightened. "From the individual that bought from the defendant. He will provide testimony alongside the witnesses."

  "I would like it noted that these items were not found on my client." She emphasized the last three words, making sure the jury caught it.

  "Noted." Yagglebirch said with a nod.

  The prosecutor retrieved a sheet of paper from his desk and approached the jury box. "This is an itemized list of all substances recovered. From the witness."

  The jurors passed the sheet between them with varying expressions of interest or distaste. One older woman adjusted her spectacles to peer more closely at the page, while a young man with a styled beard barely glanced at it before passing it along. After making its way through them, the page traveled to Yagglebirch, who gave it a cursory glance before waving it toward Lucy.

  Lucy took the paper, her eyes scanning it rapidly before turning to me. "Does this look right to you?"

  I leaned over to read the list. It contained a series of impressively scientific-sounding terms, but... 'Crystallized Aetheric Hallucinogenic Admixture (Ardrigal + Volencia Moss + Sito Foil)'?

  "I don't know names, man." I whispered back with a shrug. "I recognize this stuff by sight. Might as well be written in Sindarin."

  Percy quickly scribble down a copy of the list. "Those are custom crafts, right? Do you make them yourself?"

  "I experiment a bit; you know that."

  Lucy handed the paper back to the prosecutor, who continued with his evidence.

  "And for our second exhibit, we have the items confiscated - the drugs in question." He gestured toward a guard who started to get something from the hallway.

  Lucy was up again immediately. "Objection - we have no way of verifying where those items were from. Consumables are untraceable and interchangeable."

  Yagglebirch tilted his head. "What does that matter?"

  "Presentation of physical items that may resemble anything that was present on the night add no facts to this case - it's pure spectacle. For all we know, these could have been confiscated from anyone, anywhere. There's nothing connecting them specifically to this incident."

  Yagglebirch scratched his head thoughtfully. After a moment, he nodded. "I'm... going to sustain that." he decided. "You may use the listed figures of the quantity of items, but not present the objects to the jury."

  "Woo!" I couldn't help but exclaim, earning a sharp look from Lucy and a smirk from Percy. I lowered my voice. "How big a win for us is that?"

  Lucy said, "It's easier to write off the idea of something - the jury won't be as critical if they can't see it. Physical evidence makes an impression that's hard to shake."

  The prosecutor, looking slightly off-kilter now, cleared his throat. "Er, our third piece of evidence is a set of photos taken by a witness."

  "I would like to see those before they are presented to the jury." Lucy said.

  The prosecutor's mouth twitched in annoyance, but he handed over the photographs. Lucy shuffled through the stack, her expression remaining professionally neutral. After examining each one, she looked up.

  "These show nothing of substance." she announced. "It's a very far view of two unidentifiable gentlemen with their menus open. We don't know what they're doing, who they are, or even if this is the right establishment."

  "Let me see." Yagglebirch said, holding out his hand.

  Lucy brought him the photos, and the judge flipped through them with increasing disinterest. "She's right - you can't get any definite information from these."

  The prosecutor took the photos back, his knuckles white with tension. I could practically see the steam rising from his collar.

  "Finally," he said, "we have the defendant's confession taken in the interrogation room."

  "Objection!" Lucy said sharply. "And I went over this with that officer, too! That is not a confession; it only admits that the action occurred at some point, not in this incident, and may have been done before the Guard put down laws on this matter!" She took a breath. "People cannot be punished for something they did before it was decided to be a crime."

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Yagglebirch considered this, then nodded. "I'll allow it, but please make it clear that this is a statement, not a confession."

  "Sorry, Your Honor." the prosecutor said. "Our fourth piece of evidence is the defendant's statement. Upon being read his charges, his response was 'Whoa, what? That's illegal now? Since when?!'" He turned to face the jury directly. "A statement like that would not have been made if he didn't do it, and ignorance of the law is not an excuse for violating it."

  Lucy's response was immediate. "The statement still cannot be connected to this specific incident, Your Honor. My client was expressing surprise at the existence of the law, not admitting to this particular alleged violation."

  She leaned toward me, "Anything you say can and will be used against you."

  "Alright, I already said sorry!" I whispered back. "I won't talk next time!"

  Percy leaned in from my other side. "It'd be better if you didn't get caught next time."

  "Why does there have to be a 'next time' at all?" Lucy hissed.

  Yagglebirch cleared his throat. "Is that the end of your evidence?" he asked the prosecutor.

  The man nodded stiffly. "Yes, Your Honor."

  "And do you have anything to present, defence?" Yagglebirch turned to Lucy.

  She said, "It would be difficult to present evidence of something that didn't occur, so no, Your Honor."

  "Then let's move on to witnesses." Yagglebirch said. "I see we have two individuals waiting. Call them as you may."

  The prosecutor said, "The prosecution calls Erlendecker to the stand."

  One of the guards opened the side door, and in walked a man who looked like he'd just finished filming an instructional video on how to iron slacks. He was in his early thirties, dressed in a meticulously pressed button-up shirt and slacks, complete with a plain tie and belt. His hair was so neatly combed it looked like it might shatter if you touched it.

  He took the witness stand, the prosecutor stepped forward.

  "Please introduce yourself."

  "My name is Erlendecker." the man stated. "I work for the Trade Union in the First Office."

  "And where were you on the night of the 9th?" the prosecutor continued.

  "I got off work after sunset-"

  "Do you have a specific time?" Lucy interrupted.

  Erlendecker's expression tightened slightly. "I clocked out at 9:00. I was doing overtime."

  The prosecutor nodded. "Please continue."

  "On my way home, I saw two individuals - the defendant and another man - engaged in an illicit deal."

  Lucy cut in once again. "How did you know it was illicit? These photos don't show anything."

  "Objection!" The prosecutor's face flushed red. "Those photos were rejected as evidence!"

  Lucy recalibrated smoothly. "I'll restate - how did you know the dealing was 'illicit'?"

  "Well, it was obvious they were doing something illegal. They were huddled in an alley outside in the snow, and-" Erlendecker's gaze shifted to me, his lip curling slightly. "- and just look at him!"

  Lucy's eyes widened. "What is that supposed to mean?"

  "That gaudy Hawaiian shirt, filthy and untucked. In court, no less!"

  I looked down at my shirt - blue with yellow hibiscus flowers and white clouds - and ran a hand over it defensively. It was clean, just a bit wrinkled. And the pattern was tasteful! I'd specifically chosen it because the hibiscus matched the color of the courtroom's wooden benches. That's coordination!

  "Gaudy?" I mumbled. "This is one of my favorite shirts."

  Yagglebirch slammed his gavel down. "Settle down! Let's stay on topic here - refrain from making judgment calls on the defendant's appearance."

  Percy said, "You look great, Fritz. It's that guy's taste that's off. I mean, a red tie with a purple shirt? Come on, everyone knows you should go white or pale blue with a red tie. ... Maybe green, because it's almost Christmas."

  The prosecutor cleared his throat loudly. "Pick up from when you saw the two men - what exactly did you see?"

  Erlendecker said, "The two of them were huddled in the alley next to the bar, acting dazed and smoking something."

  "Could you smell what they were smoking?" Lucy asked.

  "I didn't go near enough to smell, no." Erlendecker admitted. "I didn't interact with either of them in any way. They were trading something, and I took photos and kept on my way."

  "Did you get close enough to see what they were trading?" Lucy pressed.

  "No." Erlendecker said flatly.

  "And what did you do with those photos?" the prosecutor asked, trying to regain momentum.

  "I brought them to the World Guard for them to handle." Erlendecker replied.

  "I have no further questions, Your Honor."

  "Neither do I." Lucy said.

  "Then you may go." Yagglebirch told Erlendecker. "Your other witness?" he asked the prosecutor.

  As Erlendecker left the stand, Lucy leaned in close to me. "You realize what just happened, right?"

  "He admitted he didn't actually see anything incriminating?" I whispered back.

  "Precisely. That's not evidence - that's prejudice."

  Percy nodded. "Plus, that outfit really was a crime against fashion. The jury had to have noticed."

  As Erlendecker was led away from the stand, the prosecutor, called out, "The prosecution calls Ratpack Superman to the stand!" The name alone was enough to send a ripple of curiosity through the audience.

  The guards opened the side door, and in shuffled possibly the most stereotypical 'sketchy dude' I'd ever seen. His hair looked like it had been styled by sticking his finger in an electrical socket, and his eyes darted around the room as if expecting someone to leap out and attack him at any moment. His clothes - a wrinkled button-up shirt missing at least two buttons and pants that had clearly seen better decades - hung loosely on his thin frame. He kept scratching at his arms and shifting his weight from foot to foot.

  As the witness made his way to the stand, Lucy leaned toward me. "Do you know that man?"

  I gave a shrug. "I meet a lot of people."

  The witness took his place at the stand, fingers drumming nervously on the wooden railing. His gaze kept flicking to the guards at the doors, then back to the prosecutor as he approached.

  "Please introduce yourself to the court."

  "My name is Ratpack Superman, my friends call me Rat."

  "And where were you on the night of the 9th?" the prosecutor asked.

  Rat shifted uncomfortably. "Uh, I was at a bar."

  "And what were you doing there?"

  Rat blinked, looking genuinely confused by the question. "... Drinking?"

  The prosecutor's expression tightened just a fraction. "Was the defendant there?"

  "Yeah." Rat nodded, eyes briefly flicking to me.

  "Did you buy anything from him?"

  Lucy cut in, "Objection - he's leading the witness."

  Judge Yagglebirch sighed, rubbing his temple. "I don't know how we're going to get anywhere without that, but... sustained."

  The prosecutor's lips pressed into a thin line. "Did you interact with the defendant that night?"

  "Yeah, yeah." Rat said, nodding more enthusiastically now. "We were sharing a joint outside, then he offered me some stuff."

  Lucy asked, "Can you remember the specific items offered?"

  Rat scratched his head. "Nah."

  "'Nah'?" Lucy repeated, eyebrows raised.

  Rat shrugged. "Some drugs?"

  "You don't sound very sure." Lucy said.

  "Objection!" the prosecutor cut in. "That's not a question."

  "It's a little late to object to that." Yagglebirch said.

  The prosecutor took a deep breath, visibly centering himself. "Did you accept what was offered?"

  "Yeah." Rat confirmed.

  "I have no further questions." the prosecutor said, returning to his seat with smug satisfaction.

  Yagglebirch turned to Lucy. "What about you, defence?"

  "Yes, I have one question: Why are you testifying?"

  Rat blinked. "Uh..."

  Yagglebirch frowned. "Be more clear."

  Lucy held up the list of confiscated drugs. "These items seized by the Guard were taken from you, were they not?"

  "Objection!" The prosecutor was on his feet, face flushing.

  "Overruled." Yagglebirch said. "I want confirmation on this."

  Rat squirmed like a worm on a hook. "Yeah, uh, they took stuff from me."

  "And what reason did the Guard have for confiscating these items?"

  "They picked me up for public disorder." Rat admitted, looking increasingly uncomfortable.

  "And how did that lead to the arrest of my client?"

  Rat's eyes darted to the prosecutor, who was turning an interesting shade of purple. "They cut me a deal, said they'd let it go if I testified against the dealer."

  "So you have reason for wanting the defendant to be declared guilty?" Lucy asked.

  "Rabble rabble rabble!" The courtroom erupted in murmurs and exclamations. People turned to their neighbors, whispering furiously behind cupped hands. The prosecutor looked like he might spontaneously combust.

  Yagglebirch slammed his gavel with enough force to make me jump. "Order!"

  "Making deals with potential witnesses is a common practice!" the prosecutor sputtered, adjusting his tie which seemed to be choking him.

  "Sustained." Yagglebirch ruled. "Don't answer that question."

  But as Lucy had obviously intended, the damage was already done. The jury members were exchanging glances, their expressions ranging from skepticism to outright disgust as they looked between Rat and the prosecutor. One older woman in the back row actually rolled her eyes.

  Lucy walked back to the defence table, the subtle quirk of her lips the closest thing to a victory smile she would allow herself in court. "No further questions, Your Honor."

  "You may go." Yagglebirch told Rat, who practically sprinted from the witness stand.

  As the door closed behind Rat, I was starting to feel good about my chances. I absolutely did sell that man drugs, but it was looking like we might be able to pull it off. I tilted my head toward Lucy. "Huh. You know, I'm starting to think this isn't that hopeless."

  "Obviously." Lucy said. "This slap-dash system has left them no time for investigation; their case wasn't properly prepared."

  Behind us, I could hear the continued murmuring of the spectators. The mood in the courtroom had shifted - where before there had been boredom and casual interest, now there was a current of anticipation. People could sense the possibility of an upset, and nothing drew a crowd like the prospect of watching someone in authority get knocked down a peg.

  The prosecutor was deep in whispered conversation with one of the guards, his gestures becoming increasingly agitated. Whatever was going on, he clearly wasn't happy about the turn things had taken. A small, petty part of me hoped his day was about to get worse.

  While Yagglebirch was having a conversation with the bailiff, the door to the courtroom swung open and a harried-looking clerk rushed in, clutching a piece of paper. All eyes followed the clerk's hurried path to the prosecutor, who accepted the paper with barely concealed eagerness. Whatever was written there transformed his expression from defeated to downright predatory in the span of a heartbeat.

  The prosecutor turned to the judge. "Excuse me, Your Honor. We do have one more witness."

  Yagglebirch raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Are they here?"

  "Yes, they are." The prosecutor's voice took on a theatrical quality as he paused for effect. "The prosecution calls Percival to the stand!"

  The courtroom collectively turned to look at Percy, who sat frozen next to me with a confused expression. Lucy's head whipped around so fast I was surprised she didn't give herself whiplash. Percy stood up and approached the stand.

  Lucy grabbed Percy's wrist so she could whisper in his ear. "Don't get aggressive with him."

  Percy yanked his arm free. "I know!"

  "You're not proving that!" Lucy hissed back.

  Percy took his place at the witness stand.

  The prosecutor approached. "Please introduce yourself."

  "I'm Percival." Percy said. "I'm, uh... an adventurer. I get information for the Protectorate."

  "And when did that start?" the prosecutor asked.

  "Way back in the first few days of the game, when Pascal was running it out of a schoolhouse in Faustenburg."

  "What else did you do in Faustenburg?"

  Lucy was on her feet immediately. "Objection - relevance?"

  Yagglebirch frowned. "Are you going somewhere with this, prosecutor?"

  The prosecutor held up the paper the clerk had handed him like it was a winning lottery ticket. "Your Honor, this witness and the defendant are listed here as known members of the Faustenburg Gang, now part of the Fringe Consortium. What I am asking is how they are affiliated."

  The courtroom went silent. Even the chronic coughers and fidgeters seemed to freeze in place.

  "Objection -" Lucy called out, "-immaterial to the current case! Their previous work has nothing to do with the drug dealing charges!"

  "This is character evidence." the prosecutor countered.

  Yagglebirch rubbed his chin, considering. "I'm inclined to agree with the defence. The affiliation records will be accepted into evidence, but this line of questioning stops here."

  The prosecutor nodded, barely concealing his satisfaction. He'd achieved what he wanted - the jury was now giving Percy and me looks that ranged from suspicious to outright hostile. One woman in the front row actually edged slightly away from our table, as if criminal tendencies might be contagious.

  "I have no further questions for this witness." the prosecutor said, returning to his seat.

  Yagglebirch turned to Lucy. "Defence?"

  Lucy glanced between Percy and the jury, hastily calculating through her options. "I have no questions, Your Honor."

  "You may step down." Yagglebirch told Percy, motioning him back to the defence table. "Is there any further evidence, then?"

  Lucy said, "I request this trial be extended, Your Honor. We need more time to investigate."

  "What else is there?" Yagglebirch asked. "Can't we get this over with?"

  "We were never made aware of the evidence that the prosecution intended to bring today; we never had a chance to do proper investigation of our own." Lucy argued. "Justice demands its time and diligence!"

  Yagglebirch sighed heavily, the sound of a man who'd just had his plans for an early lunch dashed. "Alright, Justice, you've got one afternoon. We're opening early tomorrow, and I'm calling it by noon." He raised his gavel. "Court is adjourned. Bring in the next case."

  The sharp crack of the gavel seemed to break whatever spell had fallen over the courtroom. Sound rushed back in - people shuffling papers, coughing, whispering to each other as they filed out. The prosecutor was already gathering his materials, looking smug as a cat that had cornered a mouse.

  "There's a restaurant around the corner." Lucy said. "We can talk there."

  ---

  The restaurant Lucy led us to was a small, unassuming place with wooden tables and minimal decor - the kind of establishment that catered to office workers on lunch breaks rather than tourists or high-level players. Much like in the courtroom, Percy and I sat there while Lucy paced in front of our table like a caged tiger.

  "It was going so well, then they pulled that cheap trick!" she fumed, pivoting sharply at the end of her invisible track. "Gah! Why didn't I object sooner?! Argh!" She took a brief moment to pick up her coffee and take a swig.

  I leaned back in my chair, absently running a hand through my hair. "Maybe we should change my plea or cut a deal - it's not worth the effort fighting this. Just get it over with. And I did do it! I'm guilty!"

  Lucy set her mug down with enough force to slosh coffee onto the table. "No!" She planted her hands on the table and leaned toward me with an intensity that was frankly a little terrifying. Her eyes blazed with competitive fire. "This isn't about the crime or justice or legality. This is about winning! I will not lose to that scumbag prosecutor!"

  Percy nodded. "She's right. If they can't prove it beyond reasonable doubt, it doesn't matter what actually happened."

  Lucy tapped her fingers on the table, her brow furrowed in thought. "We need to undermine their case further... Something to patch over the crowd's perception of you."

  "What about character witnesses?" Percy suggested. "Some of the Vanguard can vouch for him - they know us."

  "Because Wulfric was so receptive..." Lucy rolled her eyes. "We need more time. Or a miracle."

  As if on cue, my menu pinged with a notification. I opened it, surprised to see a message from Excalibur. I hadn't heard from her in a while.

  [Excalibur]: Hey, I heard you were in some trouble. Got caught in the courts? Rookie mistake. Meet me in the red light district - it's northwest of the Trade Union offices in the far Eclipse District.

  Percy asked, "This city has a red light district?"

  "Should we go?" I asked, looking between them. "I mean, what could Excalibur possibly know about my case?"

  "She works for the Trade Union." Lucy pointed out. "She might have access to information we don't. And it's not like we have any real leads to investigate."