Ten Years Ago

Chapter 3 : The Defense Council

A pleasant afternoon, where Lavingham was inquiring about the death of Lucinda Brown, and she felt pleasure in it . She hadn't solved a case for months , and was trying her best to enjoy the pleasure of it .
Now she was seated in the living room of another lawyer, who defended Julian Brown , and his name was Quinton Warwoth , and he was a crooked old hunchback. But , he was still working .
'And you're?'he said , in a peculiar voice.
'Charlotte Lavingham , sir .'said the she . 'Consulting detective.'
'I don't believe that there are detectives. They're only in fiction tales .'
Lavingham reacted to that .
'Then I urge you to believe that there are detectives, sir , for it is necessary to deal with people like me .'
'I'll try . For now , you're just an inspector.'
Lavingham smiled annoyingly.
'I believe , that ten years ago , you defended Julian Brown , the accused of the murder of Lucinda Brown .'
'Yes , yes , I did . I remember it perfectly well . It was one of the most pitiful, baffling cases of my career .'
'Pray tell me about it .'
'Though I was defending him , I found it quite hard to prove him innocent . I felt he really was guilty , but then his personality made me believe that he was innocent. He was a good man , by his manners , as well as intelligent and good looking . It was my belief that I was dealing with a good man , and that my claims were right about him - that there was a possibility of him being innocent of the crime. He was very much unlike any other young man . Well , he was proved to be guilty , wasn't he ? It must have been true .'
'So do you think he was innocent or guilty?'
'I couldn't really say . He looked innocent, but not by the facts that proved him guilty.'
'Alright...what did he say regarding his defence?'
'Well , he told me that in the morning , he joined his family's conversation about his sister's future fifteen minutes after it had started . In those fifteen minutes he was , apparently, taking a shower . He claimed that he usually took baths quite late and long . His foster parents agreed to this statement. In the afternoon, he apparently went out with his girlfriend , and she gave the word but wasn't much use to the police . In the evening he was studying in his room for his exams , and he only came out of his room when he heard the shot . After five minutes , he found his sister's body . But I couldn't defend him for one fact - that he was the only one who knew that his sister owned an illegal gun .'
'Hmm.'
'Apparently their parents had left it to her for safety before they died . They were working for British Intelligence or something, and their names are quite complicated to pronounce , not to the common lot , but to me . But there is one thing that I have to know , who is your client ?'
'The sister of Julian and Lucinda , Sarah . She is a determined young woman who strongly believes her brother to be innocent.'
'She can believe anything, but that cannot hide her from the truth . Julian , in reality must've killed his sister .'
'Tell me about their parents . The real ones . How did they die ?'
'Enemies. Killed them . Car bomb . But that fact was hidden from the rest of the world and was claimed to be a car crash . As I told you they worked for British Intelligence . I actually have written the names here...here it is . Hubert Brown and Theresa Mesteckerson . She kept a different name for not being recognized. Her real name was Thomasina Brown . The father's agent name was Hugh Kingsleigh . The children didn't know about it . They were orphaned when the youngest child was two years old . But I think Lucinda knew, she was old enough to understand.'
'Tell me more about Julian . The case depends on him .'
'What am I to say ? He was a good looking man , went out a great deal with girls...had a unique personality, though he spent time outside he was a brilliant student , such said by his professors. He had one thing most intriguing about him...quite rare for a man to possess...this gift of convincing people and winning their hearts...quite easily. He carried away my heart the moment he told me that he was innocent. I simply had to believe him...amazing man . I thought he might be bewitching me...but when he died I knew he wasn't.'
'The lawyer proving him guilty noticed the same thing . It was true , wasn't it ?'
'Mm hmm .'
'Is there anything else you can tell me ?'
'Well , I can tell you that when Lucinda died , there was a confusion whether she died before she was shot or after . It was said that she swallowed about two hundred milligrams of it , and there were two doctors on the case - Dr.Nighs , who , unfortunately died three years ago , and Dr.Finley , who still works at the mortuary.'
'And I can tell you that when that is confirmed , I will know whether Lucinda was killed by a single person , or two people .'
'How could she be killed by two people ?'
'Isn't it sort of odd that Julian should kill his sister twice ? One with arsenic and one with a shot ?Conclusion , two people took part in this without each other knowing that they were doing it . Anyways , I thank you very much , Mr.Warwoth , for your precious time and patience.'
She got up .
'Very well . I wish you luck on your case , Miss Lavingham . And if you have a final conclusion, kindly inform me !'he said , as she approached the door .
'Sure will!' she said , and left the place .