The Devil's Turnabout

Chapter 7

January 24th, 2027 (Cont.)

"It's like I said," Emilio shrugged, brushing his bangs aside. "Kristoph Gavin truly was a model prisoner."

"Hold it!" Apollo shouted. The first time he'd heard Emilio say this, he hadn't been able to press him on it. Now, however... he had to take the chance. "What exactly could you possibly mean by that?"

"You don't see many like him, in my line of work." Emilio explained. "He was orderly, quiet, professional... no screaming lunatic or hardened brute. Comparatively speaking, he was a breath of fresh air."

Apollo couldn't believe what he was hearing. "He... genuinely seems to like Mr. Gavin."

"Well..." Trucy tapped her chin, eerily perceptive. "Didn't you like him, once?"

"Yeah, once," Apollo grumbled, "as in, before the murders."

Murders Emilio had to be aware of, considering that he was monitoring Mr. Gavin's stay in jail!

Emilio couldn't stop singing the man's praises, however. "Kristoph Gavin made my job extraordinarily easy, but it was more than that. He was intelligent, and eager to talk."

"You... were chatting with him?" Apollo asked, dumbfounded. Seriously? Mr. Gavin was dangerous!

"It's part of my job to monitor prisoners, Mr. Justice." Emilio said with a smile. "I have to ensure their safety. I must be aware of any changes in mental state— like, for example, Mr. Gavin experienced after the Misham trial."

"Mr. Justice!" The judge interjected. "Don't badger the witness for doing his job!"

"He definitely wasn't just doing his job," Apollo muttered. Trucy shook her head in agreement.

"Apollo..." she said, suddenly thoughtful. "All of Mr. Gavin's things... do you think Emilio is how he got all that stuff in there?"

Apollo's heart pounded. "It's very likely."

It'd be impossible to prove, but Apollo was nearly certain of it now. Emilio hadn't killed Mr. Gavin— he'd been part of the effort to frame Klavier. But what sense did any of this make? Why would either of them do this?

Apollo shook his head. One thing at a time. He had to begin by pulling on one thread, if he wanted to unravel what was really going on.

"Kristoph Gavin was a rarity." Emilio finished. "Brilliant, well-mannered, resolute... I will never forgive his killer... whoever that may be."

He gave a pointed look to Klavier, who scowled in return.

"It's bizarre..." Apollo said to himself, hushed, once the testimony had finished.

"Huh?" Trucy asked.

"Well, it's just that... I've been waiting for any kind of tell, but there's just... nothing." Apollo swallowed. He ran his hand over his wrist, over the dull luster of his bracelet... which laid dangerously still. "How can he be telling the truth...?"

To admire a man like that, even after everything Mr. Gavin had done, made Emilio either a monster or completely delusional, and Apollo had no idea which it ultimately was. Goosebumps raised his arms just while thinking about it, running through the crimes his former mentor had committed in his mind. Mr. Gavin had killed people. He tried to kill even more.

Of course Apollo had once liked Mr. Gavin, but why? Why like him now?

"Objection!"

Apollo jolted in place. It was a familiar sound— yet one he hadn't heard in so long.