The Man With No Fear

Chapter Five: A Hail Mary

They arrive at the local police station where Mike is being held.

"We're here to see Michael Braxton." Matt tells a passing officer. "We're his lawyers."

"For that poor bastard? Good luck," the cop replies, his voice full of disbelief. He led them to the interrogation room.

"Here he is, have at it," the cop says, directing them into a room.

Matt can hear Mike's teeth chattering, a nervous habit of his. The sound stops when he looks up and sees them.

"Foggy, Matt!" he exclaims like he's just won a lottery. "Thank goodness!"

"Mike, everything's gonna be alright," Foggy says as they walk to the table that he's cuffed to. They sit down across from him. "Just tell us what happened."

"Alright, okay, ugh I'd give anything for a smoke right now," Mike rattles on, listing another nervous habit of his.

"Okay, uh so I was out with Jasper. Jasper Hollins, he's my girl's younger brother," Mike starts, referring to his longtime girlfriend Jessica Hollins. "Yeah, uh he's got a lot of vices. Had a lot I mean. He's the one they're saying I stabbed. He's dead, man, but I didn't do it!"

"Mike, take a breath," Matt admonishes him.

Mike does as he's told, taking a deep breath in, and continues. 

"Alright, so Jasper's got some vices. Big time gambler. He borrows from me time to time but he's Jessica's brother so I'm okay with it. So we went to a pub to have a friendly drink, just wanted to talk to him about the cash he owed me. And when we leave the pub we get jumped!  By this dude, man, it was one guy but he was like a friggin ninja. He knocked me out cold, and when I wake up a bloody knife is in my hand and Jasper's lying next to me with a slit throat." he says in a rush, not even pausing to take a breath.

"Wow," Foggy says quietly, looking over at Matt.

"But the cops, they don't believe me! They say my prints are the only ones on the knife. They say I've got motive, but I would never do that! I'm not a killer!" he shouts desperately.

"Mike, Mike, calm down buddy," Matt replies. "We believe you. We'll prove that you're innocent."

Matt knows for certain that Mike is indeed innocent. And he already knows who the real killer is.

The mercenary known as Blue Talon aka Itto Yamura. Highly trained in martial arts, this murder was his m.o. all the way.

He was a paid killer that drug lords, crooked businessmen, and gang leaders didn't hesitate to go to in order to kill of enemies and opponents. He was quick and efficient, always choosing to slit the throats of his victims.

Though setting someone up to take the fall for the murder was something new.

Matt stewed to himself for a moment, wondering who could have hired Blue Talon. With what Mike was saying about Jasper and his "vices" the list of suspects was probably a mile long.

Matt shook his head and turned his attention back to their client. 

"First, you've got to give us full disclosure. Did you ever give any indication that you had bad feelings about Jasper?" Matt asks as Foggy pulls out a notebook and pen.

"No, I don't think so," Mike replies uncertainly. "He was a decent guy. Just made dumb choices. Plus I love his sister man, I'd never do something that'd hurt her." He leans his head down between his cuffed wrists against the cold metal table.

"Jessica's visiting her mom right now. When she hears about this she'll hate me," he says, his voice tight with anxiety.

"If Jessica loves you she'll have faith that you didn't do this," Matt says in reply.

"I hope so man," Mike mutters, running his shaking hands through his sandy blonde hair.

"So all they really have against you is a knife and proximity. That's all circumstantial, definitely not enough evidence to prove without a doubt that you did it," Matt says as Foggy scribbles down notes.

"Yeah, and that's what the prosecution has to do. But you've got a nice bruise on your forehead that shows that you were knocked out," Foggy says. He pulls a camera from his briefcase and gestures for Mike to look forward.

As he snaps photos of the bruise he asks questions.

"How much did you have to drink at the bar?" he asks.

"Uh, like two glasses of beer. I was pretty sober when we were leaving," Mike says. Foggy puts down his camera to write down that info into his notebook. 

"The cops just want a neat and tidy end to this case," Matt says. "Less paperwork that way. We've got to prove that you couldn't have done this. Evidence that it was someone else would work. Witnesses too. Did you notice anyone else around?"

"Not really, I don't remember," Mike sighs.

"Don't worry, we'll find someone.  We can get a hold of the police report and see who witnessed anything," Foggy says as he scribbles down some more notes.

"Thank you guys," Mike says again.

After a few more questions Matt and Foggy stand up to leave.

"Just remember, keep your head low. Never say anything about this case without us there. And we'll get a hold of Jessica to let her know what's going on." Matt tells Mike.

An officer comes to whisk Mike away. He's being sent to the local prison soon because he can't post bail.

"Alright Matt, our first case," Foggy says as they leave the interrogation room. "Where the hell do we start?"

"Let's start with getting that witness list," Matt suggests.

Foggy and Matt walk to the front desk and Matt leans against his cane as Foggy does the talking. His mind wanders back to Blue Talon. Who would have hired him? Maybe someone that Jasper owed money to? But to have him killed...that wouldn't help them to get their money back. You can't collect from a corpse. Of course, maybe they wanted to make a point. But why frame Mike? That made Matt assume that whoever it was that hired Blur Talon had a grudge against both Mike and Jasper.

"Hey, earth to Matt," Foggy says, interrupting his thoughts. "We've got the list."

He waves the list before Matt's face, and Matt chuckles.

"Oh, I see," Matt says sardonically.

Foggy rolls his eyes and lightly punches Matt in the shoulder.

"Whatever wiseguy, let's go." his portly friend says, walking towards the entrance of the police station. As they left out the doors Matt is soon drawn back into his own thoughts.

How were they going to prove Jasper's innocence? Matt's own suspicions aren't enough to hold up in court. And catching a man like Blue Talon would be less than easy.

They were going to need a hail Mary.

The Catholic vigilante tips his head up, smirking at the irony. He hadn't stepped foot into the local cathedral for weeks, not since he'd donned his signature black mask. He'd done things...things that kept him from going.

He realizes that he may have to rely on himself for this one.