Justice is Not Blind ☠ The Punisher

Chapter 3: The Arraignment

Dani thanked the cabbie once more as she stepped out onto the sidewalk. She slammed the door closed behind her and watched the yellow cab drive off before she turned to face the building. It wasn't much to look at and the sign for the law offices of Nelson and Murdock wasn't small, but it wasn't like she had many options. She knew that most lawyers wouldn't touch this case with a ten-foot pole and Frank wouldn't approve of them either. But he'd like Foggy, she knew that much. At least he was honest enough and would be even with him. Frank would appreciate that. With a sigh, she went through the door and up the stairs.

As she climbed up she could hear the sound of more footsteps. It was a good thing, she thought. At least it proved that they were in. It would take that and all the luck in the world to ask Foggy and his partner to take on the case of a lifetime.

She opened the door to the office to find it empty, save for the few voices coming from a room on the left. Dani walked over to it, stopping in her tracks when she saw who was inside.

"Early start today?

"Matt. Uh, this is-"

"Christopher Roth," Dani said as she came into view of everyone in the room, save for the blind lawyer. "He's the public defender assigned to the Castle case."

"Ms. Castle." Roth nearly jumped in his seat as he spotted her.

"Roth," Dani greeted. "Coming to try and talk more competent lawyers into helping you with my brother's case? Or did you know I was going to get you off this case before you royally screwed it up?"

He shook his head as Foggy's mouth dropped. While he had the most expressive face in the room, it was no doubt that the other two were shocked to hear that Frank had a sister. "I- I just dropped by to get Miss Page's signature on this statement. Once we've got that, we're all done."

The blonde held up a hand, making him slow down. "Well, with this meeting."

"With this case," he explained.

"How so?" Dani crossed her arms over her chest.

Roth stumbled over his words a bit. "He's awake. Soon, he'll plead guilty, then it's open and shut."

"Open and shut is good. New York will sleep better knowing Frank Castle's behind bars," Foggy said, not daring to look at Dani. Guess their brief time together gave him enough warning not to try and piss her off, though he certainly wasn't doing himself any favors.

"Sleep even better when he's dead," Roth said.

"Excuse me?" Dani attempted to storm into the room, though the blind man stopped her in her tracks. This must be the Murdock in Nelson and Murdock.

"New York doesn't have the death penalty," Murdock told him.

Roth looked up at him. "Yeah, but Delaware does. Some Dogs of Hell were murdered out there along Interstate 95. DA Reyes just has to link the killings to Castle, and then they'll be well within their rights to extradite him. And you know-" he motioned with his hand at his arm like he was performing an injection.

Dani shook her head. "Do you have any sense of decorum, you spineless-"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Roth," the blonde spoke up as she handed him back the statement. "I can't sign this yet."

"Um." He took the paper back from her, hesitating. "Are you sure?"

She nodded. "Positive."

Dani stared the man down. "I'll be sure to speak with you later, Mr. Roth. With any luck, to tell you that you're off this case."