The Mystery of The Arendelle Murders

Chapter 20: A Court Date

Chapter 20: A Court Date

July 2016

"Please state your name for the court," prosecutor, Christian Mollerud, spoke into the courtroom.

"Edmund Aster Bunnymund."

"You are the arresting officer, correct?"

"Yes, that is correct."

It had been several months since Bunnymund first had arrested Jon Ashwood for the murder of his daughter. Jon Ashwood had strongly denied all involvement and insisted that he had an alibi and that he wasn't capable of the murder. He also insisted that Elsa – the Arendelle Ripper – was the person who really killed his daughter. As to his DNA being connected to the foetus that had been growing inside of her, he only had one response; lawyer. That was probably the smartest thing he could have done. However, he had shut up after that. They had gotten no confession and only had loose evidence for the murder case. Their best evidence was around the rape but the statue of limitations was over which meant they couldn't try him for those charges. It infuriated everyone involved but it was what it was.

"At first, what made you suspect the defendant?"

"We suspected that the first medical reports were altered," Bunnymund said. "They didn't look to match the injuries noted in the police report. After talking to Chief Medical Examiner Doctor Ibsen, he confirmed he was pressured into changing the reports to align it more carefully with other reported cases of the Arendelle Ripper who was operating at the time. Doctor Ibsen informed us that the defendant requested for it to be changed."

"Objection!" the defence lawyer, Hans Westergaard, rose to his feet.

"Your honour," Mollerud spoke directly to the judge, "Doctor Ibsen will collaborate this, he is testifying next."

"Continue," the judge motioned for Mollerud to continue his line of questioning.

"What happened after that?" Mollerud said.

"We managed to acquire some of Mr Ashwood's DNA from a coffee cup he discarded," Bunnymund continued. "Once we compared that to the foetus' DNA, we concluded that the father of the deceased's baby. Once we had evidence of that, we conducted a search of the defendant's house."

"What was found in the house?"

"We found tiny drops of blood hiding in the kitchen. We matched these to Aaliyah Ashwood. We thus concluded that the victim was murdered in her own kitchen."

Elsa was waiting outside the courtroom, hands shaking while sweat was dribbling down her forehead. Next to her were the two of the most important people in her life; Jack and Anna. They had come to be moral support for her. The prosecutor, Mollerud, had asked for Elsa to be a witness. Apparently, the defence was still arguing the case that Aaliyah Ashwood had been murdered by her – the Arendelle Ripper. They needed her to refute this.

Elsa wiped her hands against her pencil skirt. Looking up, she saw that Jack was talking on the phone to someone in America. They had more or less rekindled their relationship – well more less than more. Apart from maybe the odd smile or kiss, their relationship didn't proceed much further than that. Anna had been right; it had been hard with their kids involved. Elsa knew that both Leif and Sigrid were still angry about the whole 'used to be a serial killer' thing and to be honest, she didn't blame them. They deserved to be angry and upset with her – she would be if their situation was reversed. So, they had kept their relationship on the down low until they managed to sort everything out. In Elsa's heart, though, she had a feeling that her relationship with Jack would never going to be what she wanted it to be. There was just too much history there.