“It looks like you could use some help.” Adrian Cole stood before the three women with a mild smile, his fitted black suit making his already straight posture appear even more formal.
Clara Hayes and Evelyn both stared at him for a moment, still somewhat dazed by his sudden appearance, while the female attorney beside them seemed even more surprised.
Adrian turned his attention to Clara first.
“Ms.
Hayes, I’m the defense attorney who has been assigned to your father’s case.
My name is Adrian Cole, and I’ll be representing Martin Hayes from this point forward.” Before Clara could respond, the attorney beside her frowned thoughtfully.
“Adrian Cole?” She studied his face for several seconds before something suddenly occurred to her.
“The ‘model of professional morality’?” Adrian turned toward her.
The woman looked strangely familiar, although with her hair tied back in a ponytail and a black business suit replacing the casual clothes she had worn before, he did not immediately place her.
When she noticed his confusion, she raised both hands, quickly gathered her hair into a bun, and imitated the hairstyle she had worn when they first met.
Recognition immediately appeared in Adrian’s eyes.
So it was her.
The woman from the alley who shared his habit of feeding the neighborhood’s homeless children.
Lena Quinn smiled when she saw that he finally recognized her, but the smile lasted only a second.
Adrian’s eyebrows rose.
“Oh.
You’re the Nine Heavens Soaring Dragon, Jade-Faced Thunder Sovereign, Universal Salvation Demon-Subduing, Eternal Longevity True Monarch.” Lena froze.
A faint flush first appeared along her neck, then rapidly spread upward until even the tips of her ears had turned bright red.
She had clearly not expected him to remember the ridiculous title she had invented on the spot nearly a month earlier.
After forcing herself to remain calm, she glanced around at the courthouse entrance and said, “Considering where we are, perhaps we should continue this conversation somewhere else.” Adrian smiled but did not tease her further.
There were more important matters to deal with, and after reviewing Martin’s case over the past several days, he already had a general idea of how he wanted to approach it.
“All right.” Meanwhile, elsewhere in Greenwood City, Walter and Martha Pike had finally found a law firm willing to represent them.
They were sitting inside a reception room at Creston Law Group, where Martha was wiping at perfectly dry eyes while explaining their situation to an attorney named Derek Vaughn.
“Attorney Vaughn, you have to help us.
My son was only in his thirties.
He was still young, and now he’s dead for no reason.” Walter sat beside her without saying much, although his small, suspicious eyes continually moved over the attorney in front of them.
Derek appeared to be in his mid-thirties, with a thin build, a narrow face, prominent cheekbones, and the kind of expression that made it difficult to tell whether he was smiling because he was friendly or because he had just noticed something profitable.
“Don’t worry,” he said as he put away the signed representation agreement.
“Now that the contract is complete, our firm will act in accordance with your interests and pursue the best possible outcome for you.” Walter and Martha visibly relaxed.
They had finally found someone willing to become the victim family’s representative in the criminal proceedings concerning Ethan Pike’s death.
Creston Law Group was the fourth firm they had approached.
The previous three had refused the case for various reasons, although Derek had no difficulty guessing the real explanation.
The circumstances were ugly, and many attorneys simply did not want to represent the family of a man who had purchased an abducted girl and imprisoned her for years, especially when the family’s goal was to use his death to continue pressuring the victim.
Derek did not share those reservations.
Whether Martin Hayes was morally sympathetic or whether Clara had suffered for ten years was irrelevant to him.
His concerns were far simpler: fees, successful outcomes, and the effect a case might have on his professional record.
From his perspective, Ethan’s death was an excellent opportunity.
Martin had initiated the first physical attack inside the minibus, Ethan had subsequently died during the confrontation, and the evidence currently available gave the prosecution several ways to characterize Martin’s actions unfavorably.
If Derek could help secure a harsh outcome while obtaining compensation for Ethan’s family, it would still count as a professional victory.
What happened to Martin afterward was Martin’s problem.
Derek leaned back slightly.
“Your other concern is custody of your grandson, correct?” Martha nodded immediately.
“Yes.
We can’t let that ungrateful woman take him away from us.” The custody hearing had already gone against them, but Martha still had two objectives in mind.
She wanted Martin punished as severely as possible for Ethan’s death, and she wanted Clara to surrender custody of the child.
If forcing Clara to give up her son required compromising on the first demand, Martha was perfectly willing to consider it.
Derek smiled.
“That may actually give us some room to work.” His reasoning was straightforward.
Clara cared deeply about her father, and Martin was currently facing a serious criminal prosecution.
If the Pike family’s cooperation, forgiveness, or willingness to reduce their demands could influence Martin’s eventual sentence, then that leverage might be used to pressure Clara into making concessions over custody.
Whether that was cruel hardly entered Derek’s calculations.
If the law gave him leverage and his clients were willing to use it, he saw little reason not to.
“Has Martin Hayes already obtained defense counsel?” he asked.
Martha’s expression immediately darkened.
“Yes.
Some heartless lawyer agreed to help him.” “When?” “Yesterday.
We heard about it at the police station.” Derek thought for a moment.
Martin’s closest family members were Clara and Evelyn, which meant his new attorney would almost certainly contact them while preparing the defense.
Since Clara’s custody hearing had concluded that afternoon, there was a good chance they would soon be at the police station handling paperwork or discussing Martin’s case.
From a purely legal perspective, Derek believed the defense was in a difficult position, and whoever had accepted the case would surely know that as well.
That made this an excellent time to speak with the other attorney.
Not necessarily to negotiate.
It was often useful to let the opposing side understand exactly how bad their position looked before formal proceedings began.
Derek stood and collected his documents.
“I’m going to speak with Martin Hayes’s lawyer.” At three-thirty that afternoon, Clara and Evelyn were inside Greenwood City Police Department submitting the custody judgment and completing several related procedures.
Adrian and Lena were waiting for them on one of the public benches in the lobby.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Adrian eventually looked toward Lena and clicked his tongue softly.
“I have to admit, I underestimated you.” Lena narrowed her eyes.
“What is that supposed to mean?” “I thought you were merely the Nine Heavens Soaring Dragon, Jade-Faced Thunder Sovereign, Universal Salvation Demon-Subduing, Eternal Longevity True Monarch, but apparently you’ve also been secretly cultivating the Dao of jurisprudence.” Lena’s face turned red almost instantly.
Adrian continued with a faint smile.
“Quite impressive, True Lord of Jurisprudence.” She stared at him.
“My father is a university law professor,” Lena explained after forcing herself to ignore the title.
“A few years ago, he became exhausted with academic life and moved into a Taoist temple because he wanted somewhere quiet to live and study.
I started staying there with him, which is why I sometimes dress that way.” Adrian nodded slowly.
“So you actually live in a Taoist temple.” “Yes, but I am not a nun.” “You mean a Taoist priestess.” “I’m not that either.” Adrian considered the explanation.
Legal academia could certainly wear people down.
In his previous life, he had met more than one highly accomplished legal scholar whose eventual response to decades of litigation, bureaucracy, and academic politics had been to retreat into religion, philosophy, gardening, or some other occupation that involved significantly fewer lawyers.
“So the True Monarch has descended from the mountain to defeat evil and uphold justice?” Lena closed her eyes.
“I’m taking a few cases because I’m a licensed attorney, and I also—” She stopped, apparently reaching the limit of her patience.
Then she lowered her head and covered part of her face with two fingers, although the gesture did nothing to hide her bright red ears.
“That ridiculous title was a joke.
I made it up because you refused to tell me your name properly, and I regretted saying it almost immediately.” Her voice became quieter.
“I’m sorry.
Can we please forget about it?” Adrian nodded sympathetically.
“Of course, True Lord of Jurisprudence.” Lena slowly turned her head toward him.
Adrian maintained a perfectly innocent expression.
“I understand completely, True Lord of Jurisprudence.” Lena said nothing.
At that moment, she genuinely felt as though some part of her had died.
The worst part was that she herself could not even remember the absurd title she had invented that morning.
It had been an intentionally ridiculous collection of grandiose words, and she had forgotten most of it within hours.
Yet Adrian somehow remembered the entire thing nearly a month later, word for word.
And now he had added another title.
This was no longer ordinary embarrassment.
This was social death.
Lena took a slow breath and forced herself to return to the reason they were actually there.
“Fine.
We’re talking about work now.” Her face was still visibly red, but her expression became serious.
“Regarding Martin Hayes’s case, how confident are you?” Adrian’s teasing expression faded as well.
He leaned back slightly and looked toward the corridor where Clara and Evelyn had disappeared.
“More confident than the case file makes it look.” Lena raised an eyebrow.
“That doesn’t sound like an answer.” “It’s the only answer I can give before I’ve finished reviewing every witness statement.” Lena studied him.
“You know the biggest problem as well as I do.
Ethan tried to drag Clara out of the vehicle, but Martin was the first one who physically attacked him.
After that, Martin knocked him out of the bus, and Ethan eventually died during the fight.
The prosecution can use that sequence to argue that Martin created the confrontation himself.” “I know.” “And Ethan’s parents are unlikely to cooperate with any form of reconciliation.” “I know that too.” Lena’s brow furrowed.
“Then why do you look so relaxed?” Adrian glanced at her.
“Because everyone seems to be looking at the same few seconds inside the bus and treating them as though they happened in isolation.” Lena’s expression changed slightly.
Adrian continued in an even tone.
“I’m more interested in what happened before Martin bit Ethan’s hand, what Ethan was doing at that exact moment, why Clara reacted the way she did when he approached her, what happened after both men fell from the vehicle, who introduced the sickle into the fight, who struck Martin from behind, and what every police officer present actually witnessed.” Lena listened carefully.
“The prosecution has a simple story,” Adrian said.
“Martin attacked first, a fight followed, Ethan died, therefore Martin bears responsibility.
Simple stories are persuasive, but they become much less comfortable once you start asking whether the first physical act was actually an unlawful attack or an immediate response to someone forcibly dragging a trafficking victim back toward the place where she had been imprisoned.” Lena’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
“So you’re going to argue defense of another person.” “That’s one part of it.” “One part?” Adrian smiled faintly.
“That’s why I said the case looks worse on paper than it actually is.” Before Lena could ask what else he had in mind, footsteps approached from the entrance of the police station.
A thin man in a dark suit walked into the lobby carrying a leather briefcase.
He stopped briefly, scanned the room, and then looked directly toward Adrian and Lena.
Derek Vaughn had arrived.