"All rise for the Honorable Judge May Farrell." Frank swallowed hard as everybody rose. "Please be seated. Bailiff, that is our first case?" The judge slipped on her pince-nez. She swept her eyes once across her courtroom, cringing in distaste at the vast media coverage the trial was receiving, judging from the cameras and reporters crowding in the back.

"Your Honor, our first case is Garrett William Haydin vs. the United States of America." Joe held his breath. This is happening, he thought, this is really happening. He couldn't even look at Haydin who was seated next to his attorney, looking strangely calm and poised. Joe dreaded going up to the stand. It was not the testifying he couldn't handle. It was the truth that would be revealed, the truth that he'd been hiding, the truth that he couldn't afford to tell Frank.

"Very well. Is the Prosecution ready?"

"Yes, Your Honor." How will Frank accept it? Will he accept ME?

"Is the Defense ready?" And Vanessa. And Biff. My friends. How will they react?

"Yes, Your Honor."

"Very well, the Prosecution may make opening statements."

"Let me get this straight. You went into your office at 9 o'clock that morning on the 26th June 2002, then you told your secretary to cancel all your appointments for the day, saying that you had an important personal meeting. Then you came back at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, is that correct, Mr. Gregory?"

"Yes."

"And you had no recollection whatsoever of where you were and whom you had a meeting with and what you did, no?"

"At that time, no. I did not remember anything."

"And when you found out the next morning that 50 million dollars of the company money had been withdrawn, you had no idea where the money could have gone to even though there are witnesses who saw you withdraw the money?"

"No." Adam Hall smiled in satisfaction.

"And now what do you remember, Mr. Gregory?" Allan Gregory turned to look at Haydin in contempt.

"I remember him. He was the one who made me do it."

"And he tried to kill you too, didn't he, Mr. Gregory?"

"Objection. Irrelevant," The defense attorney spoke up.

"Counsel?" The Judge looked at Hall.

"It is relevant, Your Honor. The defendant is not only charged with embezzlement/extortion of over 50 million dollars, but also with 3 attempted murders, at least 3 people are dead now since the other 2 businessmen he extorted money from weren't as lucky as Mr. Gregory here."

"Overruled. You may answer the question, Mr. Gregory."

"Yes, he did." Adam Hall nodded, and went back to his seat. Frank looked at the man whose life he had saved. He knew the other businessmen were still missing, but he didn't know

The Judge motioned to the defense. "Your witness."

"No questions, Your Honor."

"The gun had been underwater for quite some time, most of the fingerprints have been washed away, smudged mostly, and it is quite impossible to get a one decent print from it," the firearms expert explained. The defense had called in their first witness for the day.

"So there is no way that we can be sure that the defendant had tried to kill Mr. Gregory with it, isn't that correct, Mr. Harrington?"

"No."

"No further questions, Your Honor."

Adam Hall rose to cross-examine the witness. "How long have you been working for the New York Police Department, Mr. Harrington?"

"About ten years."

"Long enough to really know your thing, huh?"

"Yes, you can say that." He was starting to sound nervous.

"Tell me. Or better yet, tell the court. Was the gun loaded when the police retrieved it from underwater?"

"Yes, it was."

"Did you check the bullet cartridge, Mr. Harrington?"

"Yes, I did. It's procedure."

"I'm sure it is. Were there any prints on the cartridges, Mr. Harrington, or did the water wash them away too?"

"Objection, calls for a conclusion."

"Overruled. Counsel?"

"Mr. Harrington, I will repeat my question. Were there any prints when you dislodged the bullet cartridge from the gun?"

"Yes."

"Whose?"

"Garret Haydin's."

"Objection!"

"Overruled. Counsel?"

"The prosecution rests, Your Honor."

"Court will resume after lunch. Counsels, in my chamber." The Judge pounded her gavel.

"You okay?" Frank asked, sitting down next to his brother. Joe shrugged and chugged down the last of his soda. Their parents were still at lunch and Joe had excused himself, saying he wasn't hungry. Frank found him sitting alone in one of the benches outside, carefully staying away from the press.

"As okay as can be expected." Frank nodded, and handed him a sandwich.

"Here, I know you said you weren't hungry but you should eat something." Joe offered him a tight smile.

"Buy me another soda and I'll consider it." Frank laughed a little. Joe, always the manipulator, he thought. He was glad that Joe had been successful in controlling himself for the time being. Joe had definitely matured these past few months. His brother had grown more thoughtful, serious, wary, no longer the boisterous, happy-go-lucky guy with the wacky attitude. The past had taught him so much, had taught him how cruel the world can be sometimes, Frank thought as he rose to get Joe a soda. Sometimes Frank missed the old Joe.

Frank tossed him a Coke and Joe deftly caught it with one hand, looking distant. "You look like you have a lot on your mind," Frank commented.

"What? Ouch!" Joe winced just as he popped open the soda. He'd pricked his finger on the sharp edge of the slit on top of the can. Frank's eyes went wide at the sight of blood running down Joe's index finger.

"Here." Frank procured his handkerchief and grabbed his brother's hand. He was about to dab at the cut when Joe suddenly shouted. "No!!" Joe quickly seized his hand from Frank's grasp, staring at his brother in horror.

"No, it's okay...I'll-do it myself," Joe said, snatching the handkerchief away. He stared at his brother, who was staring back at him in confusion. Joe hesitated. "Did-Did it get on you anywhere?"

"What?" Frank asked, still confused.

"The, uh, blood," Joe said slowly. What if Frank had a cut somewhere? What if- "Do you have any cuts on you anywhere? Did the blood get on them?"

"Joe, what are you talking about?" Frank asked exasperatedly. Joe's mouth worked, as if trying to say something, but he was saved from explaining his strange behavior when the doors to the courtroom swung open. Abruptly, Joe stood up and walked off, leaving Frank behind .

Judge May Farrell pounded her gavel. "Court is again in session. Mr. Prosecutor, call your next witness."

"Prosecution calls April Elizabeth Haydin to the stand." A hush of silence fell over the room, and everyone turned to look as she walked in, her head held up high, her eyes carefully avoiding anyone's. Even when she was seated in the witness stand, she didn't show the slightest sign of nervousness, her demeanor so calm it exuded confidence and self-control.

"Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

"I do."

Frank swallowed hard. The sight of her sitting there calmly unnerved him. What is she planning to do? What is she going to say? He couldn't help thinking. She's as much at fault in this mess as her father is.

"Ms. Haydin, you've lived with your father all your life, haven't you?"

"Yes. Me and Bobby."

"Bobby. That's your dead brother."

"Yes," she said softly.

"And your mother. What happened to her?" Richard Fish, the defense attorney opened his mouth as if to object but closed it again.

April froze. She didn't expect this question. When he met her, Adam didn't mention anything about her dead mother. "My mother?"

"Yes, your mother. What happened to her?"

"You want the USA Today version, the Internet version or the real one?" April said without the slightest hint of humor.

"The real one, Ms. Haydin. How did Annabelle Haydin die?"

"It was no burglary. She didn't die at childbirth either. He stabbed her." April stared straight at her father, causing Haydin to flinch slightly.

"And you saw it happen?"

"Yes."

"Do you remember the evening of the 28th July 2002 when you had dinner at Ayutthaya with your friends?"

"Yes," April said in a small voice.

"What happened that night, Ms. Haydin?"

"He told me to put poison in the food," she said.

"In Frank Hardy's food."

"Yes."

"And you did it."

"Yes." Her voice had dropped to a level that it was barely audible.

"You need to speak up, Ms. Haydin, we can't hear you," the Judge said. April's head jerked upright, her face pale.

"Yes." She repeated it louder. "He-he made me do it. He would kill me if I didn't."

"Just like he killed your mother."

"Objection. Leading the witness," Fish objected.

"Not leading, Your Honor. Just making sure we're on the right track here."

"Sustained."

Then it was the defense's turn to cross-examine.

"Ms. Haydin, on the night of the rape, where were you?" Joe drew in his breath sharply.

"I was there." Frank could feel the anger start to boil. She was there, and she didn't stop it from happening. And she told me she loved me. Yeah right.

"You were there when he was with the victim or you were in the same place as the defendant?"

"He was in the room, Bobby and I were outside."

"And then what did you do?"

"I-I couldn't take it anymore. I ran away."

"You ran away? Where did you go?"

"To a public phone."

"A phone? In the middle of the night? Whom did you call?"

"I-I called the victim's family." Joe's grip around Frank's arm tightened.

"To let them know where your father was holding the victim."

"Yes."

"Ms. Haydin, you told us you were terrified of your father, didn't you?"

"I didn't exactly say that but-"

"Let me ask you again, Ms. Haydin. You were terrified of your father that you would never disobey him."

"Yes."

"But still, on the night of 28th June, when you have mistakenly poisoned Frank Hardy's brother instead of Frank Hardy himself, you disobeyed him didn't you? Even when he specifically asked you to poison Frank Hardy, isn't that correct, Ms. Haydin? You were so terrified of your father that you didn't try to stop it when Joe Hardy took the poison-"

"Objection!"

"The truth is, Ms. Haydin, you are as much a murderer as you claimed your father to be-"

"Objection!! Your Honor, will you please tell him to stop harassing the witness!"

"Mr. Fish-" the Judge started to say.

"-and on the night of the rape, you disobeyed him again, didn't you? And your brother Bobby died that night, didn't he?"

"Objection!!! Where is this leading to?" Hall was shouting now. April was in tears now.

"I did not kill Bobby-"

"Don't say anything, April!" Hall ordered. "Your Honor, the witness is not the one on trial today. And I object to this persistent-"

"Your Honor, my client has been charged with the attempted murder of Joseph Hardy and what I was doing was not harassing the witness, I was just pointing out the fact that it was she, April Haydin was the one who attempted murder-" Fish was saying at the same time.

Judge May Farrell had had enough. She banged the gavel hard twice. "Order! Order in the court!"

"He killed my mother and he killed my brother!" April hissed. "He-"

"Ms. Haydin," Judge Farrell warned. April forced herself to relax. She took a couple of deep breaths. To her dismay, Frank was not even looking at her. He was looking at the ground, his face red.

"I will not tolerate this kind of havoc in my courtroom," the Judge said. "Counsel?"

"Thank you, Your Honor. Ms. Haydin, were you hypnotized by your father the night at the restaurant?"

"Objection."

"Overruled. The witness may answer the question."

"No, I wasn't," April said softly. "But I wish I had."

"And why is that?"

"Because if I had, I wouldn't have to live with this guilty feeling for the rest of my life."

"So you are saying you're guilty of poisoning Joe Hardy."

"Objection."

"Overruled. Ms. Haydin?"

"Yes, I am. But I am not a murderer. That man murdered my mother, my brother and a few other people. And Garrett Haydin, my father-" April practically spat out the name, "is in perfect mental state and is perfectly capable of committing all the crimes he's charged with."

"How can you be so sure that your father was not insane when he committed those crimes, if he even did, Ms. Haydin?"

"Because I know my father and you don't."

"Prosecution, please call your next witness."

Adam Hall stood up. "The prosecution calls Joseph Hardy to the stand."

Pain R