Not Another Broken Doll

Chapter 16

Alaistar was smoking in the designated area as if that was the last cigarette on planet Earth.

“It’s been so long, Ruth” he said, “I hope this goes fast.”

“Nothing is every fast enough” she said “Besides, I want this to be over but handled with care. I’m not taking any risks here.”

“Of course you’re not” he said, puffing a cloud of smoke into the air “we can’t afford it” he said and started coughing.

“You know that is going to get you killed” she said and tossed some tissues at him “You should give up.”

“I will. Once the case is over” he answered

“How many times have you said that?” Ruth raised her eyebrow and she was met with a yellow smile. He could see her mother in Ruth as if she was staring right back at him.

Sometimes he still wondered if Ruth’s fate would have been any different if he had stepped in earlier after Ute passed, but he had stopped beating himself over that. The girl was resilient.

They were called in and met by the lawyers a few moments later. Ruth saw her father sat on a bench not far. The man was a complete stranger to her. She decided she has no business talking to him. He looked old though. Maybe life had finally caught up with him.

They walked into the court room and sat on their places. Ruth waited for the judge to appear and she observed how the lawyers were wearing tunics as it was a solemn situation. Martí looked like taken off a painting, with his first greys showing up and all the severity he could muster in his face. The judge entered the room. He was a man in his early sixties, with all his hair white and a fixed frown in his expression. He was introduced as his honourable Judge Ramos.

“Be seated” he indicated. He proceeded to read the opening of any case and gave instructions to all legal teams. Ruth was glad no journalists were allowed in the room, and that this part of the procedure was kept very private. “We stand here today for the first hearing on the case Marquez Hausmann vs Prats Botas. Mr Prats Botas stands accused of domestic violence, kidnapping, griveous bodily harm, attempted murder, and early termination of Miss Marquez Hausmann’s pregnancy as a product of violent mistreatment. This has been aggravated with the charges of absconding from police custody, which has led to a delay of a total of eighteen months since our last hearing. We stand here today to agree on an action plan to approach the charges, and both parts will have the chance to question witnesses and present evidence to support their cases.” Ruth felt sickened but kept a stoic expression. “This follows the apprehension of the suspect on the 17th October. Prosecution, you have the floor.”

Ruth sat there while her team of lawyers took charge of the situation. Gerard was not in the room, but that did not surprise her. Last time she saw him in a room like this, she was still recovering from the wounds he inflicted in her body, and shortly after he vanished. She remembered how much of a fool she had felt for falling in love with someone so dangerous. She thought back to all the red flags she turned a blind eye to, how she became detached from her family and friends until her existence was confined to the attic in Gracia, which she did not leave in the months building up to her demise. She remembered how lucky she thought she was for having found somebody who took such good care of her while she was studying, and how fortunate she felt. She couldn’t have been more wrong about anything in her entire lifespan.

“It is agreed, then. We are going to proceed to analyse the evidence provided by both parties and have Mr Prats assessed by professionals while he remains incarcerated with no bail until further notice. We are adjourned until 19th December at 9am.” The noise of the traditional silver bell closing the session felt like a giant’s step towards the end of this. They stood up and waited for Judge Ramos to leave before they left the room.

Ruth was shaking. She had already been at that same stage before, so she had no reason to believe that this time things were going to be any different from last time. She could feel Alaistar’s hand on her shoulder. He whispered in German that he had a good feeling this time round. She forced a smile. Her lawyers were also positive, which was reassuring.

“Judge Ramos is well known for his sense of fairness in application of the law” the youngest lawyer said. She had forgotten his name completely, but she had seen many juniors come and go in her case. She looked at her senior prosecutor, Mr Martí. He had grown greyer in the last year, and she could see that the stress of the job was doing him no good. “Also” the junior carried on “this is a very mediatic case and we have the largest support from the general public.”

“Lluc, that is enough” Martí stopped him “this is not a political campaign. What matters today is that the suspect is incarcerated, and we have got some time to design our strategy to protect Miss Marquez Hausmann and ensure we do our part for justice to be served. That is our duty, do not forget.”

Lluc nodded. Ruth remembered she had a classmate with the same surname when she was in primary school, but the other Lluc had become a diving instructor in the Balearic Islands. She was distracted by the presence of her father, who was still keeping his distance. Martí and Alaistar looked at him too, trying to create a physical barrier between the two of them. Ruth’s father moved forward.

“Ruth…” he started, approaching them.

“Father” she answered. She was cold as ice. “It’s okay, it is about time we talked” she told Alaistar and Martí. The men took a step back, not convinced. “What do you want?”

“I wanted to tell you that I am sorry” her father said, trying his best to fight back some tears. Ruth didn’t buy it. “I should have been there for you.”

“You are ten years late. Now I’ve heard your apologies. Please stay away from my life.” Her voice was a blizzard. “There is nothing that you can do to make it up for the time we lost. There is nothing I’m interested in sharing with you other than DNA and a name. Now, Juan, please, stay the hell away from me. And stop writing. I don’t want to hear from you again.”

She saw how her father took everything in. He knew she was right. He walked out on her when her mother passed when she was a teenager and once again when she reached out for help before that night. That man was nobody to her, and she was not going to let him try to get under her skin.

She left surrounded by her team in a cloud of flashes outside court. Martí handled them and gave an official statement and answered some questions. Ruth was not interested in knowing what those leeches wanted to know. Not after they had dared to question her integrity in public television and social media as if she was not even a real person. She was done with them.

She got into the car with Alaister. Lluc was driving. She asked if she could go back to Germany.

“Of course” Lluc said “We can arrange for that for tonight. I assume inspector Alaistar is travelling with you?”

“I can’t wait to be home. It’s too damn hot here” Alaistar said.

“Lluc, can I ask you something?” Ruth asked and he nodded “Why is it so important to you that we get the support from the media?” Lluc looked at her in the rear mirror, as if she was from another planet.

“Things are changing, miss Marquez” he said. “Nowadays the media has lost most of its power, but it is still an important tool. Do you remember the case of that group r**e and how the public reacted with the sentence was not fair? The whole country took to the streets until the wrong was undone. Your case has caused a similar outrage. There are many people who have lost hope in the judicial system that are looking at this case closely. If we bring justice for you, this will encourage other people to come forward.” Lluc was no longer talking like a junior lawyer. Ruth listened to him and she understood what he really tried to say. Still, he carried on “What I mean is that this can make of this country a fairer place for a lot of people who already think you were brave enough to come forward. That is powerful. And that is why we need to keep the media on check.”

Ruth remained silent for a moment. She thought often about the possibility of other people not coming forward and asking for help because they did not believe in the system. She had been one of them. Thankfully, now the system was working for her. She looked back at Lluc and she couldn’t help but wonder how many stories he had dealt with already.

Alaistar looked at the young lad who was driving next to him and then looked back at Ruth. He had been a personal friend of her mother and he had always seen his goddaughter as a force of nature. He remembered clearly how he ached when Ingrid phoned him and told him they had found her. He was working a case for the Europol in the city, so he dropped everything and met Ingrid at the Vall D’Hebrón hospital within the hour. They were not certain Ruth would make it. And now, looking at her face, she had the same determination her mother had when she had enough of the world being a mess, and he could sense the same aura coming off Ruth right then.

They arrived in the hotel and Alaistar insisted on going to the rooftop bar. Ruth just wanted to get on with her packing. He sat her down and ordered some beer for both them. Ruth took a moment to enjoy the view of Montjuïc and the Olympic stadiums from her chair. She took in the noise of the city, the cars and busses going around Plaça d’Espanya under her feet. She took her time to look at the boulevard that led to the palace, the water fountains and the escalators that made it easier for tourists and neighbours alike. She looked hard, trying to spot the colours of the autumn show up in the mountain. The season never seemed to fully arrive in this part of the world.  She missed her city, but it could never be her home again.

“I did not think I would see that look again” Alaistar said. Ruth looked at him as if she didn’t understand. “When that laddie was talking on the way here. You had the same exact look in your face as your mother used to have whenever she listened to the injustices of the world through the testimony of her clients.”

“Do you think I could ever live up to her?” Ruth asked, looking at him in the eye. “She was amazing, wasn’t she?”

“And so are you” he said, holding her hand in a paternal gesture “She would be proud of what you are doing.”

“I’m just doing what is right” she said as her eyes teared up. She was emotionally drained.

“That is exactly what she would want you to do” he said.

“It wasn’t your fault” Ruth said to him. “You couldn’t have known.”

Alaistar nodded and drank some of his beer. He was out of cigarettes, but his cough was getting worse, so he decided to stick to his second poison until he got better.

“So, this Christoff guy” he started. Ruth rolled her eyes. “I did a background check on him.”

“No, you did not!” she exclaimed “Alaistar!”

“You know the drill, Sugar. I should have done that for that bastard too, so you’re not stopping me now” he said and laughed. “It turns out to be an alright guy.”

“I know that” she said, and sighed in exhaustion.

“I’m serious. He is probably the cleanest Krüeger I’ve ever seen” he said and continued to drink. “He is certainly detached to his family’s history.”

“What do you mean?” She asked. Alaistar didn’t answer. He knew too well that if he did, he would only get into bigger trouble for having dug anything up in the first place. Ruth was too tired to fight. She simply said: “Okay, fine. But you really need to use the Europol resources better, uncle.”