Not Another Broken Doll

Chapter 14

The lawyers were waiting in the hall, ready to discuss how they would approach the case with Ruth and Alaistar, as he was bringing key evidence that the accused had tried to locate the victim whilst he was in hiding. Ruth and Alaistar walked in, avoiding the questions from the media outside the court room.

“Miss Marquez Hausmann.” One of the lawyers greeted her extending the right hand waiting for a shake. This wasn’t met. “Are you ready to start?”

“I am ready to end this” she said, determined. They went into a meeting room where the prosecutor had already placed all the pieces of paperwork they needed to show Ruth.

She ignored the folders. “I want to see him” she declared.

“Miss Marquez, that is not a good idea at all” a young lawyer, who was about her own age started to say. “It is not what we would advise.”

“I do not care, in all honesty” she said. “I am not going to discuss with you a single extra step on the case that has the country divided on the media if I do not see for myself that you got the right bastard” she wasn’t angry. She was exhausted.

“Very well” said inspector Salas, who had worked her case from the start. He gave clear instructions and the officer showed her on his computer the footage of the custody room. She could see his face, and the scar in she left him as a reminder of the kind of person he was.

“That’s him” She said. “Gerard.”

“Mr Prats maintains that all he had done was in self-defence” Martí, the senior prosecutor continued “though there is no way he can maintain that. We have enough forensic evidence to back you up when you sit on the stand and give your testimony.”

That was exactly what had the media divided. Half of them stood by the right of the man to defend himself from an attacker, and the other half were outraged at the ridiculousness of their position since he was being charged with torture over an extended period of time. Ruth had to leave to have some mental space, so Ingrid stepped in and took her to Germany with her. They were very lucky the press did not follow them there, but whilst Gerard was on the wind he had figured out where she was.

“The hearing will be tomorrow. You should go and have some rest” the inspector said, ruffling his beard with his hand. She liked Salas because he reminded her of her grandfather. Big, round and jolly, but with a hellish job. She nodded and looked at Alaistar. They left the court buildings and headed back for the hotel.