A Study in Burgundy (open!)

[Invinciman]

Chandler sighed and leaned back in his chair, the papers spilled out across the desk before him. There was really nothing in those papers that could help Chandler defended his client. Well, he might just be able to get a ‘manslaughter’ verdict. But nothing better. Did his client deserve any better? He had killed a man, albeit under self-defense pretenses. But he still killed a man. Did he really deserve to get off relatively scott-free?

Chandler ran his hand through his hair and stared out the window. This was why he hated his job. Too much ethics and too little of the ‘right’ thing. What was the ‘right’ thing, even? It was, on most occasions, just a case of relativity.

“Why did I even take up this case?” Chandler asked himself, taking a sip of his tea. It was cold and thick. He drank it anyway.

He looked back at the papers.

The case was pretty simple. A guy named ‘Ra Collin’ - Chandler figured his parents must’ve been fans of Egyptians, or something - was attacked by a guy (god knows why), whereupon Ra punched the guy to death... in one blow. This was Ra’s story, not verbatim, of course. For all Chandler knew, Ra had actually killed the guy and had weaved together this story to get a shorter sentence - hoping that Chandler could get a manslaughter plea or better. You get life for murder, but a lot less for manslaughter.

“Oh, I hate being an attorney; the whole gamut!”

Chandler decided to just trust his client - as he’d been taught in law school.

Time for a break. Chandler pushed himself out of his chair and wandered around his apartment, holding his tea in his hand. The clock on the wall chimed the hour. Eleven o’clock... at night. Chandler paced around the couch in a wide arc. What could he put together to get a good verdict?

Chandler was just completing his eleventh circuit of the couch when there was a knock on the door. Who in the world would come knocking at this hour? Taking one last sip of his now ice-tea, Chandler walked to the door and opened it a crack.

“Who is it?” He asked.

Bang! There was a flare of heat and a sharp pain on his forehead, and then it was lights out.

When he came to there was light streaming from the window and the sun was just raising up from behind the buildings. Groaning, Chandler pushed himself to his feet. His head HURT. Dizziness overtook him so he leaned against the wall. When the dizziness had subsided, he looked around his apartment. The couch was still intact, thank god. So was the television. And the bookcase. Everything seemed fine, until he looked at his shirt. His shirtfront was covered in blood. He lowered his gaze till he meet the floor. A big red flower stained the once-white carpet. God damn it. There was a bullet on next to the stain. Chandler picked it up and placed it inside his pocket.

What had happened?

Then it hit him. The knocking stranger. The shot. He’d been murdered.

“Right. That doesn’t happen often. It usually only happens once, to most people, actually.” He thought to himself.

What had they wanted? Chandler wondered. They hadn’t taken the wide-screen television, nor the expensive leather couch. Chandler gazed across his apartment. Everything looked in order. Odd. Why would somebody want to murder Chandler? A couple of ideas quickly sprang to mind. Maybe he had defended someone who later murdered or hurt someone else, and the person who had attacked Chandler wasn’t happy with that? Maybe Chandler hadn’t defended someone well enough and ended up with getting them the ‘guilty’ verdict? But why not kill the judge, then? There were thousands of possibilities.

Chandler wondered briefly if killing an invincible man would count as murder but then he saw his desk. The papers. They were gone. Every last paper of the ‘Ra Collins’ case was gone.

“Alright. I guess that’s the motive.”

[Ra Collin]

Ra lay in his cell remembering the situation he caused a huge ruckus a few weeks earlier.

He was walking down the street as he usually would, avoiding police and security cameras. He now regrets that, avoiding parents and authorities is one thing. But being caught after throwing a single punch he's regretted avoiding the open. Ra remembers being approached from behind he remembers seeing a familiar face, but he wasn't sure where he had seen it.

“Didn't I catch you like two years ago, or are all kids looking the same?” He said in slight surprise. From his backpack he reached in and fished out a net. Everything moved much faster from them on.

Ra was caught in a net, screaming wouldn't earn him any help what-so-ever. Not any normal sort of net this one felt like it had a taser attached to it. It was clear Ra's shuddering was giving his captor trouble, he was jerking and turning, throwing his limbs in every direction stretching the metal laced rope.
Ra screamed out in pain before thrusting his legs in one direction he tore through the net breaking it's circuit. Instinct told him to run away but Ra couldn't move. If this man got back to his superiors and told them that he was still alive.

The man looked at his net dazed at what had just happened, when he came too he reached to his belt for a baton. Ra had his speculations it too was electrified. Swinging towards Ra's face it's tore through the air with a humming sound. In a honest reaction Ra threw his fist forward hitting the man in the head.
It was a instant KO. In the alley of a street they were in Ra saw the baton land in a puddle the man had fallen into. If the attacker wasn't already dead he would be for sure now.

Ra never ran, he was found by the police when locals called them in. He accepted arrest and didn't fight it. He just hoped his father didn't hear of this. Chances of that were low, juvenile crimes were on the rise and often aren't covered by the press, it's all old news now.

Ra's lawyer seemed like a nice man, he told him everything he needed too. Maybe missing the parts of illegal test labs and the fact he'd been missing off the face of the planet for two years. Ra never changed his name and he wasn't sure if his records were stored anywhere. He told authorities he had no parents and lives on the streets in Urupha, it was a often sold and believed story. He didn't want his parents to actually be involved.

It would be worse if his father was thrown into this. You see Ra's father is the mayor of the city Copell, if the press found anything he'd be in trouble. Add the fact Ra has been dead for two years and you have a situation, worse than the small predicament he is in now.
And the secret lab he was brought too would be factored into this equation too,

Ra hoped nothing went wrong and that he'd be out in no time. He trusts Chandler to help, maybe he'll make a case with the laboratories. A small chuckle escaped his lips. He thought he wasn't smart enough for all of this. Maybe much, much later.

Ra stayed up into the early morning when he'd meet with Chandler again, he couldn't wait to leave the smelly cell.