“Hey, Blondie. Running late?” Mitchell asked.
“No, JK Brooks, I am not. If you had thought to look at your watch before you spoke, you’d realize I’m exactly on time,” Pierson stated as he pulled back a chair as far away from Mitchell as he could manage.
Gavrael had no idea why the pair couldn’t stand each other, but each time they were in a room together it was like watching oil and water mix—only with fireworks and sarcasm.
“Don’t get your panties in a bunch, Blondie, it’s called teasing.”
Ignoring the grinning Juris Knight, Pierson opened the file he brought with him. “Should we get started?”
“I assume everyone has had time to review Wesley Draconis’s case?”
“His blood was not only connected to the Consilium wizard Oklin, but Vampyr Lord Grigori was able to extricate it from the isolated strains of the potion they pulled from His Majesty,” Mitchell stated grimly. All the good cheer drained from him the moment he glanced down at his own file.
“With the phone number Oklin gave the Lich Sentinel, the burner phone was also traced back to him as we were lucky enough to get a grainy picture from the discount store not far from his home where he bought it,” Gedeon added.
“We peeled apart the layers from the art purchases as well. While he did buy several pieces, they aren’t worth the amount pulled from his account. We may never unravel how he managed to make things look so convincing, but I’m guessing with his former connection to the Emperor’s Office he saw no problem abusing the power his position provided,” Pierson said.
“I believe we can agree there is plenty of evidence,” Gavrael remarked.
“A part of me still isn’t fully convinced he was capable of doing this alone, but he’s not talking, and we haven’t found any other evidence implicating anyone,” Mitchell commented with a frown.
“He didn’t do it alone, Brooks. He had Oklin’s help,” Pierson corrected.
Mitchell rolled his eyes. “I know that, Blondie. I mean beyond those two.”
“There are no other leads to follow. Are you not comfortable closing this case?” Gavrael asked.
“No, I’m willing to close it. It can be reopened in the future if anything new surfaces. I just can’t fully convince myself he worked alone.” Mitchell gave Pierson an unimpressed glance. “Or more accurately, in addition to Oklin.”
“Did the Sentinel Brotherhood finalize the list of charges against him?” Pierson asked, ignoring Mitchell.
“We have, but we welcome the input of the Order of the Fallen Knights,” Gavrael stated.
“Aggravated assault with a weapon, conspiracy to obstruct a matebond, obstructing a matebond, conspiring with a foreign entity, conspiracy to endanger the Council of Sorcery and Shifters, and reckless endangerment,” Mitchell read from the paperwork Gavrael had typed up. “I think there are a few minor ones we might be able to tack on, but it isn’t going to affect the sentencing.”
“While you may not wish to add any other council-specific laws, the dragons have a law they added in 1369 after the deaths of Emperor Drystan and Emperor Conley. The sentencing would be null and void since the Council won’t hand Wesley over to the dragons, but it’s conspiracy to harm an emperor. It would mostly be a symbolic gesture—however, I think in this case our emperors deserve that,” Pierson stated.
“I agree,” Gedeon responded. “The dragons had to hand over this whole case to our races instead of chasing down the culprit and punishing him. The least we can do is make sure we use Emperor Chrysander’s law to show we will do whatever it takes to pick up the torch he left behind when he rid his people of all the treacherous dukes who conspired together in 1369.”
“I’m not going to argue that one. Let’s do it,” Mitchell said.
“I will when I add the sentencing we select,” Gavrael promised.
“Let’s get to that,” Mitchell suggested. “Do we want to assign a sentence for each crime?”
“There’s no need. Wesley Draconis has been charged with obstruction of a matebond and conspiracy to obstruct. Those two together automatically put the death penalty on the table. We should start with that. If we decide he doesn’t qualify for death, then we move on to the other charges,” Pierson replied.
“I am in agreement with that,” Gavrael responded. The Sentinel Brotherhood was new to being involved in crime and punishment, but he was familiar with death. Once he’d thrown his dagger into the heart of a woman who’d attacked the Grand Warlock. It was justice and he had no problem handing down that same sentence to another guilty party.
“Is there any disputable evidence to set aside?” Pierson asked.
“Absolutely not, this all holds,” Mitchell retorted, his tone daring Pierson to argue.
The Juris Knight simply returned his attention to his papers for a brief second. A heartbeat later, his gaze lifted to Gavrael. “My sentence is death.”
“As much as it goes against the grain to agree with Blondie here, my sentence is also death.”
“Justice in this case is death,” Gedeon added.
