2019.

Judge Ghosh tugged at his beard thoughtfully as he looked down from his bench at Zack. “What I am curious about,” he said, “was exactly why you decided to ask the District Attorney to drop the charges against Miss Chapel — in your own words please.” 

Zack looked at the DA who nodded at him, encouraging him to speak. It became clear he had been coached on just what to say as soon as he opened his mouth. “Your Honor, um… the night of the… altercation…” Never could that word sound natural coming from him. “…there was a lot of emotions and… you see, afterward, things kind of calmed and because of that… I experienced a change in… perspection… I mean, perception. And that led me to kind of see that maybe I had… misremembered the events and… everything.”

“Ah, yes,” Judge Ghosh said with a nod. “This happens.”

Here, District Attorney Kim spoke for him. “Your honor,” she said, “considering this change in testimony, the State would like to move that the charges of Aggravated Assault be reduced to Simple Assault. And, after speaking with Miss Chapel’s counsel, we have agreed to ask for a suspended sentence.”

“I see. The Plaintiff may be seated.” He turned to Gracie’s table, where she sat beside Hancock. “Miss Chapel, would you please share with me why there will not be a repeat of this incident?”

Gracie stood to answer and realized she had the power of extreme understatement on her side. “Well, your honor, a whole lot has changed since then, for me and for how I understand… a lot of stuff. And, because of that, I wouldn’t make the same choices if I saw what I saw that night. Not again.”

“Interesting. And why is that?”

She thought back to a few nights before in the dojo, when Kevin had gone through some hand-to-hand combat drills with her, specifically around disarming an opponent with a bladed weapon.

When they started out, Gracie got to be the opponent, pointing a rubber dagger at Kevin, just as she had done with the broken beer bottle the night she first saw him in costume. He let her attack him three different times and disarmed her in three different ways. Then he went through each again at half speed, allowing her to take in each technique before she practiced being the one to disarm him.

Afterward, as they sat with their water bottles and towels, rehydrating and dabbing off sweat, Gracie brought up the murder investigation. “Hey, so, about Edward Finn…”

“Yes?”

“Danny was telling me a little more about all that. I just knew he had died recently. But I didn’t know he was murdered.”

“He was.”

“So, like, can I help?”

“This is a murder investigation. I’m looking for someone who has the capacity to take a human life in a cold and calculated manner. That’s actually a lot more rare than movies make you think. It isn’t easy, and a person who can do that is extremely dangerous.”

But Gracie would not back down. “Look, you took me out of a bad situation. You brought me here. You’re bringing me into the world of the Crimson Wraith. And I know I’m new, but I don’t want to be sitting on my ass while you figure out who did it and go take care of him. I want to help.”

The frown he turned her way was not one she had seen before. It was sad. It was scared. 

“I’m going to be honest with you, Gracie. This situation worries me, more than just the fact that it’s murder. There are details about it I don’t like. They point to whoever this was knowing things about the Crimson Wraith, things going back years. I don’t know how much they know about us, and that not-knowing puts us at an extreme disadvantage.

“Common crime follows common patterns. Even if you don’t walk in knowing the particulars of a case, there are elements that you learn to expect. But this isn’t like that. This is a unique situation, and I do not know what dangers to anticipate.”

“Cool. You sound like you really should have someone watching your back then.” She put her arm over his muscular shoulders. “You had my back, Kev. Now, let me get yours.”

Her saying that didn’t lift the weight of fear and sadness she saw in him, but he did give the tiniest smile and nod.

“You don’t think I know what I’m getting myself into,” she said.

“You don’t,” said Kevin.

“No, I don’t. But neither did you when you reached out to me.”

His smile broadened. “I didn’t.”

And so, in the courtroom on the day of her trial, Gracie looked at Judge Ghosh, and said, “Well, Your Honor, I used to think I didn’t have anyone I could turn to when things got bad. That left it all up to me, that I had to be judge and jury and all. But I know now that I was wrong. I’m not as on my own as I thought. So, if something like that were to happen again, I could maybe reach out to the right people to handle things in the right way instead of trying to handle it all myself.”

Judge Ghosh nodded. “I’m glad to hear that. I believe I can suspend your sentence for ninety days. Complete those ninety days without arrest, and these charges will be dropped. Do you understand?”

“Yes, your honor.”

“Good, you may be seated.” He turned to Zack. “As for you, young man, I am very, very concerned that this altercation happened at all. You should understand that I would not like to see you in my courtroom ever again, particularly if it involves any form of violence against a woman. Is that understood?”

“Yes, your honor.”

And that was that. With the clack of his gavel to punctuate his ruling, court adjourned. Gracie thanked Hancock. Brianna ran up to squeeze the fuck out of her in congratulations. And Zack and his dad made it out of the courtroom, fast as they could. 

How quickly, Gracie wondered, would Zack find himself on a ferry, headed far, far away from Titan City and the Crimson Wraith? Did he have cousins down south to stay with? 

Maybe he would try to start over in some tiny, little town where he’d come off as hot shit — the big-city boy with big-city swagger. He might drop into a bar some night and start making friends with a bunch of tough talk — there are always toadies out there who love to agree with someone who thinks they are king of the world. And sure, there would be women who liked the look of him. Any of them could be his next meal ticket, if she had the right vulnerabilities.

But maybe something different would happen. He might think twice before playing the same game with someone else. A memory might flash for him — the sight of Titan City as he dangled from the Snyder-Finn Building, the high winds whistling all around him, and the sound of the Crimson Wraith’s voice in his ear. 

And, thinking twice, there was a chance that Zack might make a different choice. Gracie could hope.