Seeking for Your Forgiveness

“I’m not sure yet. We won’t know until the trial is over.”

Marianne replied in a thoughtful voice. The man, who had been staring at her for a while, continued whilst shaking his shoulders lightly.

“On the day of the incident, I heard two people fighting.”

“Really?”

At that moment, Kristoff’s eyes were fixated on the man again. The man was reaching out his hand to Marianne.

“I’m Sevan Klein.”

“Nice to meet you, Marie……”

Marianne, who was about to shake his hands, turned her eyes with an absurd look.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Klein.”

This was because Kristoff intervened between them and got Klein’s hand instead. Kristoff’s expression was shameless as he looked back at the man.

He hurriedly changed the subject, thinking Klein would ask Marianne to shake hands again.

“You said that you heard a fight?”

Klein seemed to have noticed that Kristoff was not an ordinary person just by looking at his appearance. Indeed, anyone who has eyes would notice.

The attitude that was used was to give command and instruction.

The person who rules over others from the moment he was born.

Startled, he drew his shoulders back and nodded. Rubbing his callused hands on his pants, he continued whilst staring at Kristoff. His speech and actions became more polite.

“That day, the day the officers arrested Paul. I heard Paul and Nina fighting clearly that morning. The circumstances were very fierce. I heard Paul shouting from afar, ‘I’m going to kill you!’.”

Marianne’s expression became more gloomy at his words. Klein’s words were more or less a proof resulting in Paul’s sentenced as guilty.

Kristoff asked the man expressionlessly.

“Where did the sound come from?”

“Hey, I heard a fight in the back of Mr. Keller’s house. I was working in the yard so I heard it clearly.”

Klein stretched out his fingers and pointed to the backyard of Paul’s house. Kristoff and Marianne’s eyes moved along his fingertips.

“And then, Paul ran away with a terrified look. I didn’t hear any more bickering. Therefore, I decided to just forget about it and continue on with what I was doing, so I never expected such a terrible incident to happen. I should’ve come over to see what happened. That way, Nina could still be alive now.”

The last words he uttered seemed to be directed to himself.

“It’s not your fault, Mr. Klein.”

Klein, who was rubbing his forehead with his hand, raised his head at Marianne’s words. She gave him a gentle smile.

“Thank you for the supportive remark.”

Klein stared at her peeringly. It was enough to be considered impertinent.

The meaning of the gaze was obvious. He was wondering if she was also a police officer. It was the moment when Kristoff’s brows were distorted by the man’s gaze.

“Let’s go, Kristoff.”

Marianne tugged at the hem of his clothes. Kristoff’s gaze fell to her hand.

Marianne didn’t want to cause any trouble. This has been her concern from the moment she decided to be a police offer.

After giving the man a cold glance, Kristoff began to walk slowly. Marianne, who was walking side by side with him, stopped there after taking a few steps.

Something just caught her eye. She turned her head slowly, not missing the oddity from it. Kristoff followed her gaze.

Staring at the back of Klein’s hand, asked in an airy tone. Her blue eyes moved up to Klein’s face.

“There’s a wound on the back of your hand.”

“Oh, this.”

Klein shrugged lightly as if it were nothing. He quickly hid the back of his hand behind his back.

“The cat scratched me. It was covered in mud a few days ago, and it made me like this when I tried to give him a bath. Nevertheless, I couldn’t get angry at it because it quickly rubbed itself against my legs.”

“That’s how a cat shows its charms.”

Marianne nodded as if she understood. Her eyes turned into curves.

“Then have a good day.”

Marianne, who bid him goodbye politely, proceeded toward Paul’s house. Kristoff and her walked side by side, lost in their own thoughts.

“Kristoff?”

Arriving at Paul’s house, Kristoff headed straight to the backyard instead of knocking on the front door. Marianne sighed and followed him after shooting a surprised look.

He wouldn’t answer if she asked anyway. He was a heavily reticent man, and didn’t budge until he made sure of the thought inside his head.

Thanks to that, there were times when the person he worked with became frustrated. She had quite a respect for Oliver, who had worked for Kristoff for a long time. If only she had brought an umbrella, she wanted to hit Kristoff on the back of his head.

“Are you heading to the backyard?”

“I wanted to look at the scene before meeting Paul’s mother. Maybe she’s lying.”

Kristoff didn’t think his client was always honest with him. He didn’t even trust their words unconditionally.

They lied from time to time even to Kristoff, their lawyer. It was his job to sort out the truth among those remarks that came out of them. Only then could he prepare for an unexpected attack.

Kristoff stopped suddenly. Marianne tilted her head and stuck her head over his shoulder.

The yard was small. It was the ground where there were only three wild trees. There was nothing particularly strange about it. Marianne couldn’t figure out why he stopped there.

Was there any visible thing in his eyes that was invisible to her?

She suddenly felt impatient. She wanted to know what it was. She wanted to see the things that Kristoff saw. She wanted to know how his mind worked.

Marianne couldn’t stand it any longer and took a step forward to get into the backyard. Hastily.

“!”

She was still until the next moment. The backyard was messy with the muscadines having fallen from the branches. To the point where there was no place to step on.

“Oh, dear. My shoes…….”

When Marianne groaned, “Ugh!” worrying about the soles of her shoes that would get dirty.

“Oh……!”

A low exclamation slipped out through her teeth. At the same time, a flash of realization flashed across her mind. Marianne, whose eyes opened wide, turned her head quickly.

Kristoff, whose eyes met hers, stretched the corners of his mouth faintly. It was a soft smile, unlike his personality.

“I’ll have to meet Paul again on the way back. I also have to stop by the morgue.”

Marianne, who was staring at him, nodded ever so slowly. Marianne thought the same thing, upon finally seeing the same thing as Kristoff, and held her left chest as if to grasp her quivering heart.

badump, badump.

She could feel her loudly pounding heart in the palm of her hand. Thrilling ecstasy ran down her spine. She closed her eyes tightly and opened them again, letting go of the breath she was holding for a moment.

It seemed that she was standing side by side with him for the first time.

***

“Are you all right, Madam?”

Mrs. Keller nodded helplessly at Marianne’s tender voice. She wiped her tears with a shabby handkerchief in her hand.

Kristoff looked at the sight of her indifferently. Unfortunately, her mournful burst of tears didn’t move him.

He wasn’t very fond of having such an emotional client. It was because he thought they wasted his time. It was when he threw his bored gaze out the window.

“……”

Marianne rose from her seat. Moving to the place beside Mrs. Keller, she gently caressed the back of her hand. The warmth slowly crept into Mrs. Keller’s cold hands.

“There’s no way he would be fine. There’s no way.”

Marianne’s voice was hushed and composed the entire time as if comforting her. Mrs. Keller’s sobbing grew even louder.

That was not the way to soothe a mourning fellow.

Kristoff stared at them reluctantly. He seemed to have waited even longer. He threw an intense glance at Klein, who was snooping over the fence. Klein awkwardly turned his back on Kristoff after their eyes met.

“How heartbroken Madam must be to lose your daughter and even your son was taken by the police. I don’t even dare to guess. I can’t give empty words such as saying that I understand you. However, Mrs. Keller, you have to tell me everything. That’s how you can save Paul.”

“Huhu…… Paul, my poor child.”

Her tears continued to stream down incessantly.

“Yes, he’s a poor child. The child is waiting for your help now. Mrs. Keller, I know it’s hard, but take a deep breath and relax. And think back to that time with a cool-head. You can do it. Because you are a mother…… The strongest person in the world. You’re the only one who can help Paul now.”

“!”

Mrs. Keller looked up slowly with a blank look on her face. She was embarrassed like someone who has been hit on the back of their head. The focus gradually returned to her shaking gaze.

“Yes, it’s you, his mother. Paul’s mother. And…… Nina’s mother.”

Marianne, who quietly stretched the corners of her mouth, spoke in a soft voice.

“I assure you. Kristoff is the best lawyer in the kingdom. So, you can trust him, because if he can’t, nobody else can.”

Kristoff’s eyes grew slightly wider at her words after displaying a glint of uninterest. He looked like a child who just received an unexpected gift.

Emotions crept onto his previously aloof face. Kristoff stared at Mrs. Keller, his gaze even more serious than ever.

Marianne was watching him. It was one of the most important trials she would experience in her life. Such a fact weighed on his shoulders.

“I’ll wait until you’re ready to talk, Madam.”

“……No, I’m going to do it now. I will tell you everything I know, Mr. Lawyer.”

Mrs. Keller nodded, squeezing her handkerchief with her hands. Marianne patted the woman on the back of her hand, as if sending a rush of courage.

“You have to tell me the truth about everything you know. If you hide anything, there is a possibility of being unexpectedly attacked in court. That would be our disadvantage. Therefore, you have to tell me everything. The truth is the most powerful weapon we can get our hands on.”

“I will.”

Kristoff stared at Marianne, who helped the grieving mother stand up at once. Perhaps, she was much more capable than he expected.

His mouth suddenly loosened. The fingers movement scratching his temple turned languid.

“Where should we start?”

Mrs. Keller looked at Kristoff with red eyes. Slowly turning his eyes, he spoke in a plain tone.

“From beginning to end.”

His voice shook the snipping afternoon air.

“Tell me the truth as it is. For example, like the carpet that was said to be placed under the stairs which was originally in the living room.”

“!”

Mary inhaled sharply. Marianne also looked back at him with a surprised face. The scene when he lifted the carpet on the day they found the body suddenly came to her mind.

The floor where the dust was supposed to pile up.

If the carpet was supposed to be there, the dust wouldn’t have been piling up on the floor. Therefore, the carpet was not originally there.

Therefore, where was it placed? Marianne belatedly clicked her tongue in regret that she should have looked for the traces of the carpet in the house that day.

She still had a long way to go. It was her mere imagination to think that she stood side by side with him. She could see Kristoff’s back one step ahead of her.