"A GHOSTWRITER?!" was the words on everyone's lips. Mina's left-field accusation had managed to create a shockwave that shook everyone including Ashley. The normally catty prosecutor just stood dumbfounded. Though she carefully rubbed her chin perplexed with her spiked gloves.
The judge snapped first at Mina."A ghostwriter? Like a…"
Mina held up her hands, making her back look hunched. She deepened her voice and moved her hands up and down. "Yes! Whoo a spooky spooky ghostwriter!"
"Defense…" Ashley said. "Please clarify what you mean?"
"Well…foolish mortal…" Mina cackled. "You said Whitney's testimony was written from beyond the grave."
"Undergrad…" Ashley said impatiently. "I know what I said, I don't think, you on the other hand, know what you said! I was talking about a figure of speech and if you don't know that, I'm afraid you're even more juvenile than your fashion sense."
"Leave my pink positivity out of this," Mina childed her before pointing to Janie. "But let's look at it like this. If Whitney had a conservatorship, I don't think she was in the shape to be writing 'dang-ing' condemnations of her ex and the whole music industry!"
The gossip spinning around the room stopped dead and there were faint gasps. All eyes were on Mina as her tale grew taller. She felt confident even when she was stark Raven mad.
"Methinks someone else is behind this memoir," Mina said and pointed straight at Janie. "Someone like her!"
The blonde near replica of Whitney Stabs turned bright pink. "Uh…what…" she stuttered in a ditzy tone. "Why would I…? Um…prosecution…like help me please!"
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But Mina stalked her prey like a professionally certified tigress (metaphorically, she was feeling as if she could go head to head with Ashley in terms of jungle cat-ness). "I'll go one step further! Janie Lila Stabs, you were quick to plug your sis's autobiography even in this courtroom. Is this late stage capitalism run amok?! Or something even more devious!"
The prosecution had been struck as dumb as Mina's statements. But they made total sense. Janie had just as much of a vendetta against Dustin as her sister, if not more for pushing her sister over the edge mentally.
"Admit it," Mina said with a finger gun and a wink. "Janie's got a gun….a smoking one that is!"
Mina chuckled and thought to herself, "This is all so cuckoo bananas they have to consider it!"
Even Dustin was impressed and he fired his own finger gun at her from the bench. "Good sleuthing, babygirl. You're on fire. Keep this up and there will be justice!"
Mina's heart fluttered but she was sad to see Blind wasn't as excited. Had he found a loophole in her argument she hadn't foreseen?
"Nah," Mina said shaking her head. "What do you say judge-y judgerson? Clearly Miss Stabs is interested in soiling my client's clean reputation with her dirty book!"
The judge shook his fuzzy head. "I don't know what I say…prosecution?"
Mina turned her head back to Ashley and she really wished she didn't. Ashley had a hungry, toothy lioness grin "Now, I'm a tip-top Yarhard Grad," she said for the millionth time "I am a master of the books. And what I know is sometimes it doesn't matter who wrote the book, but what's inside that counts."
"That's oddly nice of you," Mina said looking nervous. "But…"
"If Janie wrote this dirt," Ashley said, extended one of her gloves of white velvet. "about her sister's awful relationship, obviously she was close enough to the suspect and victim to know of their life!"
Boldly, Janie stepped forward. "Everyone," she announced. "I indeed hired a ghostwriter! But I did it to protect my sister from a bad, bad, no good, wicked man!"