October had arrived in the courthouse and Mina arrived to find it bedecked in light green witches, jangly skeletons, electric Jack O' Lanterns and scariest of all, a fresh murder case for her to solve. One that had just as much twists and turns as a horror movie (or more likely, a mystery noir, but she wanted to keep with the spooky theme.)

Mina and Raven waited in the courthouse lobby as Maria and Ricki showed up. Seeing them next to each other Mina realized that beauty knew no gender for the Montero family. Ricki had full lips, long flowing eyelashes and chocolate brunette locks of hair as long as his sister's. And it was clear why he was mistaken for Maria Santiago, the elusive criminal mastermind.

However, unlike Monica, with her commanding stature and poise, he looked quite fearful of his fate. In a bright purple jumpsuit, he cowered in hand cuffs. "Senorita attorney!" he wailed. "I am much too fabuloso for prison!"

Raven chuckled and patted the frames fashionista on the back. "A new twist on an old line. I welcome it. And I agree."

Mina raised a thick eyebrow.

Raven practically squawked. "The fabulous part. Not the prison!"

Mina rolled her eyes, but smiled, giving her trademark peppy-talk to her client. "Fear not, Ricki! Monica filled us in on the situation. The true situation. And I fully agree you're innocent!"

Monica nodded. She was dressed down, avoiding her signature bright purples to avoid signalling any signs she was Santiago. "Si. Mi hermano," she said in her deep sultry voice. "It is my fault you're in this situation. If I had my way, you'd be designing fashion lines in Paris. Not some two bit crimin..."

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Shhhh!" Mina shushed Monica. "I still haven't figured out how to spin this."

Monica answered her with wide eyes. "Do you still think it is that diablo detective?"

Mina was silent, but at least she nodded. "Yes. I just wish I knew something about him. Normally, when a suspicious French man shows up out of nowhere, it never amounts to anything good."

Raven stuck his fingers through his belt loop. "All I could find was he gained prominence last year on a criminal case in French Canada. Afterwards, he took part in several investigations on Ms. Santiago, but until now he wasn't able to find anything until now."

"Drat rats!" Mina muttered. "That doesn't help me at all."

"Gee thanks!" Raven squawked. "I spent all morning on Leakipedia!"

Mina rubbed her chin and pondered his words a bit longer. "Maybe I'll have to look into his history myself when I get the chance. But right now, there's no time. I just have to work on getting Ricki cleared of all wrongdoings!"

"Si!" Ricki said. "Perhaps people will reassess my fashion line when they know the truth. And that I am truly fabuloso enough for high fashion!"

Loud stomps echoed in the lobby drawing everyone's attention to the front entrance. When Mina caught wind of who was walking with iron-toed soles her mouth nearly dropped.

There was a man, about six feet tall, clad in a magnificent but blood red velvet tuxedo, a jet black cape and a dark helmet enclosed over his face. His footfall was leaden and what accompanied it was sharp breathes, sounding like he was a cosplayer of the Shadow Invader from Planet Wars.

But the scarier thing was, the man did not seem like he was a mere nerd at a space convention. His stature and his sickly breathes were absolutely unnerving. And as he made his way through the lobby, everyone made sure they were not in this man's way. Even Monica Montero, the suave criminal widened her eyes at this sight. "Ay dio mios. Who is this man?"

The man did not answer. But he stopped right in front of their group. Mina squeaked loudly as he turned his head towards her, his sharp breathing the only noise between them. His voice was masked by a vocoder and he lifted a steely gloved hand to point at her. "SEE YOU IN THE COURTROOM, INFERIOR ATTORNEY," his garbled, but deep voice said.

"Who are you?!" Mina peeped up, curiosity in her eyes.

"I AM THE DARK PERSECUTOR AND I HAVE BEEN AUTOMATED TO REGISTER YOUR IMMINENT DOWNFALL, ATTORNEY HAWKINS."