"So," Gart chuckled to himself, his beer gut bouncing. "Do you want to hear how my son was proudly two timing the most popular girl on the side, while secretly seeing a little side dish..."
The room was silent, but the harsh veneer from everyone in the room including the judge, made it clear that no one was proud of his son. Victoria was seething, her long nail being torn apart by her teeth. It seemed to Mina that King and Queen Perfect of Yellow Meadows High were a total sham, and she would have celebrated in any other circumstance.
"I really don't want to hear about your piggy son," Divine Justice said, reading the room. "But will provide something vital to this case...a motive!"
"Great..." Gart said, rubbing his hands together hungrily. "Where should I begin?"
Mina rolled her eyes. "At the part where you don't live vicariously through your son!"
"Well," Gart smirked. "We do share the same name for a reason, girlie. But if you insist. One day, my son came home with another girl. At first, I scolded him like any good father should..."
"Because he shouldn't be cheating on his main squeeze?!" Lawvis Cresley remarked, questioning his client.
"Nah," Gart said casually. "A cool father like me is down with a side squish! I just didn't want him to jeopardize his relationship with the Electra girl. We Garts are master gigolos after all!"
Mina narrowed her eyes. "That's not the only thing that jiggles," she said as the man's gut wobbled with belly laughter.
"So..." Gart asked. "I asked my son who's the pretty young thang. And he said, Ariel Hedley's sister, Abigail. She was a bit of a wallflower, younger, nerdier, not a social butterfly, but my son's stellar taste clear came from his father..."
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"Ariel Headly..." Mina said to herself.
That was Vicki's second in command, mean girl. A humongous ditz brain who was so stupid she seemed to occasionally forget to breath until Vicki whacked her on the back of her head. But...Abby Headley...that was a name she hadn't heard in a long time.
Especially because...Abby was dead.
Mina wasn't sure how it happened. The Headley family has always kept it a secret. But her brainier sister, who seemed to have found herself in Gart's grip, was no longer of this world.
"Anyway," Gart said, eyeing Victoria callously. "I told Brad Jr. to be careful with this shy demure girl, but apparently it got out...and that Electra girl found out..."
"But why didn't you breakup?!" Mina demanded, turning to Victoria.
Vicki raised both fits to her head. "Unlike you, pinky, I had an image to protect. I would be the laughing stock of the whole school if I had lost my boyfriend to some anime club geekazoid!"
The audience rumbled. Many seemed sickened by the exploits of the Garts, but Vicki was equally inflammatory.
"So," Lawvis said with a smile. "Looks like Miss Electra has a motive for MURDERING Mr. Gart Jr. She may look like an angel and talk like an angel but...SHE'S THE DEVIL IN DISGUISE, BABY!"
The judge lowered her spectacles. "What did I say about Elvis puns, Larry? But you do have a point. This is a clearly motive. I am surprised there's been no objections from Miss Hawkins. She normally annoyed my grandson with her perky protests..."
Mina wanted to object so bad, but she was afraid Mr. Gart's testimony was flawless. Vicki didn't cry at Brad's death and he had been cheating on her. It was the classic love-revenge-killing.
"If the defense rests," Divine remarked. "Then the jury will deliberate....I..."
"LIKE STOOOOOP GUYS!" a high pitched voice wailed from the door.
Standing at the entrance, was yet another bleached blond girl in a yellow and grey blazer and mini skirt. Unlike Vicki, she has a twin pair of pigtails and her eyes were oddly squinted. "Like stop guys!" she said again, panting, "I have a reason these two like shouldn't be married."
Mina realized it was Ariel Headly. Vicki's best friend. Mina rolled her eyes yet again. "That's great, Ariel," she answered. "Except this isn't a wedding, it's a potential incarceration."
Ariel squinted her eyes even further. "Like aren't they the same thing?"