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Gina Lestrade never had an easy life. She was born in East End of unknown parents, or at least, unknown to her. And whoever they were, as it happened they never cared about what she became, she soon decided to not care either. Her real family was the kids she grew up with in the streets. Life wasn’t easy but she got used to it. She quickly learnt the best streets to wander in, where the probability to cross rich people was the highest. She figured out which were the most oblivious and most vulnerable targets to steal from, and she taught the younger kids the same. Such was the life at East End: every day Gina woke up with the same question: “will I be able to eat today?”
Omnibuses circulating late in the evening were usually perfect places to steal money. Most of the times, the occupants were tired by a long day of work and fell asleep, often with their purses full of the income of the working day. It had worked perfectly well until that fateful night when Gina unwillingly witnessed Magnus McGilded murdering someone. He dragged her to court and forced her to give a false testimony. The man was rich enough to buy London twice, so when he’d threatened her to rase East End, she had believed him. She didn’t have much there, just a small abandoned house with little furniture inside. The windows were mostly broken, letting the heat of summer or the freezing cold of winter coming in. Still, the temperatures were more bearable than outside and she had a roof atop of her head, a safe place to rest. She shared this place with her family and if anything happened to them because of her, she would hate herself forever.
So she had no other choice but to comply. Thankfully McGilded was dead but she still had to carry one last task: retrieve a disc from a pawnbroker. By lack of luck, said pawnbroker was killed and she was now officially indicted for this crime. The penalty for murder was death. Just because she was at the wrong place at the wrong time, she would be hanged. She could still try to defend herself, she was innocent after all. But no one among the cops believed her. She was a nobody, just a small pickpocket from East End like many others. She had a right to a defense, and she had given up that right immediately. Entrusting her fate to a public barrister, a perfect stranger, was out of the question. She was better off defending herself. And she’d probably end up doing so. She had no money to pay for a decent lawyer, she didn’t know any decent lawyer to start with, apart from this Japanese student maybe. What was his name again? Something with Oddo? Gina couldn’t remember.
Great was her surprise to see this Oddo guy showing up in her cell, accompanied with his assistant and the little Iris Wilson. “Wot do ya want?”
Ryu cleared his throat. “It is because of us that you ended in trouble. So I was thinking we might be able to help you.”
“Well, you can’t. Get lost.” Her tone left no room for negotiation.
“Don’t be like that, Ginny. I know you didn’t do it. You’d never shoot someone!” Iris pleaded.
“You think you know me? You ain’t got the idea of the likes of me. I’m a thief! I pinch people’s purses when they’re walkin’ down the street. I’d sneak into a pawn shop any day o' the week. Just to see wot I could lay me 'ands on! Get it? That's the kind o' person I am! I'll be in court tomorra, they said. Some cove came by before and said he'd be a lawyer for me. But I told 'im to get stuffed. I don't need no lawyer! I don't need no one!”
“Why did you send the public defender away?” Ryu asked.
“It's all gonna be rigged anyway. The whole trial. They'll pin it on me cos I'm a kid. That's wot grown-ups always do.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Cos that's 'ow it's always been for me, growin' up in the back slums. Me whole life. If you do wot the grown-ups tell ya, it'll get yer mates dragged off by the coppers. Or worse. You can't trust no one, that's the point.”
Ryu preferred to drop the subject for now. “Gina, could you please tell us what happened at the pawnbroker’s?”
“There’s nuffin’ to tell. I broke into the place and started goin' through the storeroom. But the old bloke walked in on me and... you know the rest.”
“But why would you do that?”
“Ain’t it obvious? The place is full o' stuff I could sell for a shillin' or two. Divin' ain't easy, you know. It's a lot o' work, and 'alf the time you don't even get nuffin’.”
Ryu crossed his arms on his chest. “I mean, the true reason…”
“Please tell us, Ginny. We’ll believe you.” Iris promised.
“Believe me? Don't be daft! You can't believe nuffin'! Everyone lies all the time. An' you know wot? When it comes to liars...I'm the biggest o' the lot! I've...I've told some unforgivable lies, I have!”
The two Japanese and the little girl widened their eyes. “Unforgivable lies? Is it something to do with the trial that happened two months ago? The one in which McGilded was acquitted?” Ryu immediately asked.
I should have kept my big mouth shut… Gina rolled her eyes. Admitting she gave a false testimony wasn’t going to make her case worse anyway. McGilded was dead, and she was going to join him soon. Plus, her visitors weren’t going to leave before they heard the truth.
And so she told them everything: how she confirmed McGilded’s testimony and how he coerced her. Neither Ryu, nor Susato, nor Iris judged her for that. Or at least, they said nothing about it. These lies had weighted heavily on her for two months now. Speaking them out loud felt relieving somehow.
“Thank you, Gina. For telling us everything.”
“But...I'm for it now, eh?! Go on, admit it! You must be livid!”
“Well...you can make amends by doing me a simple favour.”
“Wot?”
“Sign the representation papers for tomorrow's trial.”
Gina blinked and stared at the three. Ryu had lost McGilded’s trial because of her lies, and still… he wanted to defend her now?
“If you don't actually want me to represent you in court, you can rip it up later. But we need that paperwork or we can't investigate. The police won't let us.”
“Investigate wot?”
“The scene of the incident…”
“Ginny… Hurley was shot. He’s at the hospital.” Iris explained.
Mr Sholmes, shot? The poor Gina had no clue. She was probably already out when that happened. “Is, is 'e gonna be alright? Sholmes is gonna be alright...right?”
The pink haired girl looked at the floor in silence, she seemed alone and lost and that sight was heartbreaking. If it weren’t for these bars, Gina would have hugged her. Iris and Sholmes were among the rare people she knew and trusted. Sholmes was a grown up but he had always treated her well. He wasn’t the type of person who’d pin a murder on her too.
And maybe… this Japanese student and his assistant weren’t this type of person either. From what she had seen in McGilded’s trial, these two cared about finding the truth and exposing it. And for Gina, the truth was clear as day: she was innocent. But who had killed Windibank? This was still a mystery, she had no clue, no relevant proof or testimony to help solving this crime. Maybe that Egg Benedict bloke was to blame for it. He had proved to be very interested in McGilded’s coat and the disk that went with it. But has he gone as far as to kill him for it? And what was that disk about anyway? Well, she’d find out tomorrow.
For the moment, she extended her hand and Susato handed her the papers.
Ryu spoke no word but his face said everything. He was glad, thankful to Gina for signing the papers, but also for telling the truth about McGilded.