Chapter 298: The Texas Girl with a Detective Obsession: What Does It Mean to Break Through Defenses in One Move?!
Lisa immediately elbowed her roommate.
She was from Texas.
Naturally, she knew which word Texans loved most.
One word: guns!
But if you had to add an adjective before that word, it would definitely be "big"!
In the eyes of Texans, firearms weren't just for men—women and kids too.
But a real Texan must handle a big gun!
In that respect, she was indeed a source of Texas pride.
However, since arriving in this East Coast town, her absolute confidence in this area had been slightly tempered, which was why she didn't react immediately.
"What kind of job are you planning to look for?"
After joking and teasing each other for a while, her roommate finally got down to business.
"I'd like to check out AC Consulting first,"
Lisa said, leaning back on the sofa. "If there are no openings, then I'll have to try the courthouse. I used to work as a court stenographer in Texas."
"AC Consulting?"
her roommate exclaimed in surprise. "That's Detective Chuck's company. You're really going after him? Seriously?"
"Is that a problem?"
Lisa smiled. "I've always been interested in real detective work."
"AC Consulting hardly ever hires,"
her roommate said. "It's not like others haven't had the same idea, but his company only has a female secretary—there's practically no staff at all."
She then looked at Lisa's beautiful face and stunning figure, nodding. "But with your looks, you'll stand out wherever you go. You should definitely give it a shot.
If you could actually get together with Detective Chuck, the two Texas success stories combined would be absolutely legendary, attracting attention everywhere."
"I hope so,"
Lisa said, her light blue eyes filled with anticipation and determination.
New York
Monica's Apartment
The usual crowd had gathered.
Even Ross, who never got along with Chuck, shamelessly showed up and didn't leave when Chuck and Randy arrived.
"Chuck, is she definitely going to prison?"
Phoebe asked curiously.
"Yes."
Chuck nodded.
"She doesn't seem like a bad person."
Phoebe shook her head. "Maybe there really is that evil alter personality, Emma."
"And then?"
Chuck asked expressionlessly.
"Then she should be innocent."
Phoebe said seriously. "It's not her fault."
"Think about the consequences before you say that."
Chuck reminded her. "Your childhood was pretty chaotic. Imagine if childhood was twice as traumatic after Esther's case—how do you think that would affect things?"
"Oh my God!"
Phoebe exclaimed. "My mom wasn't just shot by a criminal—she's also going to come back as a zombie?"
"..."
Everyone was speechless at Phoebe's wild imagination.
"Your mother wasn't shot, she committed suicide!"
Monica retorted. "Chuck means that Esther took revenge by repeatedly murdering the families who kindly adopted her, and almost always succeeded.
Although she was an adult, she looked like a little girl, which sets a terrible precedent.
From now on, adoption rates from orphanages will definitely plummet, and it'll probably take years to recover.
Isn't that cruel to those truly innocent children?"
"But Esther might also be innocent,"
Phoebe argued.
"She's not innocent, I'm telling you!"
Chuck said. "And her life matters, but what about the lives of other completely unrelated children?
What about the lives of her first adoptive parents and brother who were burned alive?"
"What you're saying isn't entirely right either..."
A small muttered voice emerged—it was Ross who blurted it out, but before he could finish, everyone's stares made him choke, and he didn't dare say more.
"Name one thing I said that's wrong!"
Chuck looked at him.
"..."
Ross paused, then retorted. "Just because it hasn't happened before doesn't mean it won't happen now, and certainly doesn't mean it won't happen in the future."
"Are you sure you want me to be wrong this time?"
Chuck said calmly. "Being sentenced to a psychiatric facility is good for her—makes it easier to escape—but it's not necessarily good for certain people.
Being sentenced to prison, at least, means she's still considered a normal person.
For those 'Divorce Champions,' they might even be able to date and marry her, and then divorce her."
Everyone in the apartment was stunned by Chuck's words, and the entire place fell silent. Only the naturally oblivious Randy subconsciously asked, "Who's the Divorce Champion?"
"Hahaha!"
That was the trigger, and the apartment erupted in laughter.
The apartment was full of young adults—only Ross and Randy were married, and only Ross was divorced.
Although the origin of the title "Divorce Champion" was unclear, at this moment, only Ross fit the description.
Moreover, everyone knew about Ross's unspoken thoughts, otherwise he wouldn't have asked that same question about legality like he did about Esther.
"I've only been divorced once!!!"
Ross roared, his face flushed red. "I'm not some divorce champion!!!"
"Have faith in yourself!"
Chuck said bluntly. "Even if you don't believe in yourself, you can believe in me. What I'm saying now is that your next marriage will definitely be shorter than the last one."
"Don't get excited."
Chandler smiled and put his arm around the red-faced Ross. "Actually, what Chuck said makes sense. If Esther's in prison, she could still date, get married, and have conjugal visits. If you really have feelings for her, that's definitely better than a psychiatric facility."
"I don't!!!"
Ross roared even louder.
There was no way around it!
Although Esther was 33, she currently had the body of a 9-year-old, and crucially, her defense lawyer insisted her mental age was also 9.
Before a verdict was reached, how could he dare admit anything?
"Mention my name, and your success rate will double,"
Chuck said seriously.
"Because she hates you?"
Chandler teased. "Knowing Ross and Monica's relationship, she'd think of using Ross as a tool to get revenge on you?"
Ross, who was yelling, had a change in expression.
"Huh, you're actually really interested!"
The naturally naive Randy expressed his observation with surprise and honesty.
"..."
Ross felt that choosing to stay here was the biggest mistake he'd ever made.
After a while of chaos, Chuck drove Monica to Paige's place, having just received a call from her.
Without needing to say much, everyone felt they should prioritize the needs of the gifted girl.
"Really, I don't need to do anything?"
After sending Monica away, Paige chatted with Chuck. "I heard everything Beth said about what happened in court, and I know you caught her logical inconsistencies.
But as long as she stays hidden and doesn't reveal her malevolent side to the jury, convicting her solely through logical reasoning still doesn't guarantee success.
You know those jury members are ordinary people—at the very last moment, with Esther's acting skills, they might still waver."
"I know,"
Chuck nodded calmly.
One of his previous consulting jobs was helping lawyers read jury members' micro-expressions to analyze their leanings and develop more persuasive strategies.
He certainly understood what Paige was saying.
In court, he constantly monitored the jury's micro-expressions—two jurors had conflicted expressions, their psychological inclinations constantly shifting.
Until the very last moment, no one knew what decision they'd make.
This is why ordinary people are harder to predict than intelligent people.
"Should I go talk to her?"
Paige asked with a smile.
"No need."
Chuck shook his head, looking at her. "Besides, even if you did, it wouldn't work. She's not ordinary, and in this environment, she's extremely vigilant. You couldn't hypnotize her at all."
"You don't believe me?"
Paige's pretty face turned cold.
"I believe you, but this is the real world. You don't have superpowers."
Chuck said bluntly. "Don't do anything dangerous."
"What does it matter?"
Paige smiled again. "You said I'm a super-genius—it's normal for me to have an alter personality.
Besides, I'm an actual child. At worst, I could go to a psychiatric facility for a while. They can't lock me up for life.
Besides, a psychiatric facility might be quite interesting—it should be very helpful for my hypnosis research."
"I don't like this development."
Chuck looked at her. "This is pointless."
"Okay."
Paige and Chuck stared at each other for a while, then she smiled. "I was just saying... So what are you going to do? I know you don't like this uncertainty!"
"I have my own approach."
Chuck said calmly.
"I'm sure it'll be fascinating to watch."
Paige's eyes lit up.
Chuck left Monica behind to keep Paige company and drove back to his office.
AC Consulting Firm
"Looking for a job?"
Secretary Helen looked at the approaching Texas girl and refused without hesitation. "Sorry, our company doesn't have any hiring plans at the moment."
"Secretary, don't you need an assistant?"
The Texas girl, Lisa, was somewhat disappointed. "I have experience as a court stenographer and some legal work experience—I could be Detective Chuck's assistant in that area."
"No need!"
Secretary Helen sized up Lisa's captivating blue eyes and striking figure, and decisively shook her head.
"If you really knew what Detective Chuck was like, you'd know he doesn't need any legal assistants."
If this girl became Chuck's assistant, even her niece Jane would be completely outmatched and have no chance.
Just as she was trying to get rid of Lisa, Chuck walked in, glanced at Lisa, and stopped. "You're here for a job?"
"Yes!"
Lisa's eyes lit up. "My name is Lisa Sawyer, I'm from Texas, and I've worked as a court stenographer..."
"You're hired,"
Chuck interrupted, then looked at his hesitant secretary, Helen. "Helen, I need a favor."
Helen's expression turned strange after hearing Chuck's request, and even Lisa didn't know how to react.
The Following Wednesday
The court session was about to resume.
Harrison Powell was speaking privately with his client, Esther.
"The IQ test results weren't ideal. Although we can continue arguing that it's just a subjective test and doesn't represent everything, it's not really meaningful."
Harrison Powell looked at Esther's grim face and offered his advice. "Because we didn't just have Dr. Beverly Hofstadter conduct the IQ test.
We had several other specialized institutions do it, and the best results were only close to genius level—most were just above average.
So the most important thing now is to sway the jury.
As long as your evil alter personality, Emma, doesn't emerge, and you present yourself as Esther to the jury from beginning to end,
then with my closing argument, I'm confident I can persuade one or two jurors to hesitate and be unwilling to sentence you to prison.
Understand?"
"I'm scared..."
Esther instantly switched to the weak, innocent little girl, looking at Harrison Powell with timid, fearful eyes.
"Yes, exactly like that!"
Harrison Powell smiled with satisfaction. "As long as we maintain this, no matter how formidable Detective Chuck is, we will never lose!"
"He's a big bad man, so scary."
Esther trembled at Chuck's name, but a flash of malice crossed her eyes.
If Harrison Powell hadn't been staring intently into her eyes, he wouldn't have noticed, because what followed was just the natural fear of a little girl.
"You're a natural actress!"
Harrison Powell exclaimed. "If you'd met someone who understood you earlier, you'd definitely be successful by now, having everything you want. You wouldn't be in this situation."
"Daddy, then adopt me."
Esther looked at Harrison Powell with hopeful eyes.
"..."
Harrison Powell's lips twitched, not daring to respond.
Although he was Esther's defense attorney, he knew very well that Esther had indeed burned her first adoptive family alive and poisoned her second adoptive father.
To have her call him "Daddy" like this—he had no interest whatsoever. It was a nightmare!
Harrison Powell ignored the mockery in Esther's eyes, professionally gave a few more instructions, and then left.
Esther, as a defendant, would be using a separate entrance to court, not with him.
But when he entered the courtroom and looked at Chuck in the gallery, he immediately sensed something was wrong.
He saw that Chuck wasn't sitting with Randy as before, but with two women.
But unlike typical women, these two exuded an aura of extreme hardness and danger.
Before he could fully process this, Esther had already entered through the defendant's entrance and immediately spotted Chuck, who was number one on her hit list.
"Oh no!"
Harrison Powell saw Esther's expression change—she wasn't the weak, fearful little girl he had repeatedly coached her to be. He finally realized what was happening.
"Esther, over here!"
Harrison Powell shouted, seeing that the jury hadn't yet turned their attention away from Chuck.
Everyone was startled by the loud shout. Esther looked over and immediately understood what her defense attorney was doing. She instantly reverted to the demeanor of an innocent nine-year-old girl and, led by the bailiff, walked to the defense table, sitting next to Harrison Powell.
"Hold on, today's the crucial day,"
Harrison Powell whispered in Esther's ear, but then his gaze became somewhat distant.
Esther noticed and immediately looked over. Directly ahead of them, in the court stenographer's seat, sat a Texas girl. Noticing her gaze, she turned her head and smiled slightly at her.
(End of Chapter)
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