The mystery lover

June Skylar was used to the hassle of running a bakery alongside teaching, what was new to her was the jury duty she had just started. The jury were involved in the hearing of a case in court and concluding on a decision during the proceeding.

The whole concept of allowing people from the population make serious decisions about people's lives in court never made sense to June but as she got involved in it, she understood why.

It was easier for defendants to accept the judgement passed down from people that were like them, people that lived normal lives and could relate to them.

The court accepted requests from people who had the intentions of joining the jury but most people weren't exactly given an opportunity.

As June sat in the waiting room situated in the courtyard, she couldn't keep her mind off the case she was not only attending but making decisions in regards to. Aiden Graham was facing trial for the cold blooded murder of a young woman, Michelle Cole.

Aiden was a 24 year old bartender who had dropped out of college due to inability to settle his fees and had started working at a bar in downtown Colorado. His story would have moved anyone if it didn't wind up to him killing a young woman in a gruesome manner.

The victim on the other hand, was a 17 year old highschool girl and according to the information June had gotten from her seated position, Michelle Cole had been lured by Aiden Graham to his apartment where he had proceeded to sexually assault her and then murder her.

Fifteen minutes after June's arrival, a hug from the back made her remove the earphones she had plugged in her ears as she continued the bridgeton series she was reading. She was in the third book of the series and she was both sad and excited it was ending, books were June's companion in a weird way, books and music. She was either always listening to music or always reading or better still, doing both.

June never went anywhere without her earphones or air pods, it was hard for her to concentrate with all the noise around her without focusing on her own sound and so, her earphones were mostly always plugged in her ears Samantha Drey smiled up at her as she tilted her head back to get a good view of the person that had hugged her out of nowhere. Sam was such a bundle of joy and it was so easy to contact it from her. She hardly ever felt sad or worse, look sad, "the world was sad enough" Sam would always say and June could not have agreed more.

"Sam, don't do that" June said with laughter in her voice. Sam always behaved like a teenager and even if it was annoying sometimes, June loved her completely. "Hey, teddy bear" Sam gave her cheeks a pinch as she planted a kiss on them, it was a tradition that June didn't quite understand but liked anyways.

June was very chubby when they were kids, her mum made sure to stuff her with good food and treats, benefits of being an only child. Sam had started calling her "teddy bear" since they met and now, almost 20 years later, she was still "teddy bear".

"You got my text last night?" Sam inquired with a huge smile on her beautiful face. At 5'8, Sam was black, beautiful, had bright red hair and diastema. The smile on Sam's face was contagious as always,

"Yeah, I did" June said with an eyebrow raised. Of course she had gotten Sam's text, who else would be texting her by that time? "Don't look at me like that?" Sam grumbled as she sat next to June.

"I remembered how much you used to talk about jury duties and how much you liked it" she paused to give June a little smile, "So, I decided to give it a try and voila, I'm right here" she finished spreading her arms wide for effect. Jury business was serious business but trust Sam to take it lightly, the only thing she ever took seriously was art and the bakery.

Sam had attended Berkeley and graduated with a degree in Arts, she had then gone ahead to get a job at the museum where she displayed her Arts and earned quite a sum.

Even though Sam was always partying and making a joke out of almost everything about life, June knew she was a good person and she would make the right decisions on any case she found herself in.

As everyone settled into their positions after the brief meeting they had before the proceeding started, June looked at the other members of the jury that were overseeing Aiden Graham's case.

The two men had introduced themselves as businessmen in the corporate world, the other woman was a sales representative at a huge firm, Sam was, you know, Sam and then she was last.

The judge walked into the court with a tired look on her face and June knew almost immediately it wasn't a light case they were about to judge. She had overheard the businessmen talking about Aiden Graham and how he had brutally assaulted his victim before killing her, benefits of coming early, that is.

But June didn't quite understand the case, if Aiden Graham had killed Michelle Cole, why did he leave so much evidence and most importantly why did he keep her in his apartment long enough for the police to find her body? If June had learnt anything from serial killer movies, the killer always made attempts to hide the victim's body.

"May the prosecution rise" the judge said with a hit of her gavel on the table and so the proceeding started.

June watched closely as the prosecution brought out evidence upon evidence. It was just too much for her, the bloodied hammer along with the knife was brought out too alongside CCTV footage that connected Aiden to the murder.

According to the autopsy carried out on Michelle, she had been hit with the hammer on her head while she struggled then she had bled out of the 7 different stab wounds in her stomach and that was the cause of death.

The hammer had been used to hit her head so hard the skull had cracked and June strained to not throw up as she watched the prosecutor bring out the hammer in a plastic bag to show to the judge and afterwards, the knife.

The knife was a small pocket knife chipped at the end, it looked like something Aiden must have gotten as a gift, it was an antique item.

June exchanged looks with Sam who sat at the chair next to her on the row where the jury sat. Sam's eyes were glued to the prosecutor as he narrated the whole event regarding the death according to the evidence that had been gathered.

The judge listened quietly and nodded her head attentively, the prosecutor was determined to sentence Aiden and it was evident. The defendant's lawyer was also putting up a fight but it was obvious the odds were very much against him.

After two long hours of consecutive exchange between the two lawyers that held everyone's attention in the court, the judge struck the gavel on the table and declared the meeting adjourned.

As people starting filing out of the courtroom, June caught a glimpse of someone crying softly at the front row of the pew looking at the defendant stand and as she traced the look, she was surprised to see Aiden Graham frozen in place staring back at the woman with so much fear in his eyes.