Chapter 91: Repercussions
Representatives and former representatives aligned with the House of Divine Knowledge were meeting all across Sapey. Lily’s execution had come as a huge shock to them. Despite recent events, many held Lily in high regard for all she had done as a governor over the past decade.
In West, Jaslene, Jallelle, and several philosophers and theologists were meeting to discuss their position on what had happened to Lily. Leanne was supposed to be at the meeting, but nobody had heard from her or been able to contact her since Lily’s execution.
‘Shall we begin?’ asked Merida, the Head Philosopher for West.
‘I suppose,’ said Jallelle. ‘It appears our only representative is too busy to attend our meetings.’
‘Since being elected, she has been seduced by the ways of the Business Sector,’ said one of the theologists.
‘She might play that game on the surface, but deep down she still believes in our values and will help to uphold them,’ said Jaslene. ‘I have known her a long time.’
‘Actions speak louder than words,’ said Jallelle. ‘If she can’t show up today, I have very little faith in her.’
‘Please, let’s keep on point,’ said Merida. ‘We need to discuss what happened with Lily.’ The group nodded in agreement. ‘We are all firm believers in rehabilitation. Lily was troubled and needed help. Her execution is in direct violation of our beliefs,’ continued Merida.
‘The new laws are very clear,’ said Jallelle. ‘What she did is now punishable by death.’
Merida turned her head sharply to face Jallelle. ‘These new laws should never have been made,’ said Merida firmly. ‘They only had support because of an impulse reaction to the shocking events in Adoy and Jeed. Those kowtowing to the Business Sector are very much aware of this. That’s why they acted so quickly.’
‘What do you expect us to do?’ asked Jallelle.
‘Time and time again, you acted impulsively and foolishly,’ said Merida. ‘You were baited by Collingswaggle in the debate about Adoy. You jumped on the bandwagon to attack Lily. You cost us a significant amount of representation because of your petty behaviour.’
‘So, it’s all my fault,’ said Jallelle frustratedly.
‘Your inability to think beyond yourself is why you are not a good leader,’ said Merida.
Jallelle sat back in her chair and crossed her arms.
‘We need to reverse this new law,’ said Merida.
‘We can’t. It was voted in with overwhelming support from the Business Sector,’ said Jaslene. ‘They control the Government and Parliament.’
Merida smiled. ‘The House of Divine Knowledge is not without influence,’ said Merida. ‘We can hold polls and rallies to demonstrate the overwhelming condemnation of this law.’
‘I’m not sure if the public really feels that way,’ said Jaslene.
‘I assure you they do,’ said Merida. ‘Rehabilitation and redemption are core to our teachings, and we teach them all.’
The others remained quiet.
‘We need to contact and coordinate with all other regions,’ said Merida. ‘Jallelle, help organise lectures with my colleagues. We need to focus on the power of redemption.’
‘I thought I was useless,’ said Jallelle.
‘Nonsense,’ said Merida firmly, ‘your mind was clouded, and so was your judgement,’ she added. ‘You were in politics a long time. It takes its toll. I want to help you regain real purpose.’
‘Thank you, ma’am,’ said Jallelle as she bowed her head as a sign of obedience.
After the meeting, Jaslene went to Leanne’s apartment to find out what was going on with her. She knocked on her apartment door. She waited. There was no response. She knocked again, but there was still no response. Jaslene tried the door handle. The door was unlocked. Jaslene opened the door. She walked into the lounge. Nothing seemed disturbed or out of place. Jaslene called out for Leanne. There was no response. Jaslene walked into the kitchen. There was a handwritten note placed on the kitchen counter. There was a small paperweight placed on top of it. Jaslene picked up the note, which read:
Dear friends,
I have done the unimaginable. I have cost the life of one of our greatest leaders. I may have cost the lives of many more. Everything Lily said was true. I posed as the scientist to discredit her. I lied about the findings of that scientist’s tests. The solution added to the water is indeed toxic. In the quantities it is being used, it is unlikely to kill many, but it will cause many other harmful effects. These include cancers, weakened immune systems, organ damage, and an overall reduced quality of life. The most shocking and most certain effect is infertility. To whoever reads this note, please let Sapey know the truth. Do not let Lily’s death be for nothing.
Please forgive me, Leanne.
Jaslene stood in shock for a few moments. She put the note down and then walked to Leanne’s bedroom. Leanne was lying on the bed. Jaslene ran over to her. Jaslene shook her hard. She did not respond. She was dead. Jaslene held Leanne’s hand.
‘No matter what we do, there is always a way back,’ she said to her as she kissed her on the forehead.
Jaslene returned to the kitchen. She photographed the letter. She then called the enforcers.
While waiting for them to arrive. Jaslene messaged the others from the meeting. She told them what had happened to Leanne as well as sent a copy of the note she had left.
Merida forwarded the message to the House of Divine Knowledge leaders from all other regions. She also told them to check their water supplies for the solution and its concentration.
Several enforcers arrived at Leanne’s apartment. Among them was the Head Enforcer. The Head Enforcer told one of his enforcers to accompany Jaslene outside while they investigated the apartment.
Around an hour later, the Head Enforcer exited the apartment. He approached Jaslene. ‘If you want to be a representative, you need to be much smarter than this,’ he told Jaslene. He turned to two of his enforcers. ‘Arrest her for murder,’ he commanded.
The two enforcers grabbed Jaslene.
Jaslene was taken to the Enforcer Headquarters, where she was held in an interrogation room. She sat behind a small table. The Head Enforcer sat opposite her on the other side of the table.
‘Do you honestly believe I killed Leanne?’ asked Jaslene.
‘Jealousy is a horrible thing,’ said the Head Enforcer. ‘You killed her to take her spot as a representative. At the same time, you thought you could discredit the Business Sector. I assume you are also eyeing a governor’s position at the next Governors Election.’
‘Leanne was my closest friend,’ said Jaslene angrily.
‘We’re checking the ludicrous suicide note for fingerprints,’ said the Head Enforcer. ‘We’re about to prove you wrote it.’
‘My fingerprints are on that note because I touched it, not because I wrote it,’ said Jaslene. ‘Why don’t you take a sample of my writing?'
‘I don’t think so,’ said the Head Enforcer. ‘We will use existing samples of handwriting. Both of yours and hers.’
The Head Philosophers and Head Theologists from most regions agreed to meet with Merida in West. Merida sent out several junior staff to track down the scientist who informed Lily about the composition of the solution.
It did not take long to locate the laboratory based on the physical description of the scientist. The staff from the House of Divine Knowledge questioned the colleagues of the scientist. The scientist had not been seen by any of them since Lily’s press conference. They broke into the scientist’s apartment. It appeared he had not been there recently. They could not find any information about his possible whereabouts.
Merida called the Enforcer Headquarters to check if he had left the region. They were initially unhelpful. However, after some convincing, the enforcers agreed they would investigate the scientist’s whereabouts.
The Head Enforcer was sitting in his office. A senior enforcer came in to inform him of Merida’s request. The Head Enforcer told the enforcer he would look into it personally. The Head Enforcer accessed the scientist’s personal information. He called the head office of the company where the scientist worked. He explained the problem to them.
The main owner of the company agreed to send verification that the scientist had travelled back to the head office to be part of a project team. He hoped this verification would keep Merida off him as well as provide additional evidence that Leanne’s note had been faked.
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