Overall Betty enjoyed collaborating with him. The mission that bound them felt important. She was done with her part, and though she didn’t like it, she had to hand her control over to the Professor. She hoped he would do his part and Carson would end up behind bars.
In the weeks that followed she went about her routine, Jewel's routine, and waited for something to happen. It seemed like it took forever.
One day while walking back to work from lunch in her platinum blonde disguise, she noticed how the bank windows were behind bars. It seemed like money was locked in a prison, like criminals. The thing we loved most and the things we feared most were both treated the same way. It seemed odd.
Then she entered the building to a commotion. She was just in time to see Carson being taken away in handcuffs by policemen. She felt elation rise in her, but her eyes met Carson’s so she pretended to break into tears and ran into the ladies room crying. Alone in the washroom, she laughed as Carson was hefted into the paddy wagon.
She celebrated the victory by quitting Jewel’s job at the bank the very same day.
Her first detective mission was a triumph. The good-girl won. The bad-guy was in jail and the people of the Citadel were saved. She skipped through the city, sure that her father was up in heaven looking down on her with pride. Everyone who knew her would have been proud, if she could actually tell anyone what she'd done. One person could make a difference in the world.
She had enjoyed the excitement and the intrigue of detective work. Piecing some puzzles together, solved real problems. A monster was removed from society. He was no longer a threat to the rest of its members. She could only imagine how much suffering Carson caused in his life. She felt vindicated. It was finally over. He was ruined, or so she thought
Carson was freed on bail later that same day.
Carson's story made it to the papers, but Betty had to dig to find it. It never made the front page. It wasn’t covered in depth, and no one else was talking about it. Day after day she looked for more news about the impending trial, but the details were sparse. No one seemed interested, except Betty and the Professor.
At times she surveilled Carson looking for a hint of distress, but nothing about his life had changed. He still had his job. The bank didn't seem to care what he did as long as he made them money.
Carson’s defense team held up the trial with strategic delays and stalling tactics for as long as they could. When the trial finally started, Betty, in disguise, was the first one seated in the courtroom, on the first day. Everything in the room was made of wood. Even the walls were covered with it. The space reminded her of a theater. The performers, the lawyers, took the stage. The judge acted as a backdrop. Even the jury looked liked special guests in box seats. Betty sat in the audience with the rest of the common folk and watched the show. Each day she dressed as a different woman. One time she even sat next to the Professor. He didn't recognize her.
The Professor came to watch the legal team he'd assembled to handle the case. They were his former students. Over the years he’d trained an army of attorneys. Many became excellent lawyers. One of them was even the Citadel District Attorney. He led the prosecution. Some of the defense members were also former students. They wouldn't look their old mentor in the eye.
From the first thump of the gavel, Betty observed the proceedings with great interest. She thought Carson was steps away from incarceration, but it didn't turn out like she had hoped. Outside of the courtroom, Carson and the Silver Spoons bragged about the fruits of their crimes, but when forced to take the stand, they told a different story. Though they were all officers of the Schadenfreude Corporation, none admitted awareness of what actually went on there. Of all the deals the company was involved in, and all the profits the members received, they claimed to know nothing about the business. It was a game. One by one they marched up to the witness stand and played dumb. They were instructed what to say to get out of trouble. They followed a script. Their lines were, "I had no knowledge of any wrongdoings."
They sounded like fools but they didn’t have enough integrity to care. Apparently pretending to be an idiot wasn't a crime. In reality, they knew what they did was wrong, that’s why they were lying about it. The whole thing seemed like a formality rather than an investigation for truth.
Day after day the trial dragged on as Betty watched.
Schadenfreude was overwhelmingly protected by provisions and precedence. The laws seemed written for its benefit. They lent the board members a veil of protection not offered to real citizens. Companies were given the same rights as people, but they were just ideas or schemes. When companies committed crimes there was nothing tangible to hold accountable, nothing to punish.