Charmaine sat outside the hearing Chamber inside the Courthouse waiting for her case to be heard. She looked at the clock above and noted that she was early. That was okay. It would give her the opportunity to review her files one more time. She scanned the waiting area and saw that she was alone. Quickly, she moved to the bench in the back where she was less likely to be disturbed. Charmaine took out her files and began reviewing them. Soon she was lost in her concentration.

Raymond walked into the Courthouse and looked around the room. It was empty except for someone sitting way in the back. Mr. Lau should be here soon. They agreed to meet here an hour early to go over his testimony one last time. Raymond hated to be kept waiting. With nothing to do, he turned his attention to the person in the back. Although the person was about 40 feet away, he was still able to make out that it was a woman. Great, he thought. She would be able to kill some time for him. Slowly he made his way towards her. She didn't even look up when he sat down next to her. Whatever she was reading must be extremely interesting Raymond thought. He glanced at the papers in her hands and saw the words Pearl Orient.

Charmaine was engrossed in her studying when she felt a small draft, more like someone breathing down her neck. She looked up and met Raymond's piercing eyes.

Raymond's breath caught at the site of Charmaine's beauty. He held her gaze and softly greeted her. "Hi beautiful."

With haste, Charmaine closed her files and stuffed them into her briefcase. She got up and glare down at the intruder. "Do you have a problem? I could sue you for invasion of privacy."

Looking up at her, Raymond chuckled. "Do you have a witness? You could sue but without a witness it'll be your words against mine's. Talk about wasting the Court's time." Lowering his voice, he stared lazily at her and added, "I can think of better ways for us to use that time."

Ignoring his latter remark, Charmaine smiled sweetly and pointed to a corner of the room. "In case you've forgotten, we're in Court right now and there are cameras in every corner."

Raymond rose from the bench to stand before her. He leaned in extremely close to her and whispered in her ear, "Those cameras are fake."

Her eyes widen and she was about to say something when someone interrupted them.

"Mr. Lam... Mr. Lam..." Mr. Lau called out as he wiped the sweat off his forehead with a hankerchief.

Charmaine looked at Mr. Lau and then back at Raymond, who continued to watch her. Surprise was written all over her face. So this was the infamous Raymond Lam.

Paying no heed to Mr. Lau's fidgeting, Raymond grinned and extended his hand to her. "I'm Raymond Lam. You are?"

Ignoring his hand, Charmaine looked up at him. "I'm your worse nightmare," she said and walked off leaving Raymond smiling after her retreating back.

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Joe knocked on the laboratory door and when he heard a muffled voice calling for him to enter, he did just that.
Jessica was at the autopsy table bent over the victim's head. "Any new findings?"

Concentrating on her victim, Jessica did not answer the question. She continued to part the victim's hair in sections, probing the exposed areas with her gloved fingers.

Joe stood back and waited in silence. He watched as Jessica continued with her examination.

After thirty minutes, she finally looked up and motioned for him to join her by the autopsy table. "I suspected that the victim died of poisoning. The poison did not go through her digestive system but went directly into her bloodstream. Yesterday I couldn't find any marks on her to indicate how the poison have gotten into her bloodstream." She pointed to an exposed area on the victim's scalp about three inches up from the right ear. "This is where the poison was injected."

Joe bent to get a closer look of the injection site. It was only a tiny red dot. "Are there any more of these marks on the rest of her body?"

Removing her latex gloves, Jessica retrieved the clipboard which hung beneath the table. "No. This is the only mark that we found on her body."

Joe looked over at the victim's body lost in thought. "Did you find any trace of novocain or chloroform in her system?"

Looking at Joe, Jessica stated firmly, "No. Nothing at all."

Puzzled, Joe turned to Jessica and asked, "But how can anyone do that without first subduing her? There's no sign of any struggle."

Jessica picked up the autopsy report from her desk and passed it to Joe. "That's for you to investigate."

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Myolie walked leisurely down the street, pausing every now and then to window shop. She was on her way to work and knew that she was late. She didn't care. Raymond was in Court and wouldn't be back in the office till lunch time. Besides, no one will miss her.

She glanced into a store's window and saw a crystal figurine of a pekingnese dog. This was exactly what she wanted to add to her collection of crystal figurines. Happily she entered the store. She approached the sales clerk and asked to see the figurine.

The sales clerk smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry miss but this gentleman just bought that figurine."

Myolie turned to look at the other customer. "Excuse me, but can you please let me have it instead?"

Bosco looked up at her as he put away his wallet. "I already paid for it."

"Not a problem. I'll reimburse you," Myolie gushed.

The sales clerk returned with the figurine, neatly packed in a small silver gift box. Taking his recent purchase into his hand, Bosco turned to Myolie. "It'll cost you double if you want to buy it from me."

"Why?" she demanded with a pout.

Giggling at how cute she looked when angered Bosco extended the gift to Myolie. "I was kidding. Here, its yours."

Myolie quickly rummaged her bag for her wallet.

Bosco stopped her searching hands. "I said it was yours. No need to pay me. Consider it as a gift from me."

Stunned, Myolie stared at him in awe. "You don't even know me. Why would you give me a gift? I don't want it."

Chuckling, Bosco took her limp hand and shook it briefly. "My name is Bosco. And your name is..?"

"Myolie."

"We know each other now. Therefore, you can accept the gift from me. I won't take no for answer."

Myolie took the gift box from Bosco and shyly looked at him. "Thank you."