6April 13
Courtroom No. 2
11:30 AM
Lily Shield
Detective Umber took in a deep breath before speaking. "Our mother associated with someone who got into a lot of trouble in the past. To put it simply, she knew someone important who has since gone missing. Nobody knows where they are now, and I think the culprit tried to track her down because they want information. They probably thought my mom had it, but that's not the case at all. She's just as clueless as the rest of us are, and the culprit couldn't have been more wrong in assuming that she was aware of the truth," she explained.
"I see..." Chief Prosecutor Bespoke murmured. "Do you think that this motive could have applied to the defendant? If not, then this means that we're certainly going to have to broaden our horizons... In fact, we'll already have to do that, given that the defendant now has an alibi of being locked in the closet at the time of the murder."
Detective Umber hesitated before shaking her head. "I don't know if she would be involved with something like this... Though I'm not entirely sure as to why my mother would want to talk to her about the missing person in question. After all, the defendant wasn't involved with the legal world at the time of this disappearance, so why would she know anything?" she questioned.
"I would like to propose a possibility," I piped in, raising one hand to get the attention of the people in the courtroom. "To be specific, I would like to explain the history of my agency. The defendant works in the same building as I do, so we have our work in common, and I believe that it would lead to the victim wanting to speak to her about the disappearance in question."
"Please continue," Judge Frost said with a light frown.
"Our agency has been involved with many cases involving the Oracle of the Law. There is a misconception surrounding our agency that we know something about them, but our involvement in these trials is merely a coincidence. There's no solid proof that we have anything to do with the Oracle, but it's easy for people to believe that we do know because of the string of cases where we happened to encounter them," I continued. "What if the victim made this mistake as well and called the defendant to speak with her because of this?"
Judge Frost paused to consider what I had just said. "I see... You believe that the victim thought that the defendant would know something. Oracle is widely believed to have more knowledge than meets the eye, and if she believed that your agency was connected to Oracle, then she would want to ask the defendant if she knew anything on the matter," she murmured. "But if the defendant was the one invited inside, then that means that Mr. Scott likely broke into the manor to commit the crime, and that would have him as our primary suspect."
"I think it's time for us to get him to testify for the court," Prosecutor Umber announced. "If he really was involved with what happened in this way, then he has one last chance to defend himself. Are there any objections to such?"
Judge Frost looked over to me briefly, but when I didn't speak up, she shook her head. "Go on and call him to the stand. The sooner we can hear from him, the better," she announced.
A few minutes later, Mr. Scott made his way up to the witness stand. He didn't seem all that happy to be there, and I had the feeling that he had already picked up on the notion that he wasn't here for good reasons. He might have been stingy and a bit of a grouch, but I doubted he was that foolish.
"Please state your name and occupation from the court," Judge Frost declared, frowning down at Mr. Scott.
"Ray Scott. I'm a police officer," Mr. Scott drawled, though his frustration was clear in his tone. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. After the way he had treated us up to this point, could you blame me for being a bit annoyed with him?
"You were at the scene of the crime the night of the murder, yes?" Prosecutor Cruz asked, glaring at Mr. Scott intently.
Mr. Scott nodded. "Yeah, I was. What about it?" he questioned, focusing his intense gaze on Prosecutor Cruz. "I hope that's not a problem."
"It won't be a problem if you tell us about what you were doing at the time," Prosecutor Umber piped in, stopping the potential argument that was likely to break out between Mr. Scott and Prosecutor Cruz if they were left unchecked. "Please tell the court about what happened while you were at the crime scene."
Mr. Scott hesitated before nodding. "Alright," he said. "I'll tell you what I can."
~ Witness Testimony ~
~ What Happened That Night ~
-"I was there because I wanted to check on the victim. We had cooperated a few times thanks to cases, you see, and I was concerned after hearing about her investigation."
-"When I got there, something was wrong, and I could see it. After I arrived, I smelled blood, and I panicked, deciding to leave when I realized that someone had gotten hurt."
-"On the way out, I passed Detective Umber, who saw me but didn't engage in conversation. We both had more important things to think about at the time, so we didn't stop to talk."
-"I left behind the mansion soon afterwards, and I was already gone by the time the police arrived to investigate the scene of the murder. I didn't even know someone had died at the time, just that something had gone wrong."
-"At the time, I was out of uniform because I wasn't on shift. I didn't see a reason to wear it if I was just going to check up on an old friend."
-"Is there something wrong with that? Truly? I was simply showing that I was concerned about an old coworker, but that's enough to get me accused of murder? I don't understand that logic, and it seems incredibly twisted."
After the testimony ended, I frowned to myself. There were so many segments of that testimony that simply didn't make sense. I didn't know where I was supposed to start as far as showing that he had committed this crime. There were so many blatant issues I was seeing, and pointing them all out would likely take ages. I could take this down many different paths, and all of them seemed like they would lead right back to the undeniable truth that said Mr. Scott was the one who killed the victim that night.
"Why don't we get onto the cross-examination?" Chief Prosecutor Bespoke questioned. He was frowning to himself, and I got the feeling that he had noticed all of the other issues that I had. Pointing these out was going to be a huge headache.
"I agree," I nodded before turning to Sky and Felicity. "Well... It seems like we're going to figure everything out pretty soon. It's seeming obvious who committed this crime, so I doubt the trial is going to draw on for much longer than it already has."
"Let's go on and take care of things. Deirdre is still counting on us, and we've come way too far to fail now," Felicity told me with a grin. "He's not going to know what hit him when we're finished."
"He made the mistake of lying to us excessively, so it's only natural that he pays for it," Sky went on with a small smile. "Now, let's go on and get started. The sooner the better."
"I agree," I said. "Mr. Scott, would you please repeat your testimony?"
Mr. Scott rolled his eyes. "If you insist, fine," he answered.
~ Cross-Examination ~
~ What Happened That Night ~
-"I was there because I wanted to check on the victim. We had cooperated a few times thanks to cases, you see, and I was concerned after hearing about her investigation."
-"When I got there, something was wrong, and I could see it. After I arrived, I smelled blood, and I panicked, deciding to leave when I realized that someone had gotten hurt."
-"On the way out, I passed Detective Umber, who saw me but didn't engage in conversation. We both had more important things to think about at the time, so we didn't stop to talk."
-"I left behind the mansion soon afterwards, and I was already gone by the time the police arrived to investigate the scene of the murder. I didn't even know someone had died at the time, just that something had gone wrong."
-"At the time, I was out of uniform because I wasn't on shift. I didn't see a reason to wear it if I was just going to check up on an old friend."
-"Is there something wrong with that? Truly? I was simply showing that I was concerned about an old coworker, but that's enough to get me accused of murder? I don't understand that logic, and it seems incredibly twisted."
"Objection!"
I opened my mouth to speak, but I found myself being cut off by another voice. I most certainly was not the one who said that. The voice that echoed throughout the courtroom was far too deep and masculine to belong to me. I glanced around to see if I could determine who the person responsible was, and I let out a gasp when I realized who it was.
My gaze fell upon Prosecutor Umber, who was pointing at Mr. Scott with a firm glare in his eyes. He crossed his arms soon afterwards, shaking his head. "You truly are a pathetic liar," he murmured.
Mr. Scott looked at him silently. It was clear that a thousand vulgar words were stirring in his head, but he didn't say any of them, instead choosing to just stare at the prosecutor. Mr. Scott tore his gaze away to look at the ground after a few seconds, giving Prosecutor Umber the chance to keep talking.
"You didn't knock on the door or anything, so you were not let in. You do not have a key to our house, so you must have snuck inside. You have never cooperated on a case with my mother, because if you had, I would be aware of such, and she never mentioned your name. I know about nearly every case she has taken on, and you have never come up," Prosecutor Umber continued.
Mr. Scott didn't respond, even when Prosecutor Umber took a break from his speech to see his reaction. Instead, Mr. Scott merely stared at the ground, unwilling to say a word that could possibly backfire after this conversation drew to a close.
"Rather than investigating the scent of blood, you left the building behind. That alone is incredibly suspicious," Prosecutor Umber went on. "You encountered my sister, but we already pointed out the issues with that. You were out of uniform wearing all black, so if you had committed the crime, you would have easily been able to hide the blood splatter thanks to your dark clothing. My sister already told us all about this, and it doesn't make you look good, Mr. Scott. What do you have to say to that?"
Once again, Mr. Scott was silent. He was deadly still as he looked down at the ground, not wanting to show any signs of weakness to Prosecutor Umber.
"Also, I don't appreciate the way you attempted to cover your tracks by manipulating our opinions of you. By saying that we were the bad people for accusing you of a crime, you are trying to divert our attention, and it's a very manipulative tactic. I don't think that any of us are fond of you doing something of that nature," Prosecutor Umber said next. "Now, why don't you go on and explain all of this to us? You simply made too many mistakes in this testimony, and there's no way for you to worm out of this. Make this easier on all of us and give us the full truth this time."
Mr. Scott was quiet at these words, still not willing to speak up. He slowly tilted his head upwards to focus his attention on Prosecutor Umber. "I don't know what you're on about, but you're making a huge mistake by accusing me," he snarled. His accent had disappeared, leaving him to speak in a voice that was much more familiar. "You're going to regret what you have done here today. I am not a person to be trifled with. I will find out what I want to know regardless of who tries to get in my way, and that is a promise."
"It sounds to me like you're confessing," Prosecutor Umber remarked with a shake of his head. "I can see why. There's no place for you to run to with your lies at this point, so it would be easier for all of us if you just fessed up to your crimes now. Why don't you explain just what you were doing the day of the crime? Why did you sneak into the house to kill someone that you didn't know? Were you perhaps searching for the person that went missing my sister brought up earlier? I can't think of any other reason that you would be so reckless in infiltrating another person's house and then commit murder against an innocent person."
"I think I know what you're proposing here... You believe that Mr. Scott is a killer for hire, and he committed this crime because he wished to learn more about a missing person. However, his investigation did not go as planned, and he didn't learn anything from the victim. Not wanting the truth of his mission to come out, he killed the victim and fled from the scene, claiming that he was an officer out of uniform coming to visit the victim to hopefully arouse less suspicion," Chief Prosecutor Bespoke said. "I believe that the pieces are starting to come together regarding the truth of this case. As Prosecutor Umber said, it would be much easier for all of us if you went on and confessed. After all, your act is starting to slip."
"I don't even know if a confession will be necessary at this point," Felicity remarked to me. "He's falling apart, and his accent is gone. It's clear that he was playing a role all this time, and it's starting to deteriorate now that the truth has come out."
Mr. Scott didn't say anything openly, though I could hear a few vulgar murmurs leave his lips. Bailiffs descended upon him even if he hadn't yet confessed. Judge Frost hadn't given the order yet either, but it was clear that she was about to make that decision. I watched as the bailiffs handcuffed Mr. Scott and escorted him from the courtroom, not taking my eyes off him until the doors had closed and he had disappeared from view fully.
The courtroom was quiet after the disappearance of Mr. Scott and the bailiff crew. I glanced around, hoping for someone to speak up and say something, anything, that would break the silence. In the end, I turned my attention to Judge Frost, believing that the time had come for her to end the trial.
My prediction turned out to be correct, and she was the next person to speak. "I believe that the truth behind this case has become apparent," she remarked. Judge Frost picked up her gavel, and she looked to me, Sky, and Felicity. "Defense, do you have any objections to the trial drawing to a close here?"
I looked to Sky and Felicity. They didn't show any signs of disagreeing with the idea, so I turned my focus back to Judge Frost. "The defense has no objections," I declared firmly with a light nod.
Judge Frost focused on the prosecution next. "What do you say about this, prosecution?" she questioned next.
Chief Prosecutor Bespoke looked to Prosecutor Cruz and Prosecutor Umber. Once again, neither one of them showed any open signs of disagreement, prompting Chief Prosecutor Bespoke to look back up to Judge Frost. "The prosecution has no objections either," he replied, resting one hand on the wooden bench before him.
Judge Frost nodded her understanding. "If that's the case, then I see no reason to draw on this trial any longer than we already have," she announced. She watched on silently as Deirdre walked up to the witness stand, twirling her gavel over in between her fingers. "This court finds the defendant, Deirdre Brigit, not guilty. Court is adjourned!" Judge Frost raised the gavel before hitting it down against the bench before her.
A smile appeared on my face, and I started to organize the evidence sitting in front of me. I was glad that the trial had wrapped up, but there wasn't much time for me to linger. After all, I wanted to speak with Deirdre out in the lobby before we headed out, and I didn't want to waste too much time along the way.
April 13
Defendant Lobby No. 2
12:15 PM
Sky Amaya
Once I was out in the defendant lobby, I let out a heavy sigh. I was glad that high-stress sequence of events was over, to say the least. We had been through more than enough since this case started, and I was relieved beyond imagination that the culprit had been exposed so that we could continue to go about our lives Everything was taken care of, so maybe I would be able to start working at the agency in a somewhat orthodox manner. It was certainly better than having to deal with a murder case less than two hours before starting the new job.
Deirdre walked out into the defendant lobby, a smile on her face. She approached me, Felicity, and Lily shortly afterwards. She bowed her head to us before speaking. "Thank you for everything that you did for me today. I greatly appreciate it," she told us.
"It's nothing," Felicity assured her with a light shrug. "No need to worry. I mean, this is what you're supposed to do for your coworkers regardless of how long you've known them. Sometimes, it's just up to you to save them from false accusations of murder since some people wouldn't know a suspect if it hit them in the face."
Deirdre let out a small laugh. "I suppose that you make a good point there," she commented. "Now, I have to ask... Is there anything else that you guys figured out about this case? I got the feeling that you were holding something back while you were in the courtroom, and I would like to know what it was."
"I would like to hear the truth as well."
I turned upon hearing the other voice, and I saw Mr. Morix standing with Yuri, Victoria, and Chrysalis nearby. It seemed that they had come down from the gallery to speak with us since the trial had drawn to a close.
Felicity opened her mouth to speak, but she was cut off when I held up a hand. "Perhaps we should go and talk about this at the agency," I piped in. "That would offer us far more privacy than the defendant lobby."
Lily nodded her agreement. "Yeah. I would prefer to talk about things in an isolated space as well," she said. "How about we go back to the agency and celebrate over drinks?"
"Oh, yeah! I just restocked the fridge with some grape juice, so we can share that while talking," Yuri grinned. "Let's get to it! I can't wait to hear what you guys figured out. I love hearing about this stuff."
"You're the team of Morix Law Offices, correct?"
I heard a voice behind me, and I recognized it as belonging to Prosecutor Umber. He was standing with Detective Umber, Prosecutor Cruz, and Chief Prosecutor Bespoke. I wasn't sure what they wanted, but I got the feeling I would be finding out soon enough.
"Is there something you need?" Lily questioned, taking a step towards them.
"I just wanted to say that you did an admirable job during the trial today," Prosecutor Umber replied simply and bluntly. "I anticipate that we will be meeting each other again soon. Until then, stay out of trouble."
With that said, Prosecutor Umber walked away, and Detective Umber chased after him. Chief Prosecutor Bespoke and Prosecutor Cruz remained with us for a while longer.
"Great job today," Chief Prosecutor Bespoke said next, taking a small step forward with a hint of a smile. "Now, I'm going to head back to the office. I have some extra business to take care of, and I don't think Polly would like it if I stuck around here any longer than I have to."
Mr. Morix nodded his understanding. "No need to worry, Ghastly. I'll see you later," he told the chief prosecutor, waving lightly as the brown-haired man walked away.
Deirdre approached Prosecutor Cruz next. "Did you happen to get the chance to drop by my apartment?" she questioned. "I know that Kiki needed to be fed, and I usually do that, but... Well, in case you haven't already noticed, I wasn't exactly available to do such these past few days."
Prosecutor Cruz nodded. "Yeah, I got it. Moira was happy to see me stop by too. Kiki wouldn't stop honking at first, but she settled down on my lap after a while. She loves chewing on her stick toys, huh?" he remarked with a small laugh. "All of that to say that I was able to feed her. She was just as sweet as always."
Deirdre grinned. "I'm glad to hear you say that. She loves it when you stop by," she told him. I wasn't entirely sure who Kiki or Moira were, but I was getting the feeling already that Kiki was a dog or other type of animal. Moira didn't seem to fit the same archetype, but at least I knew something. Besides, I could always ask Deirdre about it after she was finished talking to Prosecutor Cruz. It would be a nice way for us to bond, and I knew we would need to given that we were going to be working together in the future.
Prosecutor Cruz nodded in response, a small amount of pink appearing on his cheeks. "Yeah... I'll come by a bit later to see how you're doing, alright? If you need anything, all you need to do is call me," he told Deirdre. "I've got to get back to the Prosecutor's Office now, but if you need something from me, just call and say so, okay?"
"Got it," Deirdre replied. "I'll see you around then, Vito!"
Prosecutor Cruz walked away, his cheeks still flushed with pink. I had the sneaking suspicion it had something to do with the way she was able to refer to him by his first name without any issues, though I wasn't going to bring it up in case it was something I wasn't supposed to take note of. I didn't want to make an enemy of Deirdre so soon after saving her from murder charges, you know?
"With all of that taken care of, I think it's time for us to head back to the agency," Chrysalis piped in, keeping everything on track despite the random distractions that appeared. "I'm getting more and more curious about what those three figured out during this case, and I would rather get the answer sooner over later."
Mr. Morix nodded his understanding. "Yes, I agree completely. We can meet back up at the agency to discuss what happened," he declared. "I'll see you all shortly."
With all of that said, we split up, heading in different directions. Felicity followed me as we went to the car we had shared on the way to the courthouse, and then we were off.
April 13
Morix Law Offices
1:00 PM
Lily Shield
Back at the agency, Yuri poured us all glasses of her fancy grape juice as we sat down on the couch. Chrysalis had insisted we all put lids on the cups and use straws to keep from spilling, so that was how I found myself in a law agency with a fancy straw cup drinking grape juice. This wasn't even half as weird as the strangest thing to happen in the building of Morix Law Offices though, so I didn't think much of it.
"Alright. Let's get down to business," Mr. Morix declared. "What did you find out? Don't hold back any details."
"We know the truth about the person in question who went missing," I began. "It's the former head of Interpol, Cade Green. He disappeared after his identity was revealed... And he was once married to the victim."
Mr. Morix gasped. "You... You mean it?" he questioned. "I never would have expected you to say something like that..."
"And so soon after the case recently where Cade Green came up," Chrysalis murmured. "Strange. I wonder if he's going to become a running theme in our upcoming cases. It seems like everything is always connected, so it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest."
"The connection was hidden because Detective Umber thought that revealing the truth would put everyone in danger. After all, there are a lot of people out there who would go to drastic ends to learn more about Cade Green," Sky piped in. "I can see why she was concerned, that's for sure... I just hope that it doesn't lead to anything bad."
"Yeah. If we were going to find out the motive, she was going to have to say something. Even if she was vague, the people that are trying to find out more about him will still know precisely what she was talking about," Felicity went on. "It could be problematic in the future, but it's something that was able to help us out for now at the very least."
"I don't think we should snoop too much into it," Deirdre said next. "It's not really any of our business, so perhaps we should leave it to others. After all, there's not really any evidence out there of Cade Green being connected further with anything that we've been wrapped up in, so we should leave it be. Besides, I believe that our agency has been put in trouble more than enough in the past few years thanks to false allegations of involvement with dangerous activities."
Victoria nodded firmly. "I agree. It would be best for us to hold back unless we find out that we're absolutely needed to investigate further," she declared. "Until then, maybe we can just continue on with life as if nothing weird is going on. Plus, we have two new people at the agency, and I don't think that introducing Felicity and Sky to the pure craziness that this place tends to encompass right off the bat would be a good idea." She let out a nervous laugh after finishing this sentence.
I couldn't help but nod myself. "You're right. We have more than enough on our plate already," I said. "Now, how about we do the introductions thing again? After all, we're all here this time, and we have this lovely grape juice. I'm sure it would be much better for us to get to know Felicity and Sky under these circumstances rather than an investigation into a murder, wouldn't you agree?"
"Of course," Chrysalis agreed. "Let's just start from the beginning. We can deal with all of the messiness this case involved later on... Or never. I think that never would be a decent time as well."
With that, we began to talk about what was going to come next for our agency. The conversation was light and flowed easily, but I couldn't help my wondering about Cade Green. Two cases that brought him up had to be just coincidence. I prayed that things didn't get any worse from here on out, but then again, the universe hasn't ever been keen on listening to what I want. The previous two years that I had been working in the agency had made that abundantly clear, though that was probably putting it lightly.
April 13
Unknown Location
Unknown Time
Unknown Perspective
Arriving back at home after everything that had happened felt somewhat empty. I sat down on the couch in the living room of the house, a light sigh leaving my lips. The past three days had been nothing short of a disaster, and I didn't know how I was going to be dealing with them in the future. After all, things were never going to be the same again.
If this had done anything good (and note that I am making that 'if' huge here), it was that my resolve had only grown stronger for what I had to do. I knew exactly what was coming next, and nothing was going to get in the way of it. That much I was positive of.
I was sure that the others felt the same. After all, everything was falling apart, and if we left life alone for too much longer, things would only deteriorate further. I looked up at the ceiling, trying not to think of what was going to come next.
Looking back was no longer an option. It was press on or else, and I wasn't willing to see what the other option was. If the world was going to be nasty to me, I would return the favor, all in the name of making things better for someone who didn't realize the danger they were in. I wasn't going to let things get any worse than they already had, and I refused to break that promise to myself.
TURNABOUT MANOR
END
I'm starting off one of my favorite cases next week I can't wait
-Digital
