February 26, 10:13 AM

District Court

Courtroom No. 4

The young man wore an even, serious expression upon his face, despite his gaudy appearance. Wisps of short dirty blond hair poked out from under an elegant dark fedora, the back of a playing card visible from the behind the hatband wrapped around it. A button-down white shirt, stuck almost rigidly to his chest, was pressed beneath a buttoned purple vest, with a loose purple tie dangling from around the unbuttoned neck. The young man's eyes were a steel bluish-gray and were locked straight on the defendant, his hands tightly gripping the front of the witness stand, as if letting go would send him hurtling into an abyss. His mind was whirling as he stared intently at the man being prosecuted, who himself was a picture of calm. But a sudden voice brought him out of his trance.

"Witness." It said, "Will you please state your name and occupation for the court record?"

He broke his gaze away from the defendant and moved his eyes straight ahead toward the Judge's bench, not seeing fit to acknowledge with a glance the Prosecutor that had asked the question. He took a deep breath and spoke.

"My name… is Astor Spade." He replied, voice a light baritone, "I'm a Junior Investigator for the JLD Private Investigations firm."

There was some rustling of paper over at the Prosecutor's bench as the man spoke again, "The same firm owned and operated by the defendant, Jack Daman, correct?"

Astor nodded, followed by looking to the defendant. "Yes, sir, that's correct."

For his part, Jack Daman still retained an almost perfect calm, Astor noted. Not a single graying hair was out of place from the top of his head to his mustache. His eyes remained half-lidded behind his glasses, almost as though he were tired or bored. His lips formed a perfectly straight line, without a hint of either a smile or a frown upon them. His tailor-made red suit was neatly pressed, not a single wrinkle could be seen on any part of it.

'Looking pretty confident there… aren't you, Jack?' Astor thought, watching him carefully, 'Everything's locked up tight, huh?'

The barest of smiles came across Jack Daman's face, making Astor instinctively grimace. 'Flinched.' Astor thought, 'He knows he holds all the cards.'

"What exactly is the nature of the relationship between yourself and the defendant?" the Prosecutor spoke again.

Astor looked toward the Judge's bench again, regaining his composure and his neutral expression. "Jack is my boss at JLD Private Investigations. He's my friend, my mentor."

As the Prosecutor spoke again, Astor kept his focus on the bench, words surrounding him and becoming meaningless as his memories drifted away, far away from this courtroom, this difficult situation he now found himself in, mind escaping to a simpler time…